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To my knowledge, Marginateds also can live ~60-80 years. I think at 20 years they stop growing?

I also have an almost 3 year old Marginated, and right now we're thinking we won't try to brumate him. He is not slowing down at all right now and I thought he might as it gets colder here. I agree with Tom. Brumating can have some health benefits for brumating species but isn't completely...

Phil's enclosure was finished back in September and we've been trying to acclimate him to it when we can. I ended up planting Testudo seed mix in half of the enclosure, which has done well so far. Phil has explored the enclosure a few times, but typically will hide under a plant. I suppose...

Thanks, that was right after his soak/bath time. He's not always that clean.

Sorry, I pressed post by accident. I've edited the post with what I meant to say.

Hi all, today we noticed some strange dark ish coloration on our Marginated tortoise's plastron on the anal scutes. Does anyone know if this is normal growth or if it's shell rot?

He doesn't seem to dig often, but he can dig down a couple inches if he wants to. I'm not feeling sod though. Is tortoise safe grass seed a possibility?

I was thinking I would put some coco coir and orchid bark in there too. Nice, yeah I think I'll try growing some weeds in there too. He absolutely loves clover. He's a Marginated tortoise.

Phil's enclosure is finally coming along. It's been slowed down by vacation and bad, stormy weather. I'm hoping to finish soon, then start getting plants to put in there.

It's common for my marginated tortoise to turn his head toward me and look at me if I say something to him. It could also be because he sees me, but it does seem like he's responding to my voice because it's pretty consistent. I could be sitting there and he's not looking at me until I say...

Yes, Phil loves climbing up and over everything. Also bulldozing things and trying to fit in spaces too small for him 😆. He primarily lives indoors right now in a 6ft x 3ft pvc enclosure I built for him. He gets outdoor time occasionally, about 2-3 hours a week. Right now I'm in the middle of...

Phil is my little buddy.

About the original question, I agree. I wish there were more posts in the Marginated section. I don't know why it seems like they're less popular, but I always figured part of it was their size. I imagine the first thing people learn about them is that they're THE BIGGEST European tortoise...

I still remember when he was tiny and could fit in the palm of my hand. He's not so tiny anymore and I almost need two hands to pick him up now. So to me, yes it feels like he's grown fast. They all grow at different rates though, so I wouldn't worry too much. It could be that Phil is a big boy.

Thank you! He's 2 and a half years old now.

It's hard for me to tell from the picture. It could have some slight pyramiding but the new growth is smooth. Could you take a picture on the level of the tortoise, not from above? Also, a picture from the front could help. At that size, soaking every day for 30 minutes, keeping the enclosure...

I've started building an outdoor enclosure for Phil the Marginated tortoise. I've cleared the area of my yard where I'm putting it because I had some green plastic grid below the surface where sod used to be and it also had some unidentified weeds. I'm planning for a 20' x 10' enclosure with...

It's talking about the body mass index of tortoises that they've called condition index. Basically, it's the weight you would expect if you measured the length of your tortoise. They went around and took the weight and length measurements of wild tortoises in Greece to come up with this.

Phil is continuing to grow, he's now 796g and 17.3cm (~6.8") long. We've noticed some changes in him recently. He flashes his male part routinely in his bath now. I think he's realizing that he's a male. He also has started trying to bite our toes and fingers; He never used to do that. He...

I found this research article a while back about body mass condition of Hermann's, Greek, and Marginated tortoises. From this research, they were able to develop a more accurate body mass condition for each of these species and it also takes into account differences between males and females...