Everything to prep before getting your new hatchling!

counting

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I joined this forum over 2 years ago in preparation for getting my first tortoise. Life happened and the tortoise dream was put on hold.

Well...here we are over 2 years later and I am getting things ready so we can bring a tortoise into our family.

So far I have done research on care. I have decided on a species I think will work for our life, and found a breeder (I'll be getting pictures of available babies soon!)

So, with all that said- what steps should I take to set things up, etc, and how long would you recommend letting things run before bringing a tort home to make sure conditions are stable?

I will hopefully be adopting a baby greek (leaning towards ibera, but waiting to see exactly what the breeder has right now, so I can tweak conditions needed if he doesn't have a suitable ibera)
 

Yvonne G

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Whew! finally.

I've never raised Greeks (or any of the Testudos) from hatchling, so I can't offer you any advice other than for you to read our great care sheet on the Greek tortoises. You'll find it pinned towards the top of the Greek section.

I have always kept my babies' enclosures around 80F degrees all over the whole enclosure. I don't know if that's good for baby Greeks, though.
 

counting

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I know!!! It has been a long wait- I'm just glad it looks like it is finally happening! I wanted to wait until timing was right and not rush into things, though.

Oh I have read the care sheets

How long would you let the enclosure run before adding a baby? (To monitor that the day and night temps are stable?)
 

SweetGreekTorts

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Congrats on finally getting your baby tortoise! You'll love the Testudo graeca, they are a great species. The Ibera require higher humidity than most other Greek subspecies, so decide on what you're getting before you start setting everything up.

Chris Leone has updated his Greek Tortoise Care Sheet, which you'll find here:
https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/greek-tortoise-care-guide.174622/

I am currently raising a bunch of baby Testudo graeca of different subspecies and locales, and I've put a page on my website to show what products I use and how I have my enclosures set up. Here's the link if it might be helpful to you:
https://sweetgreektorts.com/hatchling-husbandry#

I would recommend having everything set up, put your lights on timers, and run everything for a day or two to make sure the habitat maintains proper humidity and temperatures before the arrival of your baby.

Out of curiosity, who is the breeder? I know there are lots out there who will mix subspecies and still sell them as a pure without a care in the world so they can make money. If you're looking for a pet and don't care if it's a mix of subspecies, that's fine. But if you're ever wanting to get into breeding in the future, you'll want bloodlines that haven't been diluted with other subspecies. Sadly this is just one of the struggles with trying to preserve this species. Very few breeders actually care about keeping the Greeks pure.
 

counting

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Thank you! This is super helpful!

I think because of my general climate, that ibera will be my best bet. I'll be seeing what is available hopefully this week, and I won't really be touching set up until I know for sure.

I suspect my breeder has some mixed subspecies, but I will not be breeding. I am Canadian, and in an area that my options for babies are somewhat limited. I would prefer guaranteed pure ibera but I am fairly certain that won't be an option, so I am just hoping to get a healthy, robust little greek baby
 

SweetGreekTorts

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Thank you! This is super helpful!

I think because of my general climate, that ibera will be my best bet. I'll be seeing what it available hopefully this week, and I won't really be touching set up until I know for sure.

I suspect my breeder has some mixed subspecies, but I will not be breeding. I am Canadian, and in an area that my options for babies are somewhat limited.
The Ibera are very hardy and can tolerant cold temperatures and do brumate during the winter. You'll definitely have a lot of fun with yours, they are great.

If you have any other questions, just let us know. We're always happy to help!
 
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