Greek Tortoise Behavior

[kevinallenwiegand]

Not sure where to post this, so I'm starting here.

We recently rescued a Greek Tortoise that was found roaming in the wild here in Florida. Clearly a pet that either got loose, or was let go. He's not exactly native here! We tried, but no-one claimed him, so we took him home. We've had tortoises before, so it's not like it's new to us.

That said, I'm a little concerned on his behavior, and could use some input.

We bought an enclosure for him specifically for tortoises - he has a place to go hide and sleep, etc. He has a designated slate rock where we put his food that he has gotten accustomed to. It has proper bedding, etc., all of that. That said, he was quite shy at first, it took a bit for him to adjust, but his personality seems to have blossomed, so to speak.

He's fed daily with a varying degree of romaine lettuce, green leaf lettuce, red leaf lettuce, zucchini, shredded carrots, etc. He's a voracious eater!

Recently though, he's been acting strangely. If I go out back (he's in our sunroom), he likes to literally RUN to the corner of his enclosure where I'm the closest, and appears to "try to climb out". If I pick him up, pet him, whatever, he just hides or gets aggressive in trying to "run away". If I move him to the other side of the enclosure, he literally RUNS to the same corner and appears to try to "climb out" again.

Sometimes, giving him an extra leaf or two will get his attention...but not so much lately when he's like this. So it doesn't seem like he's looking for food?

Is there something we're doing wrong here? I just want to be sure that he has the best life he can have after god-only-knows-what he was subjected to beforehand.

 

[Tom]

Not sure where to post this, so I'm starting here.

We recently rescued a Greek Tortoise that was found roaming in the wild here in Florida. Clearly a pet that either got loose, or was let go. He's not exactly native here! We tried, but no-one claimed him, so we took him home. We've had tortoises before, so it's not like it's new to us.

That said, I'm a little concerned on his behavior, and could use some input.

We bought an enclosure for him specifically for tortoises - he has a place to go hide and sleep, etc. He has a designated slate rock where we put his food that he has gotten accustomed to. It has proper bedding, etc., all of that. That said, he was quite shy at first, it took a bit for him to adjust, but his personality seems to have blossomed, so to speak.

He's fed daily with a varying degree of romaine lettuce, green leaf lettuce, red leaf lettuce, zucchini, shredded carrots, etc. He's a voracious eater!

Recently though, he's been acting strangely. If I go out back (he's in our sunroom), he likes to literally RUN to the corner of his enclosure where I'm the closest, and appears to "try to climb out". If I pick him up, pet him, whatever, he just hides or gets aggressive in trying to "run away". If I move him to the other side of the enclosure, he literally RUNS to the same corner and appears to try to "climb out" again.

Sometimes, giving him an extra leaf or two will get his attention...but not so much lately when he's like this. So it doesn't seem like he's looking for food?

Is there something we're doing wrong here? I just want to be sure that he has the best life he can have after god-only-knows-what he was subjected to beforehand.

Those tortoise houses are all wrong and much too small. They are not suitable for any size or type of tortoise. They are too open and made of the wrong materials for a baby, and much too small for an adult. Your tortoise needs a large secure tortoise pen outside on the ground, with a temperature controlled shelter to get out of the heat and rain, and cold in winter. He also needs a much better diet. Skip the carrots, and start trading out the lettuce for high fiber, high calcium weeds and leaves. He's climbing the sides because he wants out of this little prison.

All of this and more is explained here. Look for the temperate species care sheet at the bottom:

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