Hello from my tortoise and I

[Karyn674]

Hello my name is Karen and I'm from Malta.

I had my tortoise for the past 20 years + and it was given to me by a friend of my dad's who worked together in Libya at the time. I am sure he had bought it from a market in Libya but I do not have an idea what kind of tortoise she is.

Today I read an article about a tortoise who was left in an attic for 30 years and curiosity engulfed me......I found this forum and as I read some of the posts I realize how ignorant I am about this tortoise that had made my parent's garden home for such a long time!

As far as I know you cannot find any tortoises for sale in any pet shop locally, actually I have never seen one.

So, I look forward to learn from you all and would like any indication on what species my tortoise is.

I am attaching a photo of her ( I believe it is a she!!!!) any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

 

[Yvonne G]

Welcome to the Forum, Karen!

I must say, your tortoise is absolutely beautiful!! I'm not real familiar with the Mediterranean species of tortoise, so I don't know what you have there, but I'm sending this thread's link to one of our more experienced members who may be able to help you.

Glad you've found us. You may not know much about tortoises, but keeping her alive and healthy for 20 years says an awful lot about you and your tortoise-keeping skills!!

 

[CtTortoiseMom]

Hi & welcome.

 

[wellington]

Hello and Welcome I agree with emysemys. For not knowing the species and care requirements, you sure did good by her.

 

[kathyth]

Welcome!
Beautiful tort

 

[coreyc]

Hello welcome to the forum

 

[Karyn674]

Wow! What an awesome welcome Thank you all!

I'm thrilled to hear she looks in good health!

This is another pic of her bathing, it shows more of her shell patterns, so might be easier to recognize.

I thank u four your support

 

[luvpetz27]

Beautiful!!!

 

[Karyn674]

Oops! Here it is

 

[mctlong]

She's GORGEOUS!!!

 

[Benjamin]

Your tortoise is in the genus testudo. I am uncertain of the exact species but testudo graeca is native to Libya.

 

[pam]

Welcome Beautiful tortoise

 

[sendie]

Hi! Gorgeous tort!
I lived in Malta, it's a WONDERFUL island! We were in the New Embassy Project in Ta' Qali. My DH was the last PM and he stayed on after the project was over. (don't know what he did, he handled the problems that came up). I had a stroke when I came back to the US and I never returned

 

[tortadise]

Welcome! Its definitely a testudo greaca like ben said. Subspecies is looking like a libyan. Not too good at id of subspecies. Gorgeous one. Maybe an ankarayan.

 

[mainey34]

Hello and welcome...wonderful job you have done. Your tort looks great...

 

[Karyn674]

I thank you all for your comments!

I had a look at the Testudo Graeca as you suggested and indeed she does look like the right species. So, thank you for the guidance

Emysemys, thank you!

Benjamin, when you say this species is native to Libya, it does make sense as it was brought from there.

Tortadise, I have not found any pictures of an ankarayan so that remains a mystery for now.

Sendie, the new Embassy project in Ta Qali is quite recent, I am sorry to hear you've been unwell hope you are feeling better now xx

To everyone else that have commented and welcomed us to this forum: I thank you!

Question: what are the key parts of a tortoise that would differentiate one species from another? Is it the patterns on the shell? The shape of the shell? The head? Or maybe something else?

 

[Karyn674]

Furthermore:

She has a diet of mainly tomatoes, which she loves, lettuce, apples, watermelons and melons in summer and everything else she finds in the garden. One thing that she finds quite a treat is calla Lilly stems she absolutely loves them, in fact it is impossible to keep her out of their reach, unfortunately to my mum...lol! She has tried even to build stones around them for the tortoise not to reach them but all in vain!
As I research I find that the prickly pear and the opuntia leaves are very good for tortoises, never thought of that and they are wildly available here in Malta. I would believe that it needs the spines to be removed right?

She is also very active as she walks a LOT! And flattens every living or non living thing in her path! We call he the 'tanker'

We keep our tortoise in the garden all year through. She hibernates when she feels ready and builds her own nest from leaves and parks herself in the middle. Would you suggest to build her a shelter maybe?

Thank you all!

Karen