Hey everyone!
Most important thing first: Great forum!
I don't know if I should call myself a new tortoise owner, but I know I do not have too much knowledge about tortoises (I've been doing my reading and some of you have owned tortoises for over 30 years!).
So my story is that my sister kind-of thought of getting a tortoise after she saw one at her friend's house and thought it'd be cool to have one. So she bought one, called it Badra and it has been with us for about an year now. She got it from an amateur pet 'stall', so the guy didn't know much about its care himself.
My sister has recently left for a long vacation to Pakistan and she's not sure when she's coming back. She was also unsure if she could take her tortoise with her on the airplane so she left it with me.
Now even though I love having it around (and don't wanna give it away) I'm worried I may not be taking good care of it (because I'm relatively new at this). I do not know how old it is (obviously over an year old at least), or what species it is. I initially thought it was a Sulcata from pictures online, but when I posted a pic of it on instagram someone told me it looks like a Greek Spur Thigh.
I do not have a proper enclosure or tort table. Like my sister, half the day I keep it in the balcony for sunlight, then I let it roam in her room (we do not have a garden). I try to give it a bath daily, and sometimes scrub its shell or tail with an old toothbrush.
Like I mentioned I don't have a garden, I can't feed it any grasses (or flowers). I feed it a leaf or two of Romaine lettuce everyday. I also give it chopped cucumbers sometimes. Occasionally I give it a quarter of a peach to eat (it seems to love it, but I know I can't feed it fruits too often). I read about supplements, so I ground a Centrum tablet and sprinkled some on the lettuce but it doesn't seem to like the powder very much (smells?).
It sleeps like half of the day and wakes up very early in the morning!
I know most of the you would probably not be too happy with the way I'm caring for Badra, but I love it very much and that's why I'm here! I have several questions, so I'll put them here in bullets:
- I know my tortoise isn't getting the best diet. But like I said, I can't find any grasses. What would be something that I could easily find in a grocery store here in Saudi Arabia which has good nutritional value and which my tortoise will like? How would be Purslane - Portulaca oleracea (easily available and a weed)? What about spinach? Cabbage?
- I read about pyramiding shells and that really scared me! When I pass a hand over its shell it's a bit rough and uneven. I'll post pictures in my next post through my phone so someone can tell me if I should be alert of something like that happening.
- I want to know precisely the species, gender and approximate age of my tortoise. If someone can tell me from the pictures, I would be very grateful! I can also take measurements of how long and wide it is if that would help.
- I read Greek Spur Thighs (which I'm assuming it is!) like to burrow. Since I only have a 3rd floor apartment, I don't really have a place for it to burrow. Is that problem? Also I read it's not necessary that tortoises hibernate. Is it true?
- My tortoise's shell is kind-of dented at one place, so it's like a small indented 'V' near the start of its shell. It was like that when we got it. Is that normal? (I'll show you pictures of that too)
That's all for now. Any other tips and suggestions would be very much appreciated! Thanks all of you!
Most important thing first: Great forum!
I don't know if I should call myself a new tortoise owner, but I know I do not have too much knowledge about tortoises (I've been doing my reading and some of you have owned tortoises for over 30 years!).
So my story is that my sister kind-of thought of getting a tortoise after she saw one at her friend's house and thought it'd be cool to have one. So she bought one, called it Badra and it has been with us for about an year now. She got it from an amateur pet 'stall', so the guy didn't know much about its care himself.
My sister has recently left for a long vacation to Pakistan and she's not sure when she's coming back. She was also unsure if she could take her tortoise with her on the airplane so she left it with me.
Now even though I love having it around (and don't wanna give it away) I'm worried I may not be taking good care of it (because I'm relatively new at this). I do not know how old it is (obviously over an year old at least), or what species it is. I initially thought it was a Sulcata from pictures online, but when I posted a pic of it on instagram someone told me it looks like a Greek Spur Thigh.
I do not have a proper enclosure or tort table. Like my sister, half the day I keep it in the balcony for sunlight, then I let it roam in her room (we do not have a garden). I try to give it a bath daily, and sometimes scrub its shell or tail with an old toothbrush.
Like I mentioned I don't have a garden, I can't feed it any grasses (or flowers). I feed it a leaf or two of Romaine lettuce everyday. I also give it chopped cucumbers sometimes. Occasionally I give it a quarter of a peach to eat (it seems to love it, but I know I can't feed it fruits too often). I read about supplements, so I ground a Centrum tablet and sprinkled some on the lettuce but it doesn't seem to like the powder very much (smells?).
It sleeps like half of the day and wakes up very early in the morning!
I know most of the you would probably not be too happy with the way I'm caring for Badra, but I love it very much and that's why I'm here! I have several questions, so I'll put them here in bullets:
- I know my tortoise isn't getting the best diet. But like I said, I can't find any grasses. What would be something that I could easily find in a grocery store here in Saudi Arabia which has good nutritional value and which my tortoise will like? How would be Purslane - Portulaca oleracea (easily available and a weed)? What about spinach? Cabbage?
- I read about pyramiding shells and that really scared me! When I pass a hand over its shell it's a bit rough and uneven. I'll post pictures in my next post through my phone so someone can tell me if I should be alert of something like that happening.
- I want to know precisely the species, gender and approximate age of my tortoise. If someone can tell me from the pictures, I would be very grateful!
I can also take measurements of how long and wide it is if that would help.- I read Greek Spur Thighs (which I'm assuming it is!) like to burrow. Since I only have a 3rd floor apartment, I don't really have a place for it to burrow. Is that problem? Also I read it's not necessary that tortoises hibernate. Is it true?
- My tortoise's shell is kind-of dented at one place, so it's like a small indented 'V' near the start of its shell. It was like that when we got it. Is that normal? (I'll show you pictures of that too)
That's all for now. Any other tips and suggestions would be very much appreciated! Thanks all of you!
