Help me identify these two!

[Metazoa]

My GF grew up in Italy with two tortoises in her garden. They've been roaming around in her and the neighbour garden for approx 30 years now!

Can someone please help identify these fellas?

The small one on the left is a female. She had her first trip to the vet here the other day to check one of her legs due to some limping recently. The x-ray revieled that she's carrying two eggs Last summer we observed the one on the right mounting her, so maybe there will be small hatchlings in the gardens one day!

I think the female is a T. hermanni. But what about the male? He looks slightly different in scaling on the limbs, head and shell. His colours are more dark, almost all black.

Excited to hear your conclusions!

 

[Tom]

My GF grew up in Italy with two tortoises in her garden. They've been roaming around in her and the neighbour garden for approx 30 years now!

Can someone please help identify these fellas?

The small one on the left is a female. She had her first trip to the vet here the other day to check one of her legs due to some limping recently. The x-ray revieled that she's carrying two eggs Last summer we observed the one on the right mounting her, so maybe there will be small hatchlings in the gardens one day!

I think the female is a T. hermanni. But what about the male? He looks slightly different in scaling on the limbs, head and shell. His colours are more dark, almost all black.

Excited to hear your conclusions!

We'd need pics of them cleaned up after a soak, and we'd also need plastron shots to ID them properly. Based on the one pic, I would guess that you have a hermanni of one sort or another, and a greek.

Species should never be mixed, and tortoises should never be kept in pairs.

Also, outside loose in the garden year round is a recipe for disaster. Its just luck they they are still alive if housed this way. This applies even when they are in captive care in their county of origin.

Please read this for the care care info, and look for the temperate species care sheet near the bottom.

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[TammyJ]

Welcome to the best tortoise forum you could have found! Tom is one of our most knowledgeable and experienced members, his advice is right on the mark.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Hello and welcome

 

[Metazoa]

Sure know how to welcome people in here.

 

[zovick]

Sure know how to welcome people in here.

You will still get good advice here, just don't get offended by the manner in which some people try to provide it. IE, be rather thick skinned and sift out the good stuff while letting the rest go.

Unfortunately, I cannot help you to ID those two tortoises. The Mediterranean species are not in my sphere of expertise.