Help with identification

[M2tt]

Hello internet,

I was recently gifted this little man and whilst he has settled well I am struggling to identify the species/sub species. I revisited the store he was purchased from (to repeat he was a very unexpected, but now much loved, gift for me) and was only told "he's a tortoise". I'm pretty sure he's Hermanns but his plastrum doesn't really match any of them. He does have both Inguinal Scutes. I have tried following the Garden State Tortoise video, and the HermanniHaven website guide but there's too much going on for me to follow

Personality wise: He has a lot! It's been 3 weeks and he now runs to me when I get home from work, and appears quite happy for any chance to climb over me. He is also quite excited listening and watching my keyboard clicking as I write this up!

Shell length 106mm, weight 300-310g.

Thanks for your help

 

[OkAdiza]

Morning and welcome! I’m not an expert, but I don’t think it’s a Hermann’s, but a different testudo. Perhaps one of the Greeks.

 

[M2tt]

Morning and welcome! I’m not an expert, but I don’t think it’s a Hermann’s, but a different testudo. Perhaps one of the Greeks.

Thankyou! He is the spitting image of the Tunisian Greeks on HermanniChris's Greek thread

 

[NamedNut]

Welcome to the forum!

Stunning little fella! I’m not good with identifying, sorry about that.

Can you post some specs about how he’s being housed? Size, lighting, temps, etc. Bonus if you have photos .

Is this your first tortoise?

 

[M2tt]

I live in Abu Dhabi so I'm hoping that outside is sufficient UV/heat for most of the year (I expect to bring him inside for the summer peak when we get near to 50C). As such I have sleeping areas for both indoors and outdoors. Inside is nothing special but he can walk about in a fenced area, has a warm water disk (big enough to bathe but he doesn't, I soak him twice a week instead), a misted spagnum moss bedding area where he usually chooses to burrow and sleep, a cardboard box full of dry moss he otherwise sleeps in (not pictured), an infrared bulb above a stone, he is usually found here most mornings when I wake.
In the day the balcony doors are open and he free roams between his inside fenced area and the outside balcony. The balcony is pretty large with both full sun and shade all day. Most is tiled with a pretty porous grippy tile (better than the smooth tile inside) but 1/3 is astroturf which he loves. He is often found sleeping underneath the folded astroturf behind the door (orange arrow in pic). I have started a 3*2 foot "garden" 4 inches deep with a coco/soil/sand mix to allow him to burrow (and hopefully start sleeping at night sometimes) but he's mostly disinterested (only been a few days since I started this).
He eats a base of romaine with variety of other leaves and petunias (always checked on TortoiseTable), with a few dry foods mixed in but usually ignored.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Hello and welcome!

Thank you for sharing the details on how you keep him. I see you have found some great resources on care already (Garden State Tortoise/Hermanni Haven). This guide can also be a great reference for you: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/info-for-new-people-please-read-this-first.202363/

A few things are concerning about his enclosure:
1. Astroturf and moss. They pose a real impaction risk if he decides to nibble on them. I understand, that you can't put other substrate in on the balcony and indoors area but maybe tiled floor decking or cork mats would be a safer option. Moss, perhaps, can be replaced with damp coco coir.
2. Heat and fierce sun. I would set up a dense shaded area on the balcony for him, like a large planter box with deep substrate, shady plants and a shade sail on top. Multi-layered shade really helps to escape from heat and deep damp substrate will allow him to burrow and cool down as well.
3. Glass wall on the balcony can filter UVB in sunlight so you need to check if it's a real issue (you can watch the shadow from the top railing - if the shadow falls on the balcony floor at all and at what time of the day).
4. Instead of the ceramic heater you can use regular incandescent flood bulb. It has more directed heat and is better for basking (aim for temperature 35-36C under the bulb). It's a minor thing if he has access to the balcony at will.
5. There are a lot of ramps and small boxes with "natural" substrate but larger areas with wider and less steep ramps are better. Here you can see an example: https://tortoiseforum.org/media/besha-balcony.12645/ (that's not the best example but just a general idea).
6. Large, shallow, easily accessible water dish should be always available. Terracotta (clay) saucers, sunken in substrate work great.
7. As a small note: dried foods (pellets, dried food toppers) should be rehydrated before offering.