Hi All!

[myfriendclaire]

Hello All! My name is Claire and I have 2 Greek Tortoises (i think). I got them both from petsmart and i know they are not the best source but i saw them in that tiny glass cage and didnt want to leave them there any longer. The bigger and darker one, Maggie (female) and the smaller more golden one is Stitch. Our family has grown to love these two beautiful creatures and I had a few questions and I was hoping there was someone on this forum that could answer them for me or give me some advice.

First Question - Do I have a male and a female? I have done some research but I still am not able to fully tell. They are housed together and don't seem to bother eachother, seeing they are always close together (even when roaming outside.)

Second Question - Can I let them roam my vegetable garden during the day? They cant get out and I have things like zucchini, crook neck squash, lots and lots of greens, bell peppers, cilantro and arugula.

Third - Is there any way to tell how old they are?

Fourth - I am feeding them a diet of mostly dandelion greens and radicchio. even if i give them other greens mixed in they only eat those 2 things so i find it cheaper to give them what they like.

Fifth - If i do have a male and a female will they mate for sure? They have been together for a few months now and i haven't seen they try. What should I look out for?

Thank you all for reading and i hope to hear from you i just want what is best for these little guys

 

[wellington]

Hello and Welcome . Greek owners will help you better then I can. However, pictures are needed to tell you their sex, if they aren't too small still.

 

[Tom]

Hi. Welcome.

1. Post pics of the anal scutes and tail.
2. If you are sure its escape proof and there are no pesticides, then that would be a great place to let them run around. Make sure they don't over heat, or get eaten by any dogs or other predators.
3. No. We could only guess. Could be one year, could be 50.
4. Not a good diet. Those two things are both good, but they need a lot of variety. Broadleaf weeds of certain species should make up the majority of their diet. Tyler at tortoisesupply.com sells a great Testudo seed mix that would be perfect for your garden. Also look for mulberry, grape and hibiscus leaves. From the store try endive, escarole and spring mix. Next finely chop the favorite foods and then finely chop a small amount of the new foods and mix it all together. Start with only a little of the new foods and gradually add more over a period of a couple of months.
5. No way to know. Sometimes they do and sometimes they don't. You are likely to end up with compatibility issues with just a pair. The fact that they are always following each other is an indicator that you already have a problem. Tortoises following each other is a sign of aggression. Its either a male trying to mate an unreceptive female or a male trying to drive another male out of its territory. Heck, even females can get territorial. Tortoises don't usually do well in pairs. I'd separate them or find out your sexes and try to get one more so you have a either 3 females or one male and two females.

 

[myfriendclaire]

How do i post pictures ??

 

[myfriendclaire]

this is stitch the much smaller of the 2

 

[myfriendclaire]

this is them together. Im sure Stitch (the smaller and lighter one is a male but i dont know about maggie)

 

[myfriendclaire]

this is maggie. I am unsure of the sex of this one

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Thank you for the information! I will give that a try! they also eat alot of the weeds in the garden and there are absolutely no pesticides i posted some pictures so hopefully that will help

Hi. Welcome.

1. Post pics of the anal scutes and tail.
2. If you are sure its escape proof and there are no pesticides, then that would be a great place to let them run around. Make sure they don't over heat, or get eaten by any dogs or other predators.
3. No. We could only guess. Could be one year, could be 50.
4. Not a good diet. Those two things are both good, but they need a lot of variety. Broadleaf weeds of certain species should make up the majority of their diet. Tyler at tortoisesupply.com sells a great Testudo seed mix that would be perfect for your garden. Also look for mulberry, grape and hibiscus leaves. From the store try endive, escarole and spring mix. Next finely chop the favorite foods and then finely chop a small amount of the new foods and mix it all together. Start with only a little of the new foods and gradually add more over a period of a couple of months.
5. No way to know. Sometimes they do and sometimes they don't. You are likely to end up with compatibility issues with just a pair. The fact that they are always following each other is an indicator that you already have a problem. Tortoises following each other is a sign of aggression. Its either a male trying to mate an unreceptive female or a male trying to drive another male out of its territory. Heck, even females can get territorial. Tortoises don't usually do well in pairs. I'd separate them or find out your sexes and try to get one more so you have a either 3 females or one male and two females.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Claire:

Welcome to the Forum!!

If you DO have a male and female, I hope you will re-think the breeding thing. Of course, they are YOUR tortoises, and you can do with them what you want to, but I hope you will consider the fact that you would not be raising pure species, but rather cross-bred tortoises. In my opinion, only tortoises of the same species and sub-species should be allowed to breed. But I'm a purist.

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I'm sorry...I just re-read your original post. I thought I read where one of them was a Golden greek, but I see you were just referring to the color. I think chances are pretty good that they are the same species. (That's what I get for skimming)

 

[myfriendclaire]

Hello and thank you. I am not planning to breed them at all. i got one first and then the other and i thought i had 2 males but then i started looking into it and (what was magnus then) now maggie may be a female? i really have no idea. I also dont know if they are both just greek or one is a golden greek. the people at petsmart didnt really know what they were talking about so i was left to learn on my own. there is info on the web about greeks but it seems like everything i read contradicts the last. just want to make sure im a good tortoise owner

Hi Claire:

Welcome to the Forum!!

If you DO have a male and female, I hope you will re-think the breeding thing. Of course, they are YOUR tortoises, and you can do with them what you want to, but I hope you will consider the fact that you would not be raising pure species, but rather cross-bred tortoises. In my opinion, only tortoises of the same species and sub-species should be allowed to breed. But I'm a purist.

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I'm sorry...I just re-read your original post. I thought I read where one of them was a Golden greek, but I see you were just referring to the color. I think chances are pretty good that they are the same species. (That's what I get for skimming)

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[mainey34]

Its really hard to tell by the pictures you posted. You have to place them on their back and take a pic of their entire bottom..