How's my Greek's shell? Deformed?

[NibblerTheGreeksOwnerJame]

Hi, I've been worried about the uneven growth in the front left a right scutes. They seem suken compared to the rest, as if he's elongated.

Also, ridges between scutes.

Any replies much appreciated.

 

[Yvonne G]

The new growth is raised instead of even with the scutes. I can't remember what causes that.

His eyes are a little squinty but it might just be that picture.

He's a beautiful specimen!

 

[NibblerTheGreeksOwnerJame]

The new growth is raised instead of even with the scutes. I can't remember what causes that.

His eyes are a little squinty but it might just be that picture.

He's a beautiful specimen!

Thank you. Still not sure if male or female as she/he is only about two or so.

I have noticed the eyes are less open than summer, when I could give wild flowers etc and she'd go at them like a maniac.

 

[NibblerTheGreeksOwnerJame]

Notes on care and enclosure:

Found in a pet shop at approx 1.5 years old in poor conditions: tiny plastic cage, halogen bulb behind the plastic (was he getting any UV?), newspaper. Was sharing with larger tort. Seemingly only fed lettuce.
Weight was 85g at 9cm. After a few weeks of taking him home, he was up to 130g. 8 months later he's 300g.


120Lx45wx30H hand built plywood with coconut coir substrate.
Half open side and top so humidity can be a problem (northern Japan - snowy and dry now)

UV :
Measured with Solar meter 6.5R

Zoomed 5.0 (I have a 10.0 and am going to rebuild to allow this to be used)
About 18cm giving about 3.0 uvi

Reptisun Powersun 100W (this has got progressively weaker since I bought it 6 months ago - not great)
Had to move to 16cm to be effective (giving about 2.0-3 uvi, don't like this seems too close )

Heat:
Extra heat from ceramic heater with thermostat to keep one end at 25c day/22c night.

Hot end is about 30-35c (40 on the slate)

Humidity is about 50%

Food
Store bought: Jews Mallow, mustard spinach, Pak choy
Weeds: dandelion, clover (in moderation), plantain (oobako), mulberry (he won't eat much)
Tortoise food: mulberic dry, mazuri but he doesn't like it
Other: succulents, hibiscus leaves

Soaking
Trying to do every day or every other day as there's times he likes it and times he just gets out.



Thanks!

 

[Yvonne G]

@TeamZissou - Do you have any thoughts on this thread?

 

[TammyJ]

I love your tortoise and I think he is gorgeous. I would make sure he has his regular soaks for the recommended time, like it or not . Does he get calcium, eg. Cuttlebone?

 

[NibblerTheGreeksOwnerJame]

I love your tortoise and I think he is gorgeous. I would make sure he has his regular soaks for the recommended time, like it or not . Does he get calcium, eg. Cuttlebone?

He does occasionally but often doesn’t eat food with calcium sprinkled. He very rarely takes a nibble of cuttlefish bone.

 

[zolasmum]

He does occasionally but often doesn’t eat food with calcium sprinkled. He very rarely takes a nibble of cuttlefish bone.

You might be able to rub the calcium dust into his leaves to disguise it - he only needs a small amount each time. Also, if you soak him in a high-sided container, he won't be able to get out - and all the scrabbling he does to escape is good exercise - so be firm with him !

 

[Tom]

Notes on care and enclosure:

Found in a pet shop at approx 1.5 years old in poor conditions: tiny plastic cage, halogen bulb behind the plastic (was he getting any UV?), newspaper. Was sharing with larger tort. Seemingly only fed lettuce.
Weight was 85g at 9cm. After a few weeks of taking him home, he was up to 130g. 8 months later he's 300g.


120Lx45wx30H hand built plywood with coconut coir substrate.
Half open side and top so humidity can be a problem (northern Japan - snowy and dry now)

UV :
Measured with Solar meter 6.5R

Zoomed 5.0 (I have a 10.0 and am going to rebuild to allow this to be used)
About 18cm giving about 3.0 uvi

Reptisun Powersun 100W (this has got progressively weaker since I bought it 6 months ago - not great)
Had to move to 16cm to be effective (giving about 2.0-3 uvi, don't like this seems too close )

Heat:
Extra heat from ceramic heater with thermostat to keep one end at 25c day/22c night.

Hot end is about 30-35c (40 on the slate)

Humidity is about 50%

Food
Store bought: Jews Mallow, mustard spinach, Pak choy
Weeds: dandelion, clover (in moderation), plantain (oobako), mulberry (he won't eat much)
Tortoise food: mulberic dry, mazuri but he doesn't like it
Other: succulents, hibiscus leaves

Soaking
Trying to do every day or every other day as there's times he likes it and times he just gets out.

View attachment 352661

Thanks!

Most of this sounds good, but I see two problems worth noting:
1. The Powersun needs to be set according to temperature, not UV reading. These bulbs are not recommended anyway, so it would be good to use something else. There is no need for two UV sources.
2. He should not be able to climb out of the soak. You need a larger taller container for soaking if the tortoise can climb out.

Here is a breakdown of the four heating and lighting essentials:

1. Basking bulb. I use 65 watt incandescent floods from the hardware store. Some people will need bigger, or smaller wattage bulbs. Let your thermometer be your guide. I run them on a timer for about 12 hours and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. I also like to use a flat rock of some sort directly under the bulb. You need to check the temp with a thermometer directly under the bulb and get it to around 95-100F (36-37C).
2. Ambient heat maintenance. I use ceramic heating elements or radiant heat panels set on thermostats to maintain ambient above 80 degrees day and night for tropical species. In most cases you'd only need day heat for a temperate species like Testudo or DT, as long as your house stays above 60F (15-16C) at night. Some people in colder climates or with larger enclosures will need multiple CHEs or RHPs to spread out enough heat.
3. Ambient light. I use LEDs for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most bulbs at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. Strip or screw-in LED bulb types are both fine.
4. UV. If you can get your tortoise outside for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. In colder climates, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. 5.0 bulbs make almost no UV. I like the 12% HO bulbs from Arcadia. You need a meter to check this: https://www.solarmeter.com/model65.html A good UV bulb only needs to run for 2-3 hours mid day. You need the basking bulb and the ambient lighting to be on at least 12 hours a day.

This will also help:

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[TeamZissou]

Great looking tort! What you’ve got is a Mesopotamian Greek, testudo graeca terrestris, often called “golden Greek.” They are not brumators like other Greek subspecies.

The shell deformation is due to the conditions it was kept in, most likely at the pet shop, and it was most likely too dry. Nothing you can do now other than give it the right care. It’s not all that bad so I wouldn’t worry about it. I second getting rid of the power Sun bulb.

How much does your tortoise weigh? You ought to be able to get a pretty good idea of the sex if it’s around 250-300 g

 

[NibblerTheGreeksOwnerJame]

Thanks for all the replies!

It's around 300g and estimated age of 2 years old.

 

[NibblerTheGreeksOwnerJame]

The pet shop is actually an aquarium specialist and the shop is really humid. I don't think they'd have soaked the poor guy though judging by the "advice" they gave me.

I'll need to do an enclosure rebuild to use 10.0 lights. Just need to plan it out..

The 5.0 is giving the right Ferguson zone levels (measured using solarmeter) but over a limited area. The Powersun was a just in case measure.