New Greek Tortoise

[Kim444]

Hi All,

Just a pre-question, has the site changed? I don;t remember it looking like this last time I was on?

Anyways, I used to be on this forum a while ago when I was looking for a tortoise. I always adopt my animals as I am willing to wait for one that needs a home. Well guess what? Tortoises are not rehomed often in my area. So I sort of gave up but kept my eyes and ears open. Last night out of the blue I decided to check Kijiji. There was a Greek tortoise in need of a home, she said she paid 500$ for him but did not say she wanted a fee.
I responded to the add, saying I would adopt the tortoise and give him a good home and asked her if she was asking a fee. She said a small rehoming fee would be great just to ensure I was serious. I offered her 60$ and she agreed. I went to get him tonight and he came with his whole set up. He is about 3, she's had him from a baby and apparently is a male.

He rode on my son's lap the whole way home and it active, bright eyes and happy. He moves a lot and is super friendly. His nae is Mr. T (lol, her daughter named him) and we like the name.

However I have a few questions.
1) his shell looks good although I think I see some pyramiding, but his skin looks dry. I will soak him tomorrow because when we settled him back in his home, he went under the log, burrowed and went to sleep.
2) I will post pics of his home, it is a little small but will have to do for a while until we can build him a bigger one. It is 3.5ft by 2ft and I don;t like the substrate.
3) she says she only feed him romaine lettuce because they tried other green and they just made him sick

So my question to you all is(and I will get better pictures of Mr.T tomorrow) what do you think from these pics and what do you suggest.

 

[Kim444]

Oh I just realized there is a greek tortoise section..should I have posted this there? I was also wondering what subspecies my greek is,

 

[Kim444]

Can anyone give me some advice please?

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Kim:

That'll teach you to leave the Forum for such a long time! You leave and we change everything around!!

The reason your new tortoise is slightly bumpy is because of those pellets he's on. They need a bit of humidity in their environment, and pellets are dry, dry, dry!

She took the easy way out by only feeding romaine. I think 'made him sick' was just an excuse. Its easier to buy romaine than try to find other dark, leafy greens to feed the tortoise.

I know you'll get him turned around and set up properly. Please read the threads at the very top of the Greek section. There is some good info on there.

I'm sending a shout-out to @HermanniChris and when he comes on, he'll give you the species info you're looking for...but he may need a plastron picture too.

 

[Kim444]

Hi Yvonne,

What's a plastron picture? I will go take some photos now since Mr. T is awake. I just soaked him cause he seems dry and he just laid there and enjoyed it.

I will take a pic of his tail to sex him but she says she's sure he's a boy because his thingy came out once, lol

I read the threads at the top but it says sand and top soil yet I heard coconut husk was best, also, the box is wood, if I were to put moist coconut husk in there would I need to put some kind of plastic liner so it doesn't get wet and moldy.

I only left cause I had given up my search to adopt a tortoise, but low and behold I found one so I am back with 5 million questions.

 

[Kim444]

Here are a few pics I just took post bath, he is way less dry now

 

[HermanniChris]

Beautiful animal, definitely a male. It's always a little tough when they are captive bred with no real history of lineage etc...so I'm seeing a possible cross between 2 subspecies of Greek. Certainly is a Greek (Testudo graeca subspecies) but to be 100% absolutely positive of his ssp. is nearly impossible. He looks to be at least part T. graeca terrestris and maybe even part T. g. buxtoni. Certainly isn't T. g. ibera. He looks quite healthy and the shell isn't bad, but the romaine statement and "other greens make him sick" is just plain odd. I honestly don't feed anything romaine...ever. I would stop the romaine and replace with dandelion, plantain, thistle, hawksbit, cats ear and other healthy weeds. Some "ok" store bought greens are collard, mustard, radicchio etc...

I also have a decent video on my site (www.hermannihaven.com) on how to mix organic dried herbs with mazuri tortoise diet, in case you want to try that.

Members on here can give you a nice long list of edible plants and greens for him and some other pointers. Thanks for rehoming that dude, he's a beauty.

 

[Kim444]

What do you suggest for substrate? I watched the feeding video, will try and get some mazzuri

 

[Kim444]

Oh and what is your timer set to for the light? She had this one set to go on from 8am to 8pm does that sound about right?

 

[Jlant85]

What do you suggest for substrate? I watched the feeding video, will try and get some mazzuri

Hiya! Something i would highly highly suggest, TOP SOIL! Some mixes it with coconut husk but i like them the way it is. Plus is a lot cheaper! I MEAN WOW cheaper! lol... Coconut husks are good too... It keeps the humidity level really well hence the reason why some mixes it.... I like top soil alone as is because i like doing the extra work to keep me focused on my torts.... plus i dont mind it.... i love spending time with them anyways.... =)

 

[Jlant85]

Oh and what is your timer set to for the light? She had this one set to go on from 8am to 8pm does that sound about right?

Yes that fine... Mine is at 7-7...

 

[Kim444]

Can someone post a picture of what coco coir is, I went to the pet store and they had coco husk and coco other stuff that I use for my geckos which is this, see pictures

 

[Jlant85]

Can someone post a picture of what coco coir is, I went to the pet store and they had coco husk and coco other stuff that I use for my geckos which is this, see pictures

Thats the one. They are all the same really... i use to buy the blocks... the one you add water too and BAM EXPAND!