new member need help

[Greektortnamedleo]

Hey guys! I've been lurking here a while and have only gotten more confused. I have a greek tort, about 4-5years old. I "adopted" it from my girlfriends house. It is in a glass vivarium on wood shavings. the vivarium is 4ft by1.5ft. he has a small hollow log to hide in and a small soaking spot. I feed him mixed greens and have seen him "waste" once. I gave him a soak today in some nice warm water but nothing came out of him. i have some questions still after reading through tons of pages on here.

- should the vivarium be filled with dirt?
- how do you spray a tortoise?
- night lights and day lights? (using a uvb bulb in a dome during the day)
- how do you all get accurate temp and humidity measurments?
- what should he be soaked in? how big?
- pacing his vivarium because he can see out or because he is bored?
- nail length?
- he has green staining around his mouth
- I have never seen him drink.

any and all help is greatly appreciated. I want to give this little guy all the help I can and provide a great life for him. I really like him. Thanks again!

 

[wellington]

Hello and WELCOME.. I can help with a few things. The rest others will be along to do. Enclosure sounds small. The pacing I would save both too small of an enclosure and the fact he can see through the glass and the amount of room he should be running around in. Soaking, and tub, sink, what ever you want to use. My leopard is still small, so I soak mine in the bathroom sink. Easy to change water and keep it warm. Spray tort with a spray bottle. Night time should be dark in the enclosure, buy a CHE (ceramic heat emitter) for this, gives off heat, no light. As for the wast, he could be eating it, yes they will do that, or it might just be hard to find in the substrate you are using. As for temps, a temp gun, around 20-30 dollars at home depot. I measure humidity by the looks of how much the sides are wet. If you put some flat rock or tile for him to walk on and feed on, it will keep his nails and beak trimmed. Hope this helps, others will be around soon.

 

[Greektortnamedleo]

Thank you for that. I know the enclosure is small, I am quite handy and will be building a table soon. A few pics to introduce the little guy.

 

[colatoise]

Maybe change the wood chips for a topsoil/Cyprus mulch mix. Couple of flat rocks and plants to make him feel more at home. Good to see another Greek!

 

[Greektortnamedleo]

Yeah, definitely.I've been looking to change his substrate but so many different opinions make it hard to decide.and I'm not going to lie to you folks,I list my job recently and could not be mire excited for the added time to hang out with this guy.he is so chill. I take him out so he can cruise my condo and he loves falling asleep on my lap and soaking up the heat and sun

 

[CactusVinnie]

Can you build him an outdoor enclosure? If you're handy, it's not big deal. Indoor keeping is almost a torture, and that guy, more likely a wild-caught one, will decline rapidly. Outdoor keeping solves a lot of problems for a beginner. Once you will see him under the sunlight, you will never put him in a vivarium again.
Where are you located? Please, add a location in your profile. It cannot be so bad for keeping him outdoor, at least for a few months.

 

[Greektortnamedleo]

I actually can't. I live in a garden style condo. He hasn't done too bad for the last few years in my girlfriends house. I'm from NH.

 

[CactusVinnie]

Oh... too bad.
Yes, he's fat, looks OK, but for already large animals, the problems are not visible- they will not pyramid anymore, like the fast growing juveniles... they will just decalcify without exterior signs.
No heating overnight, NEVER. It is a mediteranean species, and since indoors, it is already too warm for him.
Pacing means serious stress- as Wellington said, part of it is that he can see, but he can't pass through. It's torture. A table would be the best you can do for him.
Green stained? Maybe from the food?
Humidity- don't bother, just be careful when using that dirt:sand 1:1 mix not letting it become dusty dry, and the humid hide not to be "humid" like for Redfoots or other tropical forest species.
Nails should be worn and spontaneously abrased... he really needs outdoor...
How long is he? Are you sure he's only 4-5 years old?? For a 15-20 cm animal, nails should be about 1 cm long.
He never drinks? I suspect that he has enough water from his food, and that glass vivarium keeps humidity high, having high walls. Not good for an arid climate species to have ALWAYS high humidity. Soaking- works 1/week.

 

[Greektortnamedleo]

That is a wealth of information. Thank you very much for that. I know the vivarium is no good but I want to get all of my research done before I build. I am thinking a full 4x8 sheet of plywood with 6-8 inch inner walls. I am trying to figure out the substrate to use for him and how to keep him warm because I love it cold. My room that he is in is part of my main hvac system and I keep it about 75 summer and 70 winter. I know he needs zones and i need to figure out other than light how to keep his zones during the day and make sure he doesn't freeze at night. Now you say he's fat. how do we remedy that? feed less? different feed? I feed him once daily the size of his shell and calcium powder every three days. I just got him a cuddlebone today and some turtle pellets to help add something to the spring mix we give him. also we figured out he is a spur thigh (we think, he has massive horns on the insides of his legs)

 

[Eweezyfosheezy]

If you can take some pics looking straight down on his plastron and straight down on his carapace we will have a better idea to id him.

 

[CactusVinnie]

Not cold enough keeping at 70F in winter- that's 21*C, still meaning tropical nights. I cannot tell what he is from that picture, but if it's an Ibera, it is a hibernating species, able to sit burrowed just above freezing point for 3-6 months, depending the areal. Even North African and Middle East taxons can take- and benefit from- cooler nights, that meaning close to freezing point (0-10*C), followed by mild days.
So, your "cold" is in fact too warm for him at night, but during the day, you have to boost him with a proper bulb, along with the UVB 5.0.
When i said "fat", I think he's just fine and strong. Too fat is when he cannot easily take the defensive stance- retiring the head, and forelimbs being able to totally block the access to the head. You should give him more weeds, anyway.
Make more pics, to figure ot what he is- a HE, a SHE, what species... because Spur-Thigs is in fact a complex of related species, sometimes very confusing.

 

[Greektortnamedleo]

Alrighty, I will work on my temps and see what I can do for the old guy. In the mean time here are slightly impersonal shots of Leo

 

[Irwin4530]

you can help him out quickly (and cheaply...under $2.00 by me) by buying a bag of soil from home depot (or the like) and mixing in some peat moss (also cheap and at home depot). Make it pretty deep, about 6-8 inches so he can dig....a terra cotta pot could be used as a hide. The soil should keep the temps and humidity more stable and the hide will do the same for your tort!

Do you have a balcony? maybe you could give him some natural light?

Soak him in anything that he fits in ( I use rubermaid shoe box size totes) with luke warm water that comes up to just over the sides of his shell. you want his legs and tail to be covered and allow him the option to submerge his head.

I think you are on the right track with the tort table...again check out the enclosure threads and dont be afraid to google pictures Try not to stress out to much, your learning and working towards making your torts life better....he will be fine.

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By the way....he does look male to me !

 

[cfwinged1]

On the outside of my indoor space I used contact paper so Ion can not see out. I have him on coconut coir substrate . I also have a outdoor enclosure that he loves, but he is a climber!















I got the contact paper from Lowes, they also have the spagnum peat moss on sale there. Good luck I just got my Greek this past Sunday and gotten so attached he is so personable an loves to be held and pet on his head

View attachment 25843



That's Ion

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I don't know why the pics are not coming out?

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[Eweezyfosheezy]

Its definitely a male. Its also looks to be a Tunisian Greek tortoise.

 

[Greektortnamedleo]

Weezy, thank you.and tomorrow I will do the soil/moss mix and get a che/uvb set up and get the visible barrier for him. Thanks everyone!

 

[Eweezyfosheezy]

Im not positive on the ID but he is some sort of North African greek. Is there any way you would be able to take pictures that are clearer?

If you could take a pic like this and another one just like it but showing his plastron (bottom shell) would make it much easier to identify.

 

[Greektortnamedleo]

I will try.I'm just trying not to stress him out to much. Every time I hold him he makes a squeak noise from how hard he is breathing so I rush to get what I need done so I can put him down.

 

[Greektortnamedleo]

So from the looks of all the research and suggestions I am getting, when I build his table he needs:
for info, table will most likely be single level, 4x6 or 4x8 with 4 inch substrate and 8 inch walls

low(er) humidity
cool/cold nights
hot (100-105) days
temp gradient over the entire table
dry and wet hide? or do I just need a dry hide?
uvb 5.0 bulb- but can this be in a spot or multiple to cover the entire table?
keep up the spring mix with zoo med calcium powder
stones for him to walk around on in spots to keep the nails trimmed
water dish that he can soak himself in if needed
seperate food dish with cuddle bone.

 

[Greektortnamedleo]

just measured my size possibilities and its looking like 5x3 or 6x3.