Spur thighed tortise help

[Mammyjuls]

Ok doing lots of reading on a spur thighed tortise and getting little confused .
Ok how many types of pur thighed tortise is there?
also whatis the proper names of the one that grows just a little bigger than a hurmmans tortise ?
As when reading about the spur thighed seams to be a few types at diffrnent sizes .
I dont want one that is going to be really big
And are spur thighed tortise greek tortise .
I really need to know the names so i can make sure it is the smaller one and not large one

 

[HermanniChris]

Please read the care sheet pinned at the top of this forum it answers some of the questions for you.

However, to fine tune it a bit for you:

Yes Mediterranean spur thighed tortoises are "Greek tortoises" but there is also the African spur thighed tortoise also known as the sulcata. Totally different animals though.

The larger Greeks are the Asia Minor tortoise which we commonly call the "ibera Greek tortoise" and also some of the Algerian North African Greek tortoises. These animals get as big, and many times even bigger than Hermann's tortoises. You're looking at 7 to 9" and sometimes over 11" for certain locales of them such as Bulgaria and northern turkey.

Smaller Greeks such as Testudo graeca terrestris which we invalidly call "Golden Greeks" many times do not grow larger than 7" but some do.

Very small Greeks such as Tunisians (usually no more than 6") and some of the Jordanian Greeks are some of the smallest ones. However, like all Mediterranean tortoises, there is always an exception and some do grow larger.

There are several subspecies that are currently accepted and many, many different locales or "strains" of them that vary in size and color throughout their range.

There is no one way to control how big a Greek tortoise will grow, so it's best you purchase one from a very reliable breeder who has as much information and background concerning their adults as possible. This way, you can somewhat gauge the eventual size of the baby you buy and what to expect.

A typical, general adult size for any Greek tortoise is 6 to 8".

Some fall short of this, some surpass this greatly.

Hope this helps.

 

[Mammyjuls]

Hi I have also asked the man in shop for the proper name of the spur thighed he will have so I know with one it is and it is the one you called golden greek Testudo graeva so it is one of the smaller ones so that's fine