Tunisian Testudo Graeca, I'm worried about his shell

[ladyengineer]

I've just invested in a humidity meter to be delivered Wednesday to see what's going on and intend to change the substrate at the weekend. Since Pegasus is still pretty young I'm hoping the change will stop the tell-tale malformation that's beginning to show.

I think I'll need to add a coat of varnish to the inside of his house before I put moist substrate down or the plywood might rot, so I'll need to do this at the weekend, but certainly all the feedback is helpful, thanks to all, and certainly I've been given more confidence to act. It would be interesting to come back to you all in a few months to show you if Pegasus' scutes start to grow flatter from now on. I know nothing can reverse what's already been grown in, but hopefully we can turn things around

 

[ladyengineer]

Your tortoise should be kept on a soil, coconut coir or peat moss mix or something very similar. It should be a sufficient depth to allow him to bury himself completely. Allowing only the top layer of substrate to stay dry is recommended for this subspecies of Greek tortoise. The rest of it should never be allowed to dry out. I like to give any of our baby tortoise species at least 4" to dig into.

@HermanniChris I've been reading the substrate threads, and I wanted to hear your opinion on coco coir and orchid bark mix? Do you think this might make a good substrate in this case? both are easy to get hold of with amazon prime! I'd like to make the switch soon as I can, so was hoping you could tell me what you think?

 

[HermanniChris]

I've never used orchid bark but I use coconut coir. So it's hard for me to say on the bark. I know a few use it and seem to have no issues I just always like to use soil with any species of tortoise as part of the mix.

 

[ladyengineer]

I've never used orchid bark but I use coconut coir. So it's hard for me to say on the bark. I know a few use it and seem to have no issues I just always like to use soil with any species of tortoise as part of the mix.

I suppose it is nice to give them some real soil, since that is what they'd normally live on. from what I can see from pictures, coco coir has a sortof grainy texture that is sortof vaguely sandy but safer than sand? I'll see if I can get hold of some soil for a mix. (my garden is mostly clay heavy soil covered in grass...) What sort of ratios would you use when mixing?

 

[ladyengineer]

So Pegasus is now on coco coir. He's not at all sure he understands what's going on. He's spent the last 20 minutes circling the warm end of his house occasionally sniffing at the coir. Now he's trying to eat it. He occasionally looks up at me with a 'What have you DONE?' Look on his face. Let's hope he gets used to it soon.