What species is she ?

[eajspider]

Hi Everyone

I am writing to introduce ourselves to the group. The children were given a tortoise that is meant to be 1year old girl but the lady does not know what species it is. I have enclosed a picture but not sure if you will be able to identify it as the lady has painted its shell with nail vanish. Do you have any ideas to remove the nail vanish safely.

We have the builder, building a wooden table box for it which will be ready by tomorrow. I was planing on ordering a heat lamp from online so i get the right one but won't get it for a couple of weeks is that to long. We live in Saudi Arabia so its very hot 50 O c at present so i think this is to hot to keep it outside, maybe a couple of hours in the late afternoon a couple of times a week for the vitamin D would be good.

if anyone could help identify what type she is that would be great also the sex please.
Thanks

 

[yagyujubei]

RE: What breed is she ?

I wouldn't worry about the nail polish, it will wear off eventually and shouldn't cause any harm. The solvents to remove are very toxic. I am sure someone will be able to identify your new tortoise. Welcome to the forum.

 

[Sky2Mina]

RE: What breed is she ?

Hello there!

That's quite a lot of nail polish! But breeders usually put a dot on the torts shells, so I guess it shouldn't harm them?

My guess is that it is a Greek Tortoise (Testudo Graeca), but that's just a guess, I'm no expert. But I'm pretty sure it's one of the Testudo species. Great species for a pet!
Untill you get a UVB lamp, you should definatly allow the tortoise to get some sunlight, just monitor the temperatures and always give the tortoise a shadowy place to hide.

The tort is too young to sex. But I THINK for now he looks like a male. I'm just guessing for fun though. Too early to tell.

Welcome to the forum.

 

[eajspider]

RE: What breed is she ?

I was wondering is a UVB lamp is all I need or do i need another lamp as a heat source as i plan to order them and want to make sure we get the right ones. I was planning to hang the lamp from the wooden table box so have had them make a upside down l shape extra piece of wooden so we can hang the lamp from this pointing down and was planning to put so rocks under it . I was planning to fill the box with sand and soil not sure on the mix of each or how full to fill the enclosure. The design has one end with a enclosed lid on top so he will have a quiet place to retreat.

Any ideas how old he is, also does he need to hibernate and if so for how long. Sorry so many questions but want to make sure he has all he needs for a healthy life.
Cheers

 

[Yvonne G]

RE: What breed is she ?

Hi eajspider:

Welcome to the tortoise Forum!

May we know your name?

Your tortoise is quite young, my guess would be probably about a year old or younger.

 

[bikerchicspain]

RE: What breed is she ?

How cute.
It looks like a greek,
The tort can live outside as long as it has shade and plenty of places to hide. The substrate should be 50/50 soil,play sand.

At the moment you will not need heating, You might need it in winter, depending on what sort of winter you get.

This also depends on whether you want to over winter her or not.

Normally greeks will hibernate anything from late september to the middle of November and will start to awaken anything from march onwards, again depends on the temps

She looks about a year old but not to sure that she is a she,

Its difficult to see when they are young, Could you post a picture of the tail end shell to give us a better idea, also a picture of the face.

 

[dmarcus]

RE: What breed is she ?

Hello and welcome to the forum...

 

[eajspider]

RE: What breed is she ?

Hi sorry my name is Emma and thank you to everyone for such a warm welcome to the group .

I am not sure about keeping him outside as we have a very curious dog and water sprinklers everywhere and a few rats running around, maybe when he is bigger we will build him a safe outdoor enclosure. If we hibernate him he needs to be cold i heard somewhere,someone put theirs in the fridge as it was a accurate cold temperature.

I was thinking he would need heat inside as the temperature in the house is cold as we have so much air conditioning, i am going to go buy a cheap lamp for now so he has a place for now to have some warmth until i can get a proper UVB lamp.

Thanks Emma

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

RE: What breed is she ?

Wild animals don't come in breeds (and pet reptiles are captive wild animals). The term "breed" applies only to domestic animals like dogs, cats, horses, cattle, goats, sheep, etc. Maybe someday turtles will come in breeds, but for now they are only in species and subspecies.

Your young tortoise does appear to be a Greek tortoise (Testudo graeca), but I'm not sure which subspecies.

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Welcome.

 

[GBtortoises]

Looks like a young male Testudo gracea ibera

 

[TortieLuver]

I agree, looks like a greek male and younger than a year to me

 

[Tom]

He will need an enclosure with a thermal gradient, a shallow water bowl and some hiding areas. There are lot of ideas in the enclosure section or the Med. Tort section. For UV and heat Mercury Vapor Bulbs are the best. It gives them heat, light and UV all in one package. Don't use a florescent coil bulb for UV. Those can damage their eyes.

Direct sunshine in a safe outdoor enclosure is very good for them. There are lots of cheap, easy and portable ways to do this and they need it when they are young too.

 

[ascott]

Welcome and I agree with all the great suggestions here....although I do not like sand as any part of the total enclosure substrate...that is just my opinion, as I don't see that the benefits out weigh the potential impaction issues, again, that is strictly my opinion

Pics would be FANTASTIC