# Some Pics in the Golden Greek pen from last summer



## Tccarolina (Jan 25, 2012)

Here are some pics of the herd from last summer.


























My daughter posing with a tort.










I never let baby box turtles anywhere near any of the adults, to ensure they are disease free. I also never tend to incubating eggs or babies after working in the outside pens. But I did take one pic of the first golden greek I produced with its mom. I used a baby wipe, and wiped her shell down, washed my hands, then set the baby on, took a few quick pics, then wiped the babies underside down with another wet wipe. I don't think I'll ever do it again, but I wanted to get at least one of these mother and baby shots.


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## DriveWRX (Jan 25, 2012)

Amazing! Some of those shots look like they were taken in the natural habitat.

Your pens have really inspired me to make my own again. Thank you for that! 
I'll just have to figure out some kind of predator exclusion...


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## dmarcus (Jan 25, 2012)

What a very cool enclosure they get to enjoy....


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## Jacob (Jan 25, 2012)

Thats A Great Natural Enclosure, Im sure There In Tort Heaven


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## pdrobber (Jan 25, 2012)

wow that really made me like golden greeks...haha, seriously.


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## CGKeith (Jan 25, 2012)

Very nice! Awesome "herd"!


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## GeoTerraTestudo (Jan 25, 2012)

DriveWRX said:


> Amazing! Some of those shots look like they were taken in the natural habitat.



Indeed! Boy, that takes me back. Feels like I'm tortoise-tracking in Israel again.

Amazing photos, Steve. What part of the country are you in again? Is it California? Looks amazingly like a Mediterranean chaparral habitat. Can hardly wait till I can do a similar thing with my steppe tortoises here in Colorado.


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## ALDABRAMAN (Jan 25, 2012)

Beautiful torts!


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## Tccarolina (Jan 25, 2012)

DriveWRX said:


> Amazing! Some of those shots look like they were taken in the natural habitat.
> 
> Your pens have really inspired me to make my own again. Thank you for that!
> I'll just have to figure out some kind of predator exclusion...



Thank you! And good luck! If I ever get a chance to move out of town, I'll have the same problem. I guess I'll have to make an aviary!



GeoTerraTestudo said:


> DriveWRX said:
> 
> 
> > Amazing! Some of those shots look like they were taken in the natural habitat.
> ...



I would absolutely love to see these guys in their natural habitat. If my wife and I ever go to Israel, I want to make sure we get the chance. What were you doing there, exactly? Research?

I live in the central valley of California, in Modesto. It's totally flat here, and when we moved here, this side of the house was just bare dirt. So I started putting in a dry creekbed, intending to make a California native plants arboretum. Well, then I put in the box turtle pen, and before long I bought a couple greek tortoises, and so it went. The rocks are from all over California, since we had none to start with. So are the landscape plants.
Here are some pics of it last winter and spring. My climate is very similar to Israel/Jordan/Syria, so they can live outdoors easily for me year round. At least, no troubles so far. 
I really like the full habitat, there's always something interesting. My wife says I spend too much time on it. 

This was December 31, 2010, view from the roof. Last winter was very, very wet, and everything grew very well. Almost all of the weeds and plants are California natives.






The ground in front of the back corner of the fence is where they all choose to hibernate. I don't know why.





This guy only digs in when it gets near or below freezing at night, When we get sunny winter days in the high 50's he comes back up. His shell feels quite warm when basking even if the air temperature is cool. But he doesn't eat until early March.

















This is now the end of March








May





















Lizards are fun to watch.


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## BrinnANDTorts (Jan 25, 2012)

These photos are amazing !!!!!!  
Those are some beautiful tortoises


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## terryo (Jan 25, 2012)

Fantastic!! I love seeing photo's like this with tortoises doing what comes natural to them...in the sunshine. Very inspiring.


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## l0velesly (Jan 25, 2012)

Amazing pictures! That's a nice pen.


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## GeoTerraTestudo (Jan 26, 2012)

supremelysteve said:


> I would absolutely love to see these guys in their natural habitat. If my wife and I ever go to Israel, I want to make sure we get the chance. What were you doing there, exactly? Research?
> 
> I live in the central valley of California, in Modesto ... My climate is very similar to Israel/Jordan/Syria, so they can live outdoors easily for me year round. At least, no troubles so far.



Once again, awesome photos.

My research is actually on animals other than turtles, so when I do encounter turtles in the wild, it's either part of a course I'm teaching, or else it's just for fun.

I am originally from Israel. The first turtles I ever saw in my life were two native golden Greek tortoises that my dad brought me when I was only about 2 or 3 years old. They lived with us in a cardboard box for a couple weeks, and then my dad gave them to someone who could care for them. But that memory has always stayed with me - even the smell - of those lovable little tortoises.

We actually moved to America when I was very young, but I do go back to Israel to visit relatives every few years. As a teenager, I remember exploring the countryside with my cousin, looking for tortoises. We would walk slowly and carefully, and when we heard the soft sound of rustling in the underbrush, we would follow it and find tortoises. We did not keep them, though, only observed them. (BTW - That trick helped me find my own pet box turtles in the backyard here in Colorado.)

Anyway, I guess seeing your pictures made me feel a little bit nostalgic, because it looked so much like the places I used to find wild golden Greeks in their natural habitat. Nice job!


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