Hello! Tortoise species?

Sazzle543

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Hello

I am new to the forum, as we had a lovely tortoise wander onto our farm yesterday. I have posted on all of the local forums for the possible owner and checked for a microchip, but if we are not able to find the owner, we plan to keep her.

Now I'm sure she is a very common breed (so apologies in advance) but as we are completely new to the world of tortoises, I wondered if anyone could look at the attached picture and tell me what type she is please.

Thank you very much!

IMG_3930.JPG
 

Yvonne G

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Hi, and welcome! I'm notoriously bad at I.D.ing the greeks and hermanns tortoises, but I'm guessing Hermanni. I'll send a shout-out to someone who will know for sure - @HermanniChris
 

daniellenc

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I'm horrible at differentiating between species of hermanns vs. greeks but I'd be willing to bet it's one of them and someones beloved pet. Try posting on craig's list for the owner, facebook, and possibly put out some flyers.
 

HermanniChris

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You have an eastern Hermann’s Tortoise (Testudo hermanni boettgeri) for certain.
 

daniellenc

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From one end of the shell to the other or including head? Sorry, I know that must seem like a daft question to someone who knows tortoises!
Not daft at all!! Just from start of shell to end. Head and tail are excluded from length measurements normally.
 

rjamesbeasley

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Perfect! Thank you so much :)
Just to add on the side; you can tell if the tortoise is male or female by looking at the underside of the shell; if there are concave (inwards) dips then it is probably male and if there are convex (protruding outwards) bumps then it is probably a female however don't turn the tortoise upside down, lift it up and look underneath. Also don't hold it for too long as tortoises don't particularly like being whisked up into the air that much if anyone else knows more on this please contribute, I'm not an expert
 

HermanniChris

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I should add that if you’d like to do any further reading about Hermann’s in general, please read my care sheet pinned at the top of this forum and/or visit my Hermann’s website: HermanniHaven.com
 

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