A few questions about my greek.

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pattycakes

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Hi, I am a new member to this site, although I have been reading the forums for over a year now. I own what I was told is a greek tortoise, and purchased him in May 2011. I live on campus of the university I am currently attending and he is a great pet to have! For the most part I am certain I take good care of him..we live in Utah and my dad has built him a wooden large cage with a built in hidebox..he has 12hr sun light and constant heat lamp, and i keep the humidity to 20-30%. I have a few questions that i cant seem to find the answers to so if anyone has the time and knowledge I would love to hear it.
1. Patrick (patty) eats mixed greens and can eat multiple times a day, but when I take him outside he is constantly picking at the dirt. Is that a sign he is missing something in his diet?
2. We stay on campus but my parents love when we drive down to see them, it is only a 45min drive and they have a huge yard and garden for him to play in. I am just concerned that car rides are scary for him, i keep him in a large plastic basket with grass food and a blanket but he gets ancy and tries to escape, does anyone know if car rides are not good for them?
3. Overall he seems to be a healthy turtle, but some days when he is breathing he kind of does a toad thing, where you can see his neck moving up and down, and his hands slightly moving in and out. Ive read that that could be RI but his humidity is low, and he has been doing it since ive bought him, i guess i should get him checked out but there are very few reptile vets here.
4. When we are at my parents house, the noise level is significantly higher, and he seems to be awake a lot longer, but when we are in my apt. He will sometimes spend all day sun bathing or sleeping. I do let him wander around the apt. But he seems to climb over the same thing over and over again. I am curious to know if they can get bored? I wouldnt want him to be unhappy :-/
5. At the pet store i believe they told us he was a male, after all i named him patrick, but they didnt seem to know much about tortoises. Does anyone know a few signs of checking and knowing for sure?
Thank you in advance for reading through this. :)
 

Tillasaurus

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I wish I could help you but I don't know a think about Greek tortoises. I am posting so that your post will appear as a new post again. I suspect that someone able to do so will respond soon. Best.
 

Yvonne G

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Hi pattycakes:

Welcome to the Tortoise Forum!!

If you carry the tortoise in a smallish, dark tub and cover him up, the car ride shouldn't be too stressful for him.

I use a product made by Sticky Tongue Farms called Miner-all. This provides extra minerals that they don't seem to get from their food. It usually stops the dirt eating.

May we know your name?
 

Edna

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I don't have Greeks, but I will answer your #2 question. When you are transporting your tort in the car, put him in something like a small box and keep him in the dark. It will calm him and make traveling less stressful for him.
 

redbeef

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in regards to point 3. above: a certain amount of movement of the legs and neck are normal and the movement is supposed to make up for the lack of a diaphragm by moving air around and in and out of the lungs...i guess if he's not blowing bubbles or gaping or doing really weird new stuff that he hasn't done ever before, he is probably ok.

ditto about the dark box in the car: that should minimize stress
 

colatoise

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Do you have any pictures you can post? This will help in identifying species and possibly age and sex. The more pics the better!
 
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