Advice for new owner of gorgeous Greek Tortoise

[WinnyT92]

Hi All, please may I ask for advice regarding our new Greek Tort? She is called Pig! We very gladly took her on as our own when we moved into our new house, which has been her home for 5 years with the previous owners. Pig hibernates from around April-October because here in the UAE we see temperatures up to 130degF in this time!

Pig has been awake for 1 week so far! She dug her way out of the sand in the middle of our garden ? So far she has found her way to her house at the bottom of the garden with no worries! She comes out to forage at dawn and at dusk too. At the moment, I put down food for her on a bright green tray (which she has been eating off since she was a baby) beside the entrance of her house early every morning. I can see that she's awake and chilling in the entrance of her house. Sometimes she comes out for the food, other times it seems like I have scared her (which I don't think is the case as although she has not been regulary hand-fed, she will happily eat something if I hand it to her and she doesn't go into her shell if I am there)??! She just turns right around and heads back into her house only to come out again at dusk! Probably, she cannot be bothered with me!

Am I meant to place her food so close to the house? Would it be better if she had to come out and go around the garden a little? After eating, she goes back to bed!

Also, I've been putting out enough food for the size of her shell, but she doesn't eat the lot - I am presuming this normal after hibernation but I would love to hear some advice.

Best wishes, Winny

 

[KarenSoCal]

Hello, and welcome to TFO!

It looks like Pig has you well trained in only a week! That's how tortoises are...they manipulate us into doing things exactly how they like it!

I really don't think it matters where you place her food. I put mine a few feet from the burrow, with the water dish close by.

Serving the food the size of the shell is only a guideline of how much to feed. If she routinely does not eat all of it, put out just a little less. You want to serve just a little bit more than she will eat daily. That way you know she is eating all she wants, but little is wasted.

Here is our care sheet for Greeks. OMaybe you will find it useful. It is the most recent, up-to-date info on husbandry that there is. If there's something you don't understand or question, come back with your questions. We're happy to explain why we say what we do.

I live in a place in southern California that gets to 126°F in the summer, so I hear you re' the heat!

 

[KarenSoCal]

@WinnyT92
I just saw that I didn't attach the care sheet! Here it is!

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

www.tortoiseforum.org