Biting Tortoise

[Yvonne G]

I'm not good with the Mediterranean species of tortoise, but I knew it wasn't a desert tortoise. And, Suzie, "herbivore" means they eat plants and grasses, not animal protein. Your tortoise is a beauty, and I can see why you might think it is a desert tortoise. They look quite similar from the top view.

 

[GBtortoises]

Your tortoise is definitely a Marginated tortoise, Testudo marginata and a female.

Thanks so much for the info! Now I can really refer to Franklin as "her". I take it these tortoises are or were sold in pet shops. How else would they ever get to this part of the world? Reading up on this type of tortoise, I find that it's an herbivore. Wow, no wonder Franklin wants my toes. Should I try and incorporate some insects/meat into her diet. Also, looks like the longevity is much longer than a CDT.

Herbivores are plant eaters, not meat eaters (carnivores are meat eaters). Your tortoise should not be fed any animal insect or meat at all. Longevity estimates are rarely accurate and should not be "assumed" based on species. As well as those estimates being based on general live in the wild, not in captivity. There are a lot of variable, both in the wild and in captivity that will determine the lifespan of any given tortoise, regardless of species.

Marginated tortoises are a Northern Mediterrean species, found primarily in Greece in the lower mountain areas and are considered a semi-forest species that inhabit areas of scrub brush with open spots at the forest edges. They consume mainly different weeds and some dry leaves and dry grasses. They do hibernate in the wild. Based on my personal experience with the species they are one that will often consume large amounts of calcium, drink often and will often consume plain blade grasses and dried timothy hay. Your female when fully mature may be as large as 12" but most average around 10-11". Males are equally large, some even larger than females. This trait is unique among Testudo species where males are typically smaller than females as adults.

 

[suzieq1121]

Your tortoise is definitely a Marginated tortoise, Testudo marginata and a female.

Thanks so much for the info! Now I can really refer to Franklin as "her". I take it these tortoises are or were sold in pet shops. How else would they ever get to this part of the world? Reading up on this type of tortoise, I find that it's an herbivore. Wow, no wonder Franklin wants my toes. Should I try and incorporate some insects/meat into her diet. Also, looks like the longevity is much longer than a CDT.

Herbivores are plant eaters, not meat eaters (carnivores are meat eaters). Your tortoise should not be fed any animal insect or meat at all. Longevity estimates are rarely accurate and should not be "assumed" based on species. As well as those estimates being based on general live in the wild, not in captivity. There are a lot of variable, both in the wild and in captivity that will determine the lifespan of any given tortoise, regardless of species.

Marginated tortoises are a Northern Mediterrean species, found primarily in Greece in the lower mountain areas and are considered a semi-forest species that inhabit areas of scrub brush with open spots at the forest edges. They consume mainly different weeds and some dry leaves and dry grasses. They do hibernate in the wild. Based on my personal experience with the species they are one that will often consume large amounts of calcium, drink often and will often consume plain blade grasses and dried timothy hay. Your female when fully mature may be as large as 12" but most average around 10-11". Males are equally large, some even larger than females. This trait is unique among Testudo species where males are typically smaller than females as adults.

Thanks for all the info. I was confusing herbivore with omnivore. Yes, we figured that she only ate plants. I believe one website mentioned that Marginateds have been seen eating snails. We have never fed Franklin any meat (we're actually vegetarians ourselves ).

So is the biting a behavior that will continue?

 

[Yvonne G]

Since she's a female, and it's not mating behaviour, it may just be that she associated you with food. My Manouria tortoises always try to eat me when they see me standing still. They're not biting to be mean, they're really trying to eat the food goddess.

 

[Eloise's mommy]

Nice to finally get back to your original question after all these new discoveries!! lol I don't know about the biting but I know that this is the most interesting thread I have read all morning....CDT, Hermans, Marginated oh my!!! Franklin has been Identified, sexed, found as a hatchling but the biting is still a mystery lmao!!! definetly a great thread!!! Welcome to the forum!!!

 

[suzieq1121]

Nice to finally get back to your original question after all these new discoveries!! lol I don't know about the biting but I know that this is the most interesting thread I have read all morning....CDT, Hermans, Marginated oh my!!! Franklin has been Identified, sexed, found as a hatchling but the biting is still a mystery lmao!!! definetly a great thread!!! Welcome to the forum!!!

Haha! Yes, back to the biting. I'm going to try and supply her with lots of food. I know she seems to be eating non-stop since coming out of her short hibernation. I'm sure she will settle down once she loads up on some calories.

Besides the new biting behavior, she also started another new behavior. She can see a lot better/farther now so when she sees me across the yard, she hauls butt to get over to me. She also hears my voice better. She was ramming our screen door because she heard us talking inside the house. She used to have the run of the house in the evenings when we brought her inside for the night. She spent 30 minutes scratching/banging at the screen door to come inside yesterday. She's becoming more interactive, granted most of the time her idea of "fun" is to nip at my toes.

 

[GBtortoises]

I agree with Yvonne that the biting behavior is most likely the association with food. That is pretty common. There is no doubt that she can see you well from a distance. Tortoises have excellent eyesite and smell. Those two senses alone are what enables them to find food. As for the sense of hearing, it's extremly doubtful that you tortoise actually hears your voice. Tortoises simply don't have true hearing as many other animals with open ear canals do. They do feel low tone sounds and vibration through their "ears", feet and shells. Chances are your tortoise was acting on scent when it came to the screen door.

 

[Kerryann]

My marginated is very socialized as well. He loves to be held and have his head scratched. He usually will only bite my fingers on accident if I am feeding him but he does go after my toes often. I am not sure if he thinks they are fingers and have food or if it's because I usually have polished toenails. He is crazy for anything red so the nails make him just want to take a nibble.
My marginated loves radicchio, red kale, and even likes rainbow chard. You can plant those in her outdoor area and she will probably love them too. For some reason the red leaf lettuce doesn't excite him like the radicchio or the red kale.

 

[suzieq1121]

My marginated is very socialized as well. He loves to be held and have his head scratched. He usually will only bite my fingers on accident if I am feeding him but he does go after my toes often. I am not sure if he thinks they are fingers and have food or if it's because I usually have polished toenails. He is crazy for anything red so the nails make him just want to take a nibble.
My marginated loves radicchio, red kale, and even likes rainbow chard. You can plant those in her outdoor area and she will probably love them too. For some reason the red leaf lettuce doesn't excite him like the radicchio or the red kale.

I just bought some escarole and watercress after reading some comments here. She never really like watercress before but this time she ate it. She loved the escarole! She likes corn and dandelion and Cecil Bruner roses. She also loves alyssum. Her favorite is broccoli but I know there's an association with calcium building up so she only gets it occasionally. She loves bok chop too but I wasn't sure if that was ok so again, she only gets it every once in a while.

I'd love some suggestions on what I can give her that I could pick up from the produce department. I've cooked squash for her a couple times and she liked it. I will buy bags of fancy lettuce like red and green and other stuff. She's never had iceberg because I know there's no nutritional value in it.

She's never been sick, has always been very healthy and active. So far, I guess we're doing well. What about calcium? When she was a hatchling in her enclosure, I had a cuttlebone in there. I've also sprinkled cooked egg shells that were ground up on her food. She has never eaten the cuttlebone or the egg shell. Also, I rarely see her drink. I've tried soaking her in shallow water and occasionally she drinks but rarely. I'm assuming she's getting enough liquids from her foods because she pees almost daily. She will usually have a small amount of calcium pass in her urine but not a lot. Hope this all sounds ok. I'd appreciate any advice.

Suzie

 

[Kerryann]

I just bought some escarole and watercress after reading some comments here. She never really like watercress before but this time she ate it. She loved the escarole! She likes corn and dandelion and Cecil Bruner roses. She also loves alyssum. Her favorite is broccoli but I know there's an association with calcium building up so she only gets it occasionally. She loves bok chop too but I wasn't sure if that was ok so again, she only gets it every once in a while.

I'd love some suggestions on what I can give her that I could pick up from the produce department. I've cooked squash for her a couple times and she liked it. I will buy bags of fancy lettuce like red and green and other stuff. She's never had iceberg because I know there's no nutritional value in it.

She's never been sick, has always been very healthy and active. So far, I guess we're doing well. What about calcium? When she was a hatchling in her enclosure, I had a cuttlebone in there. I've also sprinkled cooked egg shells that were ground up on her food. She has never eaten the cuttlebone or the egg shell. Also, I rarely see her drink. I've tried soaking her in shallow water and occasionally she drinks but rarely. I'm assuming she's getting enough liquids from her foods because she pees almost daily. She will usually have a small amount of calcium pass in her urine but not a lot. Hope this all sounds ok. I'd appreciate any advice.

Suzie

Diet sounds good. My marginated drinks a lot so maybe she's drinking when you aren't looking. The white stuff is urates.
My margy loves his bath and goes under water with his head and legs stretched out for uncomfortably long when I first put him in. I have wondered if its because his old owner only bathed him every other day.

 

[Sulcata tortoise665]

Yep tht looks like a marginated tortoise, looks way to big to be a Hermanns. Hermanns are like seven to nine inches

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

I agree with Yvonne that the biting behavior is most likely the association with food. That is pretty common. There is no doubt that she can see you well from a distance. Tortoises have excellent eyesite and smell. Those two senses alone are what enables them to find food. As for the sense of hearing, it's extremly doubtful that you tortoise actually hears your voice. Tortoises simply don't have true hearing as many other animals with open ear canals do. They do feel low tone sounds and vibration through their "ears", feet and shells. Chances are your tortoise was acting on scent when it came to the screen door.

Yes, this tortoise is female, and I can see why the others would say it's a marginated tortoise (Testudo marginata).

This case is rather similar to another one recently reported and discussed in a thread on a female Russian tortoise (Testudo horsfieldii) doing about the same thing:

"Russian tortoise biting?"

Because these tortoises are female, and because humans are too big for them to challenge, they probably just associate people with food. It would make sense that Franklin would behave this way after emerging from brumation (hibernation), because she is very hungry.

A lot of wild animals, from squirrels to bears, come to expect food from humans when they are fed, and can become pushy when they don't get what they want. It's not really aggression; it's just the behavior of an animal who has gotten used to receiving handouts from people, and becomes impatient and irritable when it doesn't get what it wants.

Of course, animals in the wild should not be fed, but this is your pet and needs to be fed. Pet tortoises and box turtles do often associate their keepers with getting food, but I don't hear about their becoming pushy about it like this very often. As I wrote in that other thread, the thing to do is help the tortoise feel like she's foraging on her own, rather than just waiting for food from people.