Can anyone help identify the breed and age

[Toby.Tortoise]

Can anyone help identify the breed and age?

View attachment 44864View attachment 44864

Hi,
We have inherited Toby from a neighbour who passed away. Please can anyone help us identify the breed and approximate age?

We understand from the name along with a short tail and the fact the plastron bottom is curved inwards that it is a male tortoise but are clueless to the breed.

Toby currently weighs 1,800 Grammes and is 200 millimetres long.

 

[LolaMyLove]

RE: Can anyone help identify the breed and age?

please repost the pictures, we can not see them.

 

[wellington]

RE: Can anyone help identify the breed and age?

Hello and Welcome Just so you know, they are a species not a breed. Also for me anyway, the picture did not show up. Photo bucket or tiny pics is what most members use to upload pics, it's easier then using the forums way.

 

[JoesMum]

Re: Can anyone help identify the breed and age?

Regardless of photos, any age will be guees accurate to 5 to 10 years either way.

Unless you know the hatch date, you can never know the age of a tortoise. Growth is determined by whether the tort is wild caught or captive bred and on its diet and care until it came to you... size is no indication of age.

 

[Toby.Tortoise]

Hi,
We have inherited Toby from a neighbour who passed away, we know he is male (name, short tail and plastron curved inwards).

What we do not know is his breed or age. Toby weighs 1,800 Grammes and is 200 millimetres long.

Any help identifying breed and rough age would be much appreciated so we can ensure we give him the optimal care.

Many thanks

 

[Toby.Tortoise]

RE: Can anyone help identify the breed and age?

Sorry I'm very new to this i'm sure ill pick up the correct terminology. will try to upload pic again.

I believe he is captive bred and has been fed dandelions, white clover, cucumber, watercress, and roamed the garden, he seems to have been well cared for.

 

[JoesMum]

I can see the picture in your last post. Could we have a shot of the plastron (undershell) including the tail as well please?

 

[Toby.Tortoise]

This is the plastron and tail shot (if I managed to get the picture to upload properly)

 

[Tom]

Where are you?

A short tail would indicate female. A concave plastron would indicate male.

 

[Toby.Tortoise]

Hopefully this works and you can see some pics of the plastron and tail.
Thank you everyone for your patience.

 

[Toby.Tortoise]

I'm in the UK.

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[Andrea M]

I'm a newbie myself as I've only been a tortoise owner for 6 months so can't help identify species but think you've done a great thing taking taking Toby on. I'm uk too, am in Coventry, where are you?

 

[Yvonne G]

That's a pretty big tortoise. I was going to say some species of Greek, however, I don't know if they get that big. I'm going to send the link for this thread to GBTortoises. He's good at I.D.ing the Mediterranean species.

 

[Toby.Tortoise]

That would be great thank you.

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I'm in Somerset. They didn't have any relatives willing to take it on and I'm a sucker for stray animals. My kids adore him, and he's already become part of the family.

 

[yagyujubei]

To me, it looks like a greek Testudo graeca. Female

 

[GBtortoises]

That is a mature, fully grown female Ibera Greek, Testudo (graeca) ibera. Based on size and coloration it is very likely a Northern Ibera from either Bulgaria or Romania. I have a few of those big females myself but I am not sure they're as big as yours!

 

[Toby.Tortoise]

What is the best way for me to care for Toby? Currently giving dandelions, and seems to have a taste for my pansies. what else should I feed? Is the indoor enclosure we've been using ok? If not what should we look to provide? the dimensions are L 110.5cm x W 50cm x D 29cm.

 

[JoesMum]

That enclosure is way too small for a tort that size. You need something 2 metres by 1.5 metres minimum. Preferably outdoors. For diet, see the Tortoise Table link in my sig below

 

[Toby.Tortoise]

We try to put Toby out as much as possible and the garden is fully secure with no escape route or any way to dig out so has plenty of outdoor space, the kids playhouse seems to be a favourite hide. Is it ok to leave the tort outside all the time? I haven't been keen to do this due to the weather and have only been putting out on warmer days. Will have a look at making a larger space indoors.

 

[JoesMum]

Toby is pretty big and would easily be OK outside in the UK.

That said, the weather has been diabolical in the warmer south today.. I think we have had November early! 7 degrees Celcius is ridiculous for Kent in late May!
You might want to set up a basking booster like I have... I have a dog kennel with a heat lamp in it, so that Joe can bask in the absence of sunshine!


See here