Is this a Sulcata tortoise? Need help identifying specie and age, please :(!

Andyparks

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Hi all! :)

I have no experience whatsoever owning or working with tortoises before, and I just happened to take one in recently. I live in the Middle East (Abu Dhabi) and found this little guy crossing the highway on a red light, and ran to grab him and take him home. There's no way for a tortoise his size to be on the road so I am sure careless, irresponsible owners discarded him from their car. He could have been run over.

He was severely dehydrated, dry and flaky and I soaked him in little water and fed him cucumbers to restore his health. It's been almost 3 weeks now and I've built him a small enclosure with coir, dry grass, a small pool of water, a place to hide and sleep, food, and a 40 V golden light bulb from a table lamp for heat. All apartments here have central A.C so I cannot control the humidity or temperature that often.

His diet as far of now consists of: white melon and pumpkin slices, lettuce leaves (he absolutely loves this and refuses to eat if not fed pumpkin or lettuce at least once per day) dry grass sometimes, cucumbers, carrots

I know there are concerns about excess calcium and protein, but I do not have sufficient knowledge about their diets and enclosures.

I really would like to know what kind of tortoise Supreme is (named him Supreme Evil, or "Supreme" for short because at first he'd always bite!:p), although I suspect Sulcata. How do I know how old and what gender it is, as well? He is about 13 cm (5 inches)

I've also noticed that Supreme's back legs don't function too well. He (I call him he) cannot stand on all fours and usually drags his hind legs around instead of keeping them upright. Is this because of age or should I be concerned? Has anybody else faced this problem with their tortoises?

I'd really appreciate any help!
Andy

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JoesMum

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I don't think he's a Sulcata. He's too small. Can you post pictures of the underside of this tortoise including the tail please?
 

Andyparks

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I don't think he's a Sulcata. He's too small. Can you post pictures of the underside of this tortoise including the tail please?

He's not being very co-operative at the moment, but I hope these will suffice?

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JoesMum

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If I'm correct, this is a wild tortoise and a native species that happened to wander on to the road.

This one is no youngster and a Sulcata gets to be enormous. I'm guessing at Egyptian - a CITES 1 protected species, but it is a guess and people more experienced with African tortoises should be around in the next hour or so as morning arrives in their part of the world.

We'll never be able to give you an age as we don't know when it was hatched. The shell condition tells you this one has been around a while.
 

Maro2Bear

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Greetings and Marhaba. I'd agree that ur new tort is not a Sulcata. I was going to guess at it being a Russian. Probably from a local pet store/market and escaped from its owner. Given the traffic and highways in Abu Dhabi, thats one lucky tort. Glad you rescued.
 

enzot91

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Looks like a female eastern Hermann's tortoise to me. She's most likely someone's pet who managed to escape.
 

Yvonne G

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I was going to guess Egyptian tortoise too (Testudo kleinmanni). We'll send a shout-out to the guy who can tell you for sure - @HermanniChris

The back leg problem is probably due to not getting enough calcium. Be sure to feed him calcium-rich greens and you might also add a sprinkle of calcium over his food a couple times a week. You can grind up a human calcium tablet into powder, but don't use too much. They won't eat if they can see and smell the calcium.

  • Kale. An excellent source of calcium, kale offers a whopping 139mg per 100g serving of the vegetable and offers very absorbable calcium. ...
  • Collard Greens. ...
  • Broccoli. ...
  • Kelp. ...
  • Spinach. ...
  • Soybeans.
 

Andyparks

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I was going to guess Egyptian tortoise too (Testudo kleinmanni). We'll send a shout-out to the guy who can tell you for sure - @HermanniChris

The back leg problem is probably due to not getting enough calcium. Be sure to feed him calcium-rich greens and you might also add a sprinkle of calcium over his food a couple times a week. You can grind up a human calcium tablet into powder, but don't use too much. They won't eat if they can see and smell the calcium.

  • Kale. An excellent source of calcium, kale offers a whopping 139mg per 100g serving of the vegetable and offers very absorbable calcium. ...
  • Collard Greens. ...
  • Broccoli. ...
  • Kelp. ...
  • Spinach. ...
  • Soybeans.

Thank you for suggesting!
I did doubt if it was a lack of calcium that caused it, I'll head out to buy all those you've listed, hopefully he'll eat them.
And I looked up Egyptian Tortoises and he doesn't seem to match the physique completely but I'd love to know the chances

@enzot91 Eastern Hermann tortoises have darker patches on their shells, I'm assuming Supreme won't develop them with age, if so he's definitely not Hermann. These are so confusing!
@Maro2Bear Hello!! Thank you for responding! I'm happy I got to save him, pet owners here are usually extremely impervious to animal torture, it wouldn't be a surprise if he was discarded sadly. And I think he does look like a Russian tortoise
 

Tom

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That sure looks like female russian tortoise to me. Looks like it could benefit from some daily soaks for a while.

Care info:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/


If this tortoise has been housed indoors with no UV and/or fed the wrong diet, the back leg thing could be MBD. Metabolic Bone Disease. The cure is sunshine, UV, calcium supplementation, and a proper diet.

It could also be due to constipation, impaction or being egg bound. Soaks, a good diet, and an x-ray would help to confirm or deny these possibilities.
 

Tom

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You do not have a sulcata whatsoever. It's an Araxes Greek tortoise (Testudo graeca armeniaca). This is a very rare subspecies of the Greek tortoise.

Wow. That is a new one to me. I've never even heard of that subspecies.

Thanks for the education.
 

Andyparks

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Thanks for all your responses! There are so many species to keep up with 0:

So he/she is an Araxes Greek; I've never heard of those before

I can't seem to find if it's native to the area, as Joesmum asked
This is a very hot climate, lots of sandy terrain, can't find any info on this sadly

Also, @HermanniChris do you have any information regarding its food habits/habitat? I can't tell if these share the same exact traits as the normal Greek tortoises

I can't give him away to anybody else, so I'll have to look after him for a long time
 

JoesMum

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From what I've found the Araxes is Testudo graeca armeniaca. A native of Armenia which is rather a long way from Abu Dhabi.
 

HermanniChris

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Their range extends further than that with introduced populations found elsewhere including those mixed with other subspecies of Greek tortoise. They do best in arid, sandy environments but of course should have access to drinking water daily. Feeding regime is the same for any Testudo.
 
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