Need help identifying tortoise breed (& ideal diet for that breed)

[stenaldinho]

Hello fellow tortoise lovers,

Can I please have your help identifying the breed of our pet family tortoise?

Background:
- She has been in our garden (in Ireland) for 30 years, she came with the house as the previous owner didnt want to relocate her.
- We do not know her exact age
- We believe she is a female
- The markings on her shell are the unfortunate and unavoidable result of local cats and foxes, who roam into the garden at night.

We now unfortunately need to relocate our tortoise due to the family house being sold at the end of the summer.
Thankfully we have found a new garden for her locally, just a 5 minute commute away.
I am trying to do my best to ensure she has as comfortable a transition to the new environment as possible.

Q1. My first question is whether you can help identify the exact breed of tortoise.

Q2. My second question relates to the ideal diet for such a tortoise (what to eat as well as what to avoid)

Q3. Any other insights would be invaluable. (gender, age, relocation)


Many thanks,


Sten

 

[TammyJ]

Hello there and welcome! What a sweet old tortoise. Looks like she's sure been through some hard times but going good anyway! Someone who knows more than I do will come along soon to help you know her species and diet.

 

[TammyJ]

Might be hermanni (Hermann's)

 

[TeamZissou]

This is an Eastern Hermann's tortoise and looks to be female

 

[TammyJ]

This is an Eastern Hermann's tortoise and looks to be female

Thank you sir!

 

[Lyn W]

Hi and welcome,
I believe it's one of the Mediterranean species which are the most common in our part of the world, but I'm not sure if it's a Hermanns, Greek or Russian. I could be completely wrong though!
This is an up to date carehseet that covers all Med species from hatchlings on.

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...

tortoiseforum.org

That will list good foods and www.thetortoisetable.org.uk is also a good guide.
Will she have someone keeping an eye on her at all times? Just make sure all the boundaries of the new garden are tort proof and can't be climbed or dug under, as no matter how much space they have they will do their best to escape. Ideally a safe and secure enclosure will stop her doing that. Does she hibernate overwinter?
I hopes she settles in to her new home well - they hate change so may sulk for a while!

 

[stenaldinho]

Hello all, thanks a lot for the information and advice. It was very helpful.
I have some good news regarding the relocation of Speedy, our pet tortoise.

We made the short trip in mid-August from our family garden to her new home and it seems things are going well.

She is not sulking, she remains active and she is eating normally. All in all, we are thrilled with her progress so far.

Some uncertainty remains surrounding hibernation for the winter in her new habitat, whether she will feel comfortable and find a suitable location.
...Any advice on hibernation in a new habitat, (if indeed there is anything we can do), would be very welcome !

In the meantime, I attach some more pics of her in her new home.

Take care,
Sten

 

[Lyn W]

My tort doesn't hibernate so I've no personal experience of this but letting them hibernate in the garden these days is quite risky especially with climate change making temps fluctuate during winter and floods etc..
If they wake during a mild spell and eat, but it then gets colder and they hibernate again the food could rot in their gut which could kill them. There is also a real possibility that rats could chew limbs either killing the tort or if they do survive they could need amputation and wheels fitted. (if you google rats and tortoises you'll see what horrific injuries they can cause).
Many people use a fridge for hibernation so that temps can be kept constant and torts safe, there are quite a few threads about it.

 

[Tom]

- The markings on her shell are the unfortunate and unavoidable result of local cats and foxes, who roam into the garden at night.

Unfortunate, yes. Unavoidable, no. Easily avoidable. The tortoise needs an insulated temperature controlled shelter. This is depicted and described in the thread that Lyn linked for you back in August. I have one of these boxes for each of my groups of tortoises and they are all locked up in them every night. I also have foxes, badgers, bears, coyotes, bob cats, owls, mountain lions, possums, raccoons, rats, mice, ants and other nocturnal nasties prowling around at night. The boxes keep them warm and safe.

Using this sort of night box would probably allow the tortoise to safely brumate outside too.

 

[Paul M]

Hi all - Speedy came to live in our garden when she was relocated a few weeks ago from her previous home of several decades. She seems to have settled in well generally speaking, but would like any tips to help her hibernate as best possible. There is a BBQ at the end of the garden which has a heavy cover over it which extends to the ground meaning it is dark within the confines of the cover. This area has some tree cover overhead and a concrete base. The garden has plenty of grass and areas with soil with whatever wants to grow there - pretty much whatever hardy plants have survived the many years since my mother looked after the garden plus weeds and wild flowers....however Speedy has chosen to move under the BBQ into the darkness that the cover provides. We moved Speedy from under the BBQ to where she would have soil under her, but she has moved back to underneath the BBQ. Speedy has traditionally hibernated from mid November, and the temperature and weather generally has turned more wintery in the last week in Ireland. I feel options are to move the BBQ out of reach and force Speedy to hibernate using more traditional methods, leave things as they are, or work with the current situation by putting some form of box with soil and paper shredding and place Speedy into it to so that the soil will provide insulation against frost and not have Speedy sitting on concrete. The last option seems preferable seeing as she seems to like where she is and given the limited time as she would be in hibernation at this time in years gone by. Any tips or assessment of the situation welcome. Paul

 

[Tom]

Hi all - Speedy came to live in our garden when she was relocated a few weeks ago from her previous home of several decades. She seems to have settled in well generally speaking, but would like any tips to help her hibernate as best possible. There is a BBQ at the end of the garden which has a heavy cover over it which extends to the ground meaning it is dark within the confines of the cover. This area has some tree cover overhead and a concrete base. The garden has plenty of grass and areas with soil with whatever wants to grow there - pretty much whatever hardy plants have survived the many years since my mother looked after the garden plus weeds and wild flowers....however Speedy has chosen to move under the BBQ into the darkness that the cover provides. We moved Speedy from under the BBQ to where she would have soil under her, but she has moved back to underneath the BBQ. Speedy has traditionally hibernated from mid November, and the temperature and weather generally has turned more wintery in the last week in Ireland. I feel options are to move the BBQ out of reach and force Speedy to hibernate using more traditional methods, leave things as they are, or work with the current situation by putting some form of box with soil and paper shredding and place Speedy into it to so that the soil will provide insulation against frost and not have Speedy sitting on concrete. The last option seems preferable seeing as she seems to like where she is and given the limited time as she would be in hibernation at this time in years gone by. Any tips or assessment of the situation welcome. Paul

Is this the same tortoise from the start of this thread?

Here is the correct care info, and the brumation info. These two threads should tell you everything you need to know, and questions are welcome.

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...

tortoiseforum.org

Tom's Brumation Thread

Every fall we get bombarded here on the forum with all sorts of questions and problems regarding hibernation and tortoises "slowing down" for winter. The purpose of this thread is to talk about all aspects of this subject, to dispel some of the myths and mysteries, and give a "how to" list of...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[Yvonne G]

I'm so glad you joined the Forum, @Paul M , so we can follow along with Speedy's progress. @stenaldinho and Speedy were lucky to find you!!!

I'm a little different when it comes to taking care of tortoises. Since Speedy lived for many, many years at stenaldinho's parents home, I would try to learn how Speedy hibernated while she lived there. If she's determined to go under the b-b-Q, I'd make it safe under there for her. Like maybe take a cardboard box and put down a whole, folded in half newspaper, then the tortoise, then fill the box with fallen leaves. Is this an area out of the rain where it will be dry? Is the area protected from freezing? But try to duplicate the conditions at Speedy's previous home where she hibernated.