Albina
New Member
Hello Everyone!
My name is Albina and I live in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. I am a new tortoise owner and I have a couple of questions about my tortoise, which I hope you can help me with.
So, please meet Torty ^^
I always wanted a tortoise, when I was a kid we had several of them in our garden. So on this years birthday I got her as gift. She was bought from a sanctuary farm.
I don't know the history behind the shell damages, but I took her to the vet after I got her, because she had a runny nose. The vet concluded that she is quite healthy and estimated that she must be around 3 years old and of the Mediterranean type.
My first question would be to confirm exatly whats her type is. Is it a Mediterranean tortoise? Because after googling around, I have my doubts, hence please advise!
Does she require hibernation? At the moment she has a small semi-burrow between two built structures which is highly overgrown by grasses which creates a nice enclosure. But I often find her under the jasmine vines sleeping for days.
What temperatures can she tolerate? I keep her in the garden and since for the last two month the temperatures outside have very mild (34-23 degrees). But now it getting a little cold in the night, the temperature drops to 16-17 degrees.
Does she require soaking? I have been soaking her 2-3 times week for 15 minutes initially, but I don't see her drinking. Also, it seems that she doesn't enjoy the process at all and she often fall asleep during soaking!
Finally, my last questions would be about food. I have planted several plants and grasses which are generally edible by tortoises, which are: bermuda grass, hibiscus rosa-sinesis, agave and aloe vera. I see her eating the grass a lot and every morning I pluck a bunch of hibiscus leaves and leave it for her to munch on. Occasionally she gets a treat in form of a cucumber or tomato. Is that a sufficient diet variety or I need to add something else?
I apologise for the long post and I really hope that I can get answers to my questions in order to ensure that she dwells in most healthy environment that I can provide.
Thank you in advance!
Albina
My name is Albina and I live in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. I am a new tortoise owner and I have a couple of questions about my tortoise, which I hope you can help me with.
So, please meet Torty ^^
I always wanted a tortoise, when I was a kid we had several of them in our garden. So on this years birthday I got her as gift. She was bought from a sanctuary farm.
I don't know the history behind the shell damages, but I took her to the vet after I got her, because she had a runny nose. The vet concluded that she is quite healthy and estimated that she must be around 3 years old and of the Mediterranean type.
My first question would be to confirm exatly whats her type is. Is it a Mediterranean tortoise? Because after googling around, I have my doubts, hence please advise!
Does she require hibernation? At the moment she has a small semi-burrow between two built structures which is highly overgrown by grasses which creates a nice enclosure. But I often find her under the jasmine vines sleeping for days.
What temperatures can she tolerate? I keep her in the garden and since for the last two month the temperatures outside have very mild (34-23 degrees). But now it getting a little cold in the night, the temperature drops to 16-17 degrees.
Does she require soaking? I have been soaking her 2-3 times week for 15 minutes initially, but I don't see her drinking. Also, it seems that she doesn't enjoy the process at all and she often fall asleep during soaking!
Finally, my last questions would be about food. I have planted several plants and grasses which are generally edible by tortoises, which are: bermuda grass, hibiscus rosa-sinesis, agave and aloe vera. I see her eating the grass a lot and every morning I pluck a bunch of hibiscus leaves and leave it for her to munch on. Occasionally she gets a treat in form of a cucumber or tomato. Is that a sufficient diet variety or I need to add something else?
I apologise for the long post and I really hope that I can get answers to my questions in order to ensure that she dwells in most healthy environment that I can provide.
Thank you in advance!
Albina
Last edited:
