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[rsb6697]

Hi! My teenage son just adopted a 1-2 year old Greek tortoise. We love her and are always looking for more info on how to best care for her. We are in NW Indiana.

 

[bouaboua]

Hello and welcome. Good to have you and you're son here. You will soon to find out this is a great place to learn and share.

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hello and welcome to the TFO fromAZ . Greeks are great .


Sent from my iPhone using TortForum

 

[pam]

Welcome

 

[rsb6697]

Thank you everyone! We want to take the best care of Alice as we can. This is her home. Any suggestions?

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Welcome to TFO!

 

[sibi]

Hi and welcome. I suggest you start by looking at the section for Greek tortoise. There you'll find care sheets, and read other members experiences with their Greeks. Can you tell us what kind of setup you have for Alice? What temps are in her enclosure, etc.

 

[Tom]

The tortoise pictured in your avatar is not a Greek and it older than 1-2 years. Is that your son's tortoise?

I would use a terra cotta plant saucer instead of the paint tray for water and move the half log away from the edge of the pool or he'll use it to climb out.

 

[rsb6697]

Yes the pic in my avi is her. We were a little skeptical about what the pet shop told us but we are still pretty new. Tom, how old do you figure she (?) is, and what kind is she if she isn't a Greek? We were also wondering if she is really female since the tail is always tucked to the side.

 

[rsb6697]

Here's another pic.

 

[rsb6697]

And one more showing the size.

 

[lismar79]

Looks like a russian & if you bought at petsmart or other chains it is wild caught and could be anywhere from 4-10 yrs old. Or even older. If you take a pic of the bottom of her shell showing the tail we can tell you if she is a she. I got my russian at petsmart and was told she was a baby and a boy. SHE is neither of those things.

 

[rsb6697]

We did get her from Petsmart as well. Here's the tail...so do you think Alice is male? It's ok because my son named her/him Alice Cooper! Any idea of age?

 

[THBfriend]

Yes, that looks like a male Horsfield's tortoise, a.k.a. Russian tortoise.

 

[rsb6697]

Well my son will be surprised, but the tort seems to be quite active, friendly with us, eats well and looks healthy. We have a vet appointment next Wednesday to have him checked out. I guess this wasn't the best way to buy a tort but we do adore this one and want to take the best care of him.

 

[Maro2Bear]

Thank you everyone! We want to take the best care of Alice as we can. This is her home. Any suggestions?

Greetings and welcome. I'd suggest given the size of your tort that you try to come up with a larger enclosure for him. If you subtract all the space taken up by the hide, water dish, rock outcropping, etc. there is very little actual ground space for him to do walkies. Keep us posted!

 

[rsb6697]

I did take out the sandstone hide and the gray water dish. Have a smaller water dish in there until I get a Terra cotta one. We have been taking him outside twice a day...he makes a lap or 2 around the yard and loves to climb a hill we have. But as weather turns to fall/winter we can follow some of the examples we've seen here.

 

[rsb6697]

What about supervised walks in the house? I have hardwood floors and slate tiles, a but of carpet here & there.

 

[snowflame]

She will do fine on supervised walks on hardwood only.

 

[rsb6697]

We can handle that this winter! Maybe by then we'll have built a bigger enclosure for him. We love watching him explore the backyard. But we are in Indiana so by the fall it'll be too chilly to take him outside.