New owner needing help identifying species

[Sdraw108]

Hi,

I've very recently been given care of a young tortoise. I want to research things like suitable environment, diet, hibernation requirements, etc. but unfortunately I don't know the breed. The only information I have is that it came from Morocco. I'm in London, UK.

I've taken some photos. Any help would be appreciated. I want to make sure I look after him (or her!) as best as I can, but my initial research tells me there is a lot of variation between breeds, so I'm a bit stuck.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Hello, and a very warm welcome to Tortoise Forum from Morocco!
I am rather hoping this tortoise is captive bred from Moroccan stock as the export of tortoises from here is illegal.
It is a Moroccan Greek, Testudo graeca.
We have three subspecies here, this is most likely Testudo graeca graeca, but looks a little like some T.g. soussensis babies I have seen also.
The care for all three subspecies is exactly the same.
Have a read of http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/ to begin
and then http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
This last was was written for Russians but the care is the same for Greeks.

 

[Sdraw108]

Great, thanks a lot for that. Unfortunately I do not know the origin details - this came from a family member's girlfriend, and I agreed to take it on because I didn't think it was being looked after properly. I have my suspicions, but I figure my priority at this point is to give it decent care, since there's nothing I can really do about how it was obtained.

I will get to reading those guides straight away. I can already see some useful information for changes to its current environment.

 

[Yvonne G]

Welcome!

 

[Tom]

Hello and welcome!

Good advice from Adam above this post.

A word of caution: Its seems the pet shops in the UK suffer from the same sort of ignorance as the pet shops here in the states. They both usually give bad advice and sell products that are useless at best, and dangerous in some cases.

Feel free to ask all your questions here. We are here to talk tortoises!

 

[Gillian M]

Hi @Sdraw108 , and a very warm welcome to the forum.

You've a gorgeous tort. GOD bless. You'll get the help you need, here, to take care of him/her.

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hi

 

[HarvestHerp5]

Hi, Welcome. I sure wish someone would give me another tortoise. Of course, my husband thinks we have enough animals. Good luck with your adorable little guy/girl.

 

[RosemaryDW]

Welcome to the forum!