Northern Ibera Greek Information Requested

[Shawn_3010]

Hello, I’m interested in eventually working with Northern Ibera Greek Tortoises as I have done some research so far and feel they’re exactly what I’m looking for in a pet tortoise eventually (manageable size, able to spend most of the year outside in my climate, hardy, personable, good beginner species). So I wanted to post here and ask if people can share their experiences with this subspecies and locality. I’ve seen the Southern Iberas and like them as well but would prefer the Northerns for now as they seem to be hardier cold tolerance wise and also I prefer their darker coloration. Please let me know your experience with this locality and how readily available they are, as from several google searches it seems not many work with the pure form of this locality and rather label “Ibera greek tortoises” as sorta a common label not differentiating between northern versus southerns. I’m a locality reptiles fan so I care about the northern versus southern distinction as well as ensuring any tortoise I get would have locality information as I’d love to have a breeding project with them one day far into the future to help keep the pure form established in the hobby.

 

[MotherofDragons]

Hello!

You sound like me, I preferred the darker animals and a tort that could be sturdy outdoors was a necessity. Northern subspecies are supposed to be on the larger end of the range as well- another plus for me! Chris said to me the Ankara locale were a personal favorite of his, were dark on average, and could get totally black.

Definitely talk to Chris at Garden State Tortoise. He is the most popular Testudo breeder and the go to for information on Testudo here on the forum. There are some other reputable ones, but Chris has the locales nailed down and I often only see North or South attributed to Iberas other places. I purchased some Ankara Locale Northern Greek Ibera from him last year. I reached out to him the first week in September. At that time he happened to have a few left and indicated there would not be more until this Summer. Reaching out now and getting on any list is probably wise, because as I said he is a popular breeder. Now I did not ask him personally, but another member here has also purchased the Ankara locale Ibera from him and they have shared in the forum that Chris imported those directly from Ankara, Turkey to keep the lines pure. I think this is what you're looking for.

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