I recently acquired a tortoise from a college student who got the tortoise from a family that was moving away and could not take it with them. That family told the college student that it was a box turtle, which it definitely is not, so I don't know how well she was cared for, and the college student only had a basic UVA basking light for heat and fed her iceberg lettuce. He had her for about three months so I was concerned that she might be experiencing some vitamin deficiencies due to the diet and lighting. She does have a couple of small chips in her shell that appear to be a few years old, but she seems to be healthy as far as I can tell.
I have consulted with people on a few other forums in the three months that she has been living with me, but only just discovered this site so I thought I'd get some input here as well..
I have her in a 2 foot x 3 foot "box" made from an old bookshelf laying on its back. I intend to build something larger and more permanent in the future but I don't have a place to put it right now. She has a 100 watt ZooMed UVB lamp, a hollow log hide, a water dish she can soak in, and I'm currently using 3-4" of aspen shavings for substrate since it's readily available here, the bookshelf backing won't handle anything like sand or soil, and I have read that it's OK for Greek tortoises. Her diet right now consists primarily of Dole Spring Mix salad (recommended by people on several different sites) with an occasional shredded baby carrot or three, and dandelions whenever I can find them (although it's too hot for them to grow right now). I have offered cuttlebone and Rep-Cal Calcium/Vitamin D powder (both by itself and mixed in her food) but she doesn't seem interested in them at all and won't eat her favorite foods if the calcium powder is sprinkled on them so I hope and assume that she's getting enough calcium from her diet and Vitamin D from her lamp and our walks outside to look for dandelions and other tasty weeds (no herbicides are ever used in the area that I let her walk).
Since the previous owner(s) didn't know anything about her, I don't have any idea how old she is, but she is currently just over 5.5" from front to back, not including head and tail. She just had a little growth spurt with some shedding on her head and neck and thin white growth lines between the scutes, so I hope that's a sign she's healthy and eating properly.
We decided to name the tortoise Gracie, in part because I believe that she's a Greek (possibly Iberian?), and that's the name my girls chose from the choices I gave them. Of course, if I ever get her a male partner, he'll have to be named George.
Here are a couple of pictures for "show and tell". Maybe you can help me verify if she is in fact an Iberian Greek or a different variety. Also, I want to make sure she is actually female although I'm fairly confident that she is with the short, wide tail and flat plastron. These pictures were taken while she was in a glass aquarium the day after I got her. She was only in the aquarium for a few days while I made room for the bookshelf she uses now so you don't need to tell me that the aquarium isn't a good home..
I have consulted with people on a few other forums in the three months that she has been living with me, but only just discovered this site so I thought I'd get some input here as well..
I have her in a 2 foot x 3 foot "box" made from an old bookshelf laying on its back. I intend to build something larger and more permanent in the future but I don't have a place to put it right now. She has a 100 watt ZooMed UVB lamp, a hollow log hide, a water dish she can soak in, and I'm currently using 3-4" of aspen shavings for substrate since it's readily available here, the bookshelf backing won't handle anything like sand or soil, and I have read that it's OK for Greek tortoises. Her diet right now consists primarily of Dole Spring Mix salad (recommended by people on several different sites) with an occasional shredded baby carrot or three, and dandelions whenever I can find them (although it's too hot for them to grow right now). I have offered cuttlebone and Rep-Cal Calcium/Vitamin D powder (both by itself and mixed in her food) but she doesn't seem interested in them at all and won't eat her favorite foods if the calcium powder is sprinkled on them so I hope and assume that she's getting enough calcium from her diet and Vitamin D from her lamp and our walks outside to look for dandelions and other tasty weeds (no herbicides are ever used in the area that I let her walk).
Since the previous owner(s) didn't know anything about her, I don't have any idea how old she is, but she is currently just over 5.5" from front to back, not including head and tail. She just had a little growth spurt with some shedding on her head and neck and thin white growth lines between the scutes, so I hope that's a sign she's healthy and eating properly.
We decided to name the tortoise Gracie, in part because I believe that she's a Greek (possibly Iberian?), and that's the name my girls chose from the choices I gave them. Of course, if I ever get her a male partner, he'll have to be named George.
Here are a couple of pictures for "show and tell". Maybe you can help me verify if she is in fact an Iberian Greek or a different variety. Also, I want to make sure she is actually female although I'm fairly confident that she is with the short, wide tail and flat plastron. These pictures were taken while she was in a glass aquarium the day after I got her. She was only in the aquarium for a few days while I made room for the bookshelf she uses now so you don't need to tell me that the aquarium isn't a good home..
