Tortoise Identification - help!

[Teapot4]

Hi helpful people

I'm wondering if anyone can help me ID a tortoise I seem to have adopted from someone who desperately needed to find him a home!

His names Herbert and I'm thinking he's a spur thigh however I cannot be certain. I don't think he's in the best of shape and he's got problems with his jaw, he has a massive underbite but he's had no problems eating. He has spurs on his back leg. He also came in a wooden viv but tonight I've put him in a home made table for more room for him.

I already have a healthy and very active 3 year old hermann and I was told the new one was around 5 years old but is easily double the size of my baby hermann.

Any help identifying his species would be great so I can be certain I give him the right care.

Many thanks

 

[Yvonne G]

I'm not good at I.D.ing the Mediterranean species, but it looks like a marginated maybe???

 

[tort_luv_5055]

Re: RE: Tortoise Identification - help!

Hi helpful people

I'm wondering if anyone can help me ID a tortoise I seem to have adopted from someone who desperately needed to find him a home!

His names Herbert and I'm thinking he's a spur thigh however I cannot be certain. I don't think he's in the best of shape and he's got problems with his jaw, he has a massive underbite but he's had no problems eating. He has spurs on his back leg. He also came in a wooden viv but tonight I've put him in a home made table for more room for him.

I already have a healthy and very active 3 year old hermann and I was told the new one was around 5 years old but is easily double the size of my baby hermann.

Any help identifying his species would be great so I can be certain I give him the right care.

Many thanks

Looks exactly like a huge, pyramided version of my Greek Ibera Apollo.

There are some great Greek tort care sheets on the forum.

Like Yvonne said. Maybe. Check HermanniChris's account. He has some pictures of Marginated in a few of his threads. Good luck!

 

[mctlong]

Doesn't look pyramidded to me...

My guess would also be marginated, but I don't own marginateds, so I'm no expert on those.

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

Marginated...looks pretty good, really. Pyramiding isn't too bad on him.

Diet and care is very similar to what you're already doing for your Hermann's, except Herbert'll need a roomier enclosure.

 

[Team Gomberg]

I see a Marginated because of the "skirt"

 

[peasinapod]

If you can post a picture of the plastron we can be sure. Marginated have triangles on their plastron.

I say spur-thigh, just to be contrary. (The shape just seems a bit strange to me, he has quite an extreme "hat-shape". But I'm just a beginner, so I am most probably not correct.)

 

[Teapot4]

thanks for you help guys!

Do Marginated torts typically have spurs though? I would have said marginated because of his skirt but the spurs threw me!

He came to me in a viv but I've put him on a table the same as my Herman which is a converted draw for under a bed and is about 5 foot by 2 foot. He has plenty of room to mooch even with his decor of and obviously the usual hide, rocks, plants.

It's early days but he is eating and enjoying himself.

Would like to know his species mainly for his heat and light requirements so I can get it right for him.

[SMILING FACE WITH SMILING EYES]

 

[FLINTUS]

Got to be a marginated. Never see that skirt on hermanni or graeca.

 

[peasinapod]

Couldn't it be a case of this, just with a greek instead of a hermann's tortoise? http://testudoland.npage.de/haltungsbedingtes-fehlwachstum.html

It's just that the plastron doesn't show any triangles and it seems way too round for a marginated. All the picture of plastrons I found on google are way longer and thinner at the sides. Maybe it is a hybrid? http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Testudo_graeca_und_marginata.jpg

Btw: Am I allowed to post a link to another forum? I'm asking because I found a thread on the shelled warriors forum while googling, which has quite a lot of pictures of a Testudo graeca ibera which has noticeable flaring.

 

[peasinapod]

Also marginateds are said not to have any spurs. I've also read that they are supposed to have a black stripe down their tail. The back feet also seem to be a bit different.
Take a look at the pictures here. I know it is in german, but I think you can see what I mean about the triangles and stripes. http://www.mediterrane-landschildkroeten.de/breitrandschildkroete_testudo_marginata.php

 

[bouaboua]

Lucky you that able to adopt a such big and beautiful guy.

This is my guy.[/align]

 

[Platysternon]

you have a picture of the plastron? it seems to me a hybrid graecaXmarginata

 

[peasinapod]

you have a picture of the plastron? it seems to me a hybrid graecaXmarginata

Post Nr.8 has a plastron shot.

 

[Platysternon]

ok, sorry, It's greek tortoise

 

[Tim/Robin]

Absolutely not a T g marginata. I think it is likely a male T g buxtoni. What is the SCL in inches?

 

[biochemnerd808]

Ha!~ I was JUST going to reply that I don't think that it's a Marginated, because it has the 'wrong' plastron markings. Because of the skirt in the back my next guess would have been buxtoni. Then I loaded the next thread of the page, and there was Tim, who knows a buxtoni when he sees one.

Absolutely not a T g marginata. I think it is likely a male T g buxtoni. What is the SCL in inches?

 

[juli11]

I think it is a cross between gracea and marginata...

 

[ellie.may.gardner]

Hmm possibly a marginated tortoise these are my cuties!

 

[Yvonne G]

Because Tim (Tim/Robin) is very fluent in tortoise, I've taken his word as the true I.D. and moved the thread to a Greek section.