What Breed is my Tortoise?

[blinky]

I was given her 3 years ago, when a friend of mine bought a new house and didn't realize the old owners pet tortoise had laid eggs in the garden!

http://tinypic.com/r/2vn1aw7/7


I'm in Spain, and the weather went super warm so I pulled her out the shed and left her out, now the weather is freezing again, I have brought her in side the house.

She hasn't moved for 4 days now, She has her little head out (no shes not dead) but shes still in the same spot that I put her in and shes not eaten anything I have given her.

What can I do to help, if she needs it???

 

[Laura]

keep her warm.. if you cant warm her up and keep her warm,, dont let her eat. make sure you give her a good warm water soak so she can replenish her fluids.

 

[blinky]

keep her warm.. if you cant warm her up and keep her warm,, dont let her eat. make sure you give her a good warm water soak so she can replenish her fluids.

Hi Laura, thanks for your reply, should I maybe give her a warm bath??
Haven't got a heat mat for her, bedded on wood chip on one side and stomped down compost on the other side. She has some straw in the corner, but not much else?!

Were working on a proper housing for her, but she'll have to make do for now.. in fairness she's never had problems before, (3 years) I think its more the freaky weather changes were having.

I'm on a mad mission to make her a happy tort, but I'm a rookie when it comes to them!!

 

[Jessicap]

I would give her a heat lamp so she has somewhere she can go to get her body temp up to 95 during the day, with the cold side of her enclosure being no lower than 65. If more of the enclosure is closure to high 70's 80's she should become more active. She may be trying to hibernate.

Try giving her a nice warm bath (water temps high 80s to low 90s) change a little of the water every few minutes to keep it at that temp and to not go over chin level. I usually soak mine and then feed him. He eats ALOT after his soaks and not as much on the non soak days.

As for breed ( I am no expert but will take a guess) I would say Hermann.

Good luck!

 

[Kristina]

Looks like a Greek, but I am terrible when it comes to ID'ing the Mediterraneans!!!

I will give you a bit of info though. Tortoises do not have "breeds." They are species. Dogs have breeds, but even though a Great Dane is very different from a Chihuahua, they are the same species, Canis lupus familiaris. If you have two tortoises, like a Redfoot and a Russian, their scientific names and species are very different - Geochelone carbonaria and Testudo horsfieldii.

I'm sorry I don't have more information for you on bringing her out of hibernation. There are a lot of people here that hibernate and more will be along to help soon.

 

[spikethebest]

waiting for Danny to respond......

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Blinky:

Welcome to the forum!! May we know your name?

Just keep her warm and wait for the weather to warm up enough for her to go back outside. Do you have an indoor habitat set up for her or is she just in a box? If you think its going to be a while until it gets warm outside again, I suggest you make her an indoor habitat with heat and lights, food dish, water dish, the whole shebang! After a couple days living in a warm environment, she should come around and start to eat. If she had lived her whole life outside, it probably would have been ok for her to stay out, but since you've brought her in and warmed her up, now she'll have to stay in until the weather is good again.

 

[Mean Guy]

I would give you the benefit of my wisdom and brilliance, but I seem to have left it in another lifetime... I can say that is a wonderful looking tort, and... I got nuttin' else.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

I was thinkin it's a Greek but I'm like Kristina in that I'm not so great with the Mediterraneans.
However, she needs her inner temps to be about 80 degrees in order to process any food she eats, so she's not eating because she's too cold. Warm her up and feed her or put her back in a dark cold place and allow he to go back into hibernation. But I'm not really sure that's the correct thing to do, it's just what *I* would do.

Welcome to TFO...

 

[GBtortoises]

Your tortoise is a Greek tortoise subspecies, Testudo gracea. Can you provide a photo of it's plastron? A photo of it's head and front limbs would help too. I am familiar with Northern Mediterranean species, not so much Middle Eastern and North African which but EgyptianDan here on TFO is good at identifying subspecies of the latter two locations.

 

[bikerchicspain]

It looks like a Testudo Greaca Greaca to me..
Where abouts are in spain, As i am also in spain on the Costa Blanca.

My torts are still inside even though the weather started to get warmer, But the temps have dropped dramatically this past week.

I would not try and put her back into hibernation. If you have somwhere warm in the house that she can use and move about in, then that would be alot safer than trying to get her to hibernate, especially this time of year.
They normally come out of hibernation in march/april anyway..

 

[egyptiandan]

Good call Yvonne She is a Testudo graeca graeca. They have been introduced to Spain from Algeria 100's of years ago.

Danny

 

[bikerchicspain]

Im getting better LOL

 

[blinky]

Yeah! Thanks guys!!

Hi Yvonne, I am in La Marina and work In Torrevieja.

She is in my bedroom now, in her usual house (an old rabbit style cadge, filled with woodchip and compost) I popped her in the corner under some straw, she hasn't moved. When I had her out the other day, her little front legs were slowly moving but her back legs didn't move. She's acting a little like she is too heavy for herself? Or maybe I'm just being paranoid and should just leave the poor thing along!
(wish she could talk!)


Emma

 

[Yvonne G]

That's how they act when they're too cold to move. Do you have heat/lights on her?

 

[bikerchicspain]

Yeah! Thanks guys!!

Hi Yvonne, I am in La Marina and work In Torrevieja.

She is in my bedroom now, in her usual house (an old rabbit style cadge, filled with woodchip and compost) I popped her in the corner under some straw, she hasn't moved. When I had her out the other day, her little front legs were slowly moving but her back legs didn't move. She's acting a little like she is too heavy for herself? Or maybe I'm just being paranoid and should just leave the poor thing along!
(wish she could talk!)


Emma

HI am in Torrevieja and work at Petsworld, rabbit cage is ok, but as Yvonne said heating would be a very good idea,
I would personally get rid of the the shavings and straw,
I use an organic soil, it has no fertalizer and it is cheap, it costs me about 6 euro for an 80L bag,
I get it from a small euro shop on Toretta 3.
If you pop into my shop I will explain exactly where it is, I can also advise on heating, and weighing and measuring.
I do different shifts but if you ring before hand they will tell you what shift I am on.
It's 966927766.

 

[blinky]

oooo no way... small world! I was in there last Saturday, buying reptile bedding.

Dare I ask how much it would cost to buy her a lamp?
Will you be in Thursday or Saturday by any chance?

Thank you so much for your help!

I work as a rider at Meson Villa Salada, a riding school and restaurant on the salt lake opposite san luis.

 

[bikerchicspain]

oooo no way... small world! I was in there last Saturday, buying reptile bedding.

Dare I ask how much it would cost to buy her a lamp?
Will you be in Thursday or Saturday by any chance?

Thank you so much for your help!

I work as a rider at Meson Villa Salada, a riding school and restaurant on the salt lake opposite san luis.

I go up there for the Gymkhanas, I am stabled at San bruno, So you must know Carol.
Are you Emma louise or the other Emma?

I am at work Thursday from 3pm till 9pm and Saturday is fiesta, Pop in and i will sort you out with some heating devices, depending on the size of the pen etc...

 

[blinky]

Well this just gets weirder!

I'm the other Emma! Yes I've know Carol for years, was out hacking with her this evening! lol!

My tort is shamefully in something like this for now...
http://www.infobarrel.com/Rabbit_Cages_for_Sale

Are you coming down over the weekend? They have the competitions on I will try and come in on Thursday evening!

 

[bikerchicspain]

I met you at the last gymkhana, i was with Carol.

Any way back to your tort. The cage is a bit small if its the same size as the pic, But we can work with that,

Pop in and we can have a chat and work something out.
Oh yes its the Pre feria, I probably will,i will be goin down with Jayne and Keagan.

xx