Anyone know anything about tortoises?

[pgrbff]

He seems to have settled in. Likes blackberries, apple and frise but wont touch dandelion. I'm not sure if he is typical but spends a lot of time trying to escape by climbing a wall twice his length.

 

[gwaithcoed]

My daughter has a tortoise, she thought it would be a simple pet to keep but in fact they can ge much more complex to look after than you think, each species have differing needs and diet so a starter for ten would be to find out what sort he is and then you'll be able to identify what he needs if you decide to keep him. do you have a picture of him that you can post on here, it should be easy to identify him from that.

 

[ajs]

He seems to have settled in. Likes blackberries, apple and frise but wont touch dandelion. I'm not sure if he is typical but spends a lot of time trying to escape by climbing a wall twice his length.

That reminds me, do need to go blackberrying, right time of year now. Did cross my mind a week or so ago but it was in the heatwave and figured it could wait a few days.

Economically it makes no sense at all of course, the time it takes to pick £1 of blackberries dwarfs that it takes to earn £1, but there's something satisfying about getting stuff growing wild for free.

 

[gwaithcoed]

 

[Trainee neophyte]

Economically it makes no sense at all of course, the time it takes to pick £1 of blackberries dwarfs that it takes to earn £1,

No, that's just farming.
Perfectly normal.

Could we have a photo of the rear end of your tortoise, please, and also the underside. The way plates at the rear are set out will show if it is either Hermanni or Marginata, but it could be something else - hard to tell from the photos but it looks quite big for a Hermanni, and the wrong colour (too light) for a big Marginata. Unfortunately those are the only two species I have direct knowledge of, seeing as we have both here. I do, however, have a tortoise expert available, but he will want many measurements in millimetres and weight in grams (he is german, so no use arguing with him - it has to be right or there is no point even starting). His idea of a really fun holiday is three weeks of crawling through the undergrowth, sneaking up on wild tortoises and weighing them. By the time he has finished, they are usually not just wild, they are livid (my favourite Not The Nine O'clock News joke).

 

[gwaithcoed]

Herbie my daughters tortoise, is a Mediterranean spur thighed tortoise, he hatched in May 2015 so is just over seven years old and full of mischief. My daughter wondered if pgrbff had pictures of the tortoise he'd found to identify the species and therefore the correct care, hope that helps.

 

[pgrbff]

I'm just home and went to take some photos but he is already tucked up in bed. I'll catch him tomorrow.
I need to change his boundary as he can't see through the terracotta wall and spends all day trying to climb over it.

 

[pgrbff]

He didn't stay out long yesterday, though to be truthful I'm not sure how long.
Shell is 14cm and the underside is very slightly concave.
He seems to go back to his nest quite early in the day.

 

[Trainee neophyte]

Shell is 14cm and the underside is very slightly concave

So he's medium sized, and male, and appears to be a Hermanni. I will leave it to you to narrow it down more, but this should help: How to Identify Hermann's Tortoises

 

[pgrbff]

Thank you for that. I need to sort out an enclosure and I'm not sure what to use. At the moment it is a wall of high extruded terracotta bricks but he just walks from one end of one wall tries to climb up, fails, walks to the other end, tries to climb up, fails, and back again. It is just too depressing to watch.
He also doesn't seem to eat very much.

 

[Spectric]

My daughter has a tortoise, she thought it would be a simple pet to keep but in fact they can ge much more complex to look after than you think, each species have differing needs and diet so a starter for ten would be to find out what sort he is and then you'll be able to identify what he needs if you decide to keep him.

Could tortoises become the new sharpening debate, I always thought they were a rather boring pet because they sleep for a lot of the year and eat for the rest whilst doing little else in between.

 

[pgrbff]

I wish mine would eat someting!

 

[gwaithcoed]

Thank you for the photograph, my daughters not an expert so will post it on a group she’s a member of on Facebook, (Tortoise plant addicts U.K) and (tortoise addicts U.K) their guidance and advice is always excellent so they’ll be able to identify him and his needs, she did say however the behavior of walking up and down his perimeter fence is fairly usual, if they’re not eating or sleeping they’re generally looking for ways to get out of their enclosure to freedom. She saw you’d said about making part of the enclosure see through, she advised against this, a tortoise will not realise he can’t get through something he can see through and will just spend all his time trying which can be very distressing for them. I’m not sure of the weather in Italy at the moment but if it’s hot you may need to provide him with some shade, such as an empty plant pot or something he can climb under and some water, she just uses the saucer from a plant pot with water in. In relation to what he can eat she says this website is very good The Tortoise Table - Home they use a traffic light system for the plants so you’ll know what he can safely eat and what to avoid.

 

[pgrbff]

He has shade and a house filled with hay which I dampen. I have never seen him forage but he has clearly come to realise I feed him and will eat chopped leaves, mostly chicory and rocket, the latter I have read may not be the best for him. He will also eat apple from my hand, this only because within a minute of presenting him with apple it is totally covered in wasps, I shake them off before re-presenting the slice to him. I think apple is probably not the best either. I have tried chopping other leaves, dandelion and other edible weeds but he ignores them. I also read vine leaves are good but no, not for him.
I am also beginning to question whether he is a male. The underside is only very slightly concave and I wonder if the other tortoise, not a western, was being overly amorous rather than aggressive.

 

[GweithdyDU]

Mine loved buttercup flowers, so much so that it was named as per the flower. It ran away when we (inc. Buttercup) went on a family holiday in a caravan in a farmer's field. It climbed out of the little run we'd take for it.

 

[D_W]

It does show that if you live a slow laid back lifestyle then you can live a lot longer.

you can only eat lettuce, flowers and bugs, though.

 

[Spectric]

lettuce and flowers no problem but not bugs as they are meat!!