Noel Pierce - 2012-02-15 Is it normal for a (male) greek tortoise to walking along the side of his tank thumping on the side with his shell everyday? Normally I can feed him and he'll go back to sleep but I'm worried that he might be lonely is why he's doing it. He's been doing this since I got him. I've had him for a good five or so years now and that's about how old he is too. So is this normal? If not what can I do? I don't want him to be upset or anything.
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Charlie Roche - 2012-02-15 I honestly don't know if it is normal or not but if he has been doing it for 5 years - sure wouldn't worry about it. Another way to look at it is, he thumps on the side of the tank and you feed him. Maybe he has you trained.
MARION PARKER - 2012-05-01 My tortoise did that so, I put a piece of ply board inside the front of the tank so he couldn't see out and he never did it anymore. But I put it down to that he wanted to go out into the garden.
Darren Cox - 2011-12-28 Hello, we picked our 2 five month old spur thighed tortoises up today and they are very active and very friendly!!! eating out of our hands etc and seem to love being held very pleased we got them from a very nice breeder and was able to see the mum and dad would never go to the pet shops to purchase them! really pleased!!
Claire Barry - 2011-11-06 My spur thigh male is already showing signs to hibernate, so when he is put in his box with soil, he won't dig he try's to climb out, when I try and help him bury, he just climbs back up to the surface then falls asleep. I don't know if he will be safe like this during the winter can anyone help suggest what to do?
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Jasmine Brough Hinesley - 2011-11-06 Is he primarily an outdoor tortoise? If so, and he does not go into hibernation before it gets too cold, you may want to consider giving him an indoor home over the winter so that he does not die. They do not do well in cold wet environments at all.
Shane - 2011-05-20 HELP I've had my female Greek tortoise to Cornell and they don't know why her head won't come out. We're giving her antibiotics but will soon have to put in a feeding tube at Cornell. Has anyone else heard of this happening? I've had her about 5 or 6 years
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Charlie Roche - 2011-05-20 I don't know and I really couldn't find anything so hopefully someone who has had this problem will answer your question. I did find one site and it talks primarily about hibernation. I don't know if it can help but I thought I'd pass it on. Cornell is usually very good. http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/safer.html
aboud - 2011-10-28 Your tortoise is hibernateding maybe. I am not really sure. I have a male greek tortoise so I know what I am saying and I reasearched
Adam - 2011-10-28 I've got two greek spur thigh toroises. Their extremly tame if I say so myself. They let you stroke their head. They stay out of there shell once you have picked them up. No animal is ever the same though I would recommend these as pets they are great!
matthew - 2011-03-28 I have a greek tortoise and was wondering how to differentiate between male and female. My parents have one of each but as they are young then it's hard to tell. Also at what age roughly can you start to breed these tortoises?
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Editor's Note - 2011-03-28 The length of the Greek Tortoise's (Testudo graeca) tail and plastron (the soft underside of the shell) is the best way to differentiate between males and females. Males have longer plastrons than females and their plastrons are often slightly concave. Males also often carry their tails tucked up in their shell while females will keep their tales sticking outward. It is hard to tell the sex of the tortoises before they are old enough/large enough to breed however, so depending on how large they are you may not be able to tell.
Males usually reach sexual maturity at about 8 years, while females are slower and generally aren't ready until about age 11. Males can generally breed once their plastron is 5-6 inches in length and females need to be 6-7 inches before attempting to breed them.
Dizzy - 2010-08-26 Hi. I Have Two Greek spur thighed Tortoises very large and had a baby last year and this year has laid 24 eggs , and so far have had two babies hatch out, so if you count the one baby from last year and two so far this year, I now have 5 tortoises and could have another 21 if they hatch, will have to start a tortoise farm. lol
Dizzy
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darlene - 2011-03-09 Do you have any Greek tortoises for sale? You can email me back or call 541-914-1428 Thank you, Darlene
Newly introduced into the American market in the summer of 2001, the pretty Spur-Thigh Tortoise shown above is known as the "Golden" Greek Tortoise!
My turtles head gets stuck at the top of his shell when coming out. Is this ok, or should I be worried???
Should be fine.
I just bought my Greek Tortoise, when I placed him in his cage he went to his hide and dove into his shell how can i get him out?
Is it normal for a (male) greek tortoise to walking along the side of his tank thumping on the side with his shell everyday? Normally I can feed him and he'll go back to sleep but I'm worried that he might be lonely is why he's doing it. He's been doing this since I got him. I've had him for a good five or so years now and that's about how old he is too. So is this normal? If not what can I do? I don't want him to be upset or anything.
I honestly don't know if it is normal or not but if he has been doing it for 5 years - sure wouldn't worry about it. Another way to look at it is, he thumps on the side of the tank and you feed him. Maybe he has you trained.
My tortoise did that so, I put a piece of ply board inside the front of the tank so he couldn't see out and he never did it anymore. But I put it down to that he wanted to go out into the garden.
Can you breed a male greek spur-thighed tortoise with a female tunisian spur-thighed tortoise?
Hello, we picked our 2 five month old spur thighed tortoises up today and they are very active and very friendly!!! eating out of our hands etc and seem to love being held very pleased we got them from a very nice breeder and was able to see the mum and dad would never go to the pet shops to purchase them! really pleased!!
My spur thigh male is already showing signs to hibernate, so when he is put in his box with soil, he won't dig he try's to climb out, when I try and help him bury, he just climbs back up to the surface then falls asleep. I don't know if he will be safe like this during the winter can anyone help suggest what to do?
Is he primarily an outdoor tortoise? If so, and he does not go into hibernation before it gets too cold, you may want to consider giving him an indoor home over the winter so that he does not die. They do not do well in cold wet environments at all.
HELP I've had my female Greek tortoise to Cornell and they don't know why her head won't come out. We're giving her antibiotics but will soon have to put in a feeding tube at Cornell. Has anyone else heard of this happening? I've had her about 5 or 6 years
I don't know and I really couldn't find anything so hopefully someone who has had this problem will answer your question. I did find one site and it talks primarily about hibernation. I don't know if it can help but I thought I'd pass it on. Cornell is usually very good.
http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/safer.html
Your tortoise is hibernateding maybe. I am not really sure. I have a male greek tortoise so I know what I am saying and I reasearched
I've got two greek spur thigh toroises. Their extremly tame if I say so myself. They let you stroke their head. They stay out of there shell once you have picked them up. No animal is ever the same though I would recommend these as pets they are great!
I have a greek tortoise and was wondering how to differentiate between male and female. My parents have one of each but as they are young then it's hard to tell. Also at what age roughly can you start to breed these tortoises?
The length of the Greek Tortoise's (Testudo graeca) tail and plastron (the soft underside of the shell) is the best way to differentiate between males and females. Males have longer plastrons than females and their plastrons are often slightly concave. Males also often carry their tails tucked up in their shell while females will keep their tales sticking outward. It is hard to tell the sex of the tortoises before they are old enough/large enough to breed however, so depending on how large they are you may not be able to tell.
Males usually reach sexual maturity at about 8 years, while females are slower and generally aren't ready until about age 11. Males can generally breed once their plastron is 5-6 inches in length and females need to be 6-7 inches before attempting to breed them.
Hi. I Have Two Greek spur thighed Tortoises very large and had a baby last year and this year has laid 24 eggs , and so far have had two babies hatch out, so if you count the one baby from last year and two so far this year, I now have 5 tortoises and could have another 21 if they hatch, will have to start a tortoise farm. lol
Dizzy
Do you have any Greek tortoises for sale? You can email me back or call 541-914-1428
Thank you,
Darlene