Boo outside

Can you spot little Boo, our Greek tortoise, pretending to be a rock in his outdoor enclosure? 

Boo, trying to blend in

Boo is doing well, but he doesn't particularly seem to like being outside in his enclosure. He spends most of the time hiding in the little hide house, or under the weeds. Since he spends less time exploring and eating than I expected, it's starting to look a bit like a jungle in there... time to harvest some to feed to the other tortoises!

Sunshine and weeds = tortoise heaven

We have enjoyed a few gorgeous days here in the Pacific Northwest... and so the tortoises have gotten to spend a lot of time outside!

Boo seems to really enjoy the outside enclosure I built him.

I seeded his enclosure with The Tortoise Lady's seed mix, and I am so happy to see how well everything is growing in, now. I also transplanted a variety of tortoise-safe plants, and in spite of Boo grazing on them, there is still plenty left over.

Gotta love that little frowny face!

While I miss watching the tortoises inside, I know that good old 'real' UVB is so important for them, and I know they love having the extra space to roam.

Boo update

Little Boo, our Greek tortoise, is doing SO well! He has gained quite a bit of weight, he is eating lots of new weeds and greens I pick for him, and he is much more friendly.  

Boo still hides when you first pick him up...

When we first got Boo, he felt alarmingly light when you picked him up. Now he feels nice and heavy, like a healthy tortoise should. If you look in the picture above, you can also see a nice bright new growth ring showing up. I'm happy to see that the new growth is nice and smooth.

...but then he comes back out of his shell, and squirms and sniffs you!

I love Boo's little tortoise face. He has huge eyes, and a funny little nose...

Boo from the side. Such a handsome little dude!

Boo also has a nice new outdoor enclosure now that he spends the daytime in. A few months ago I found a big 6'x4' heavy-duty-plastic koi pond on Craigslist. I excavated a hole, filled the hole with gravel, drilled drainage holes into the bottom of the pod, put more gravel into the pond, covered the gravel with landscape fabric, and put the dirt back in, now mixed with some leaves and a little sand. 

Boo, on top of the little hill I built in there

The outdoor enclosure is on the west side of the house, so it is shady there until about 11am. Because of this, Boo stays indoor during the morning, and then once the sun hits this area, I bring him outside. He'll spend all the sunny days outside, but when it is pouring, he gets to be indoors, since cold, wet weather isn't good for these little guys.

Not much is growing in there right now...
I transplanted a few plants and weeds, and I seeded the whole enclosure
with a tortoise-friendly seed mix my friend gave me. 

Because this side of the house gets direct afternoon sun for several hours, I had to make sure to create multiple micro-climates for Boo. I built him an insulated tortoise hide out of an old recycling bin and a cement mixing tub, filled with organic top soil. He can dig down into there if it gets too hot.

The view of the Koi pond - the tub in the back is 1/2 of the hide house.

The water dish is missing from the picture above - but you can get a general idea of the enclosure. There is a hill, some rocks, some plants, a hide house (in the pic above the roof is missing from it).

Boo likes the thistle and the rosemary plant.

 I only have pictures of Boo hiding while he's in the enclosure, but he actually really enjoyed walking all around and exploring. He sunned himself for a little while, and finally dug down into the dirt.

The outdoor enclosure with the lid down.

The above picture shows the enclosure with the lid on. This is to help protect Boo from any hawks, crows, or cats that might happen by during the daytime. The odd green grassy stuff came with the lid (used to be part of an iguana cage), and still needs to be trimmed. It will provide some nice dappled shade when I finish trimming and attaching it better.

Bold little Boo!

Today Boo, our little Antakyan Greek tortoise, surprised me - I was picking up some old wilted leaves from his feeding rock, and instead of pulling into his shell and waiting for me to finish, he walked over to my hand, climbed up onto it, and gave my thumb a hearty bite and tug. I was so delighted, I was even able to suppress the yelp of pain!

No really. I promise there is a tortoise in there. 

Boo is starting to eat like a little piggy - finally! He doesn't seem to like a big pile of food, so instead, I lean a few weeds or leaves up against a rock in his tort table several times throughout the day. He is finally putting on some REAL weight now, too - out of curiosity I weighed him yesterday, and he came in at 476g, which is 25g more than he was last time.

Boo is eating!

We have had Boo the Greek tortoise for 3.5 months now. He is still very shy, and often pulls his head inside his shell when someone walks near his tort table... but he is feeling comfortable enough that I was able to get a few good pics of him eating! 

Nom! Good little Greek tortoise!

 Getting Boo to eat has been tricky. His old owner only fed him Romaine, and he has been extremely picky about what he will eat. He won't eat anything even slightly wilted, and he won't eat the stems. He won't eat it if it's lying on the ground, but leaning up against a rock is fine. What this boils down to is giving him small portions several times a day, leaned up against the rock.

Boo the Greek tortoise chowing down on some endive

In December and January I end up having to buy greens for the tortoises... the rest of the year I collect and grow my own. Endive, mustard greens, kale, collard greens, and Spring mix lettuce have been on the menu. Dandelion is starting to sprout now, so in about a week I should be able to get a good harvest every few days. I'm looking forward to having free and healthier tort food again!  

Boo hasn't gained any weight in the last 4 weeks, but I do see him eating more, and he continues to be very active. I hope he will have a growth spurt once the weather warms up a little! For an 8-year-old Greek tortoise, he is VERY shrimpy!

Dirty water in 2 minutes!

Boo, our Greek tortoise is so funny. I give him fresh water every morning, and within a few minutes, he has stomped back and forth through it until it is completely soiled with coco coir.

One little piggy, stomping through his water!

I think he just likes making me look bad, when guests come over. "No really, I change his water every day!"

Boo the Greek tortoise update

My little Antakyan Greek tortoise is doing so well. He is VERY active in his new tortoise table: he RUNS all over the place, climbs all over his pumpkin and his rocks, walks through his water dish, basks for a while, then runs and clonks all over again.
It is amazing what a nice big habitat, proper UVB light, and good heat and food will do for a previously lethargic, scared tortoise.

Boo is still kind of shy

He is becoming less of a picky eater, as well. His old owner fed him mostly romaine lettuce, so for several months, Boo refused to eat anything else. My stubbornness finally won out - I gave him NO more romaine, and for a while he wouldn't touch the other, more healthy, leafy greens I offered. I just kept removing the untouched greens, and replacing them with new ones each day. Then a few weeks ago, I was pleasantly surprised to find that he had eaten most of his meal! He still has a smaller appetite than my Russian tortoises, but then again, those four are little piggies.

Boo loves being in the water

Boo's colors really come out when he's in the water soaking, which is why so many pictures that I take are of him soaking in the water. He has access to a water dish in his tortoise table, and I soak him in his big tub 1-2 times per week.

Boo = NOT an aquatic species. 

Greek tortoises are desert and steppe dwellers - they like heat, and they eat a high fiber diet of different greens and weeds. Counter to what many people believe, however, they DO need access to water in their enclosure, and they DO need to be soaked regularly to stay hydrated.

How to gently file a tortoise's beak - video!

Boo's beak is still not quite where it should be, even after trimming it... so to help him, I have been slowly filing it down every time I bathe him. I know that a lot of other folks out there are encountering the same problem, so here is a little video showing how to file a tortoise's beak.

For a less shy, more squirmy tortoise, you will need to hold them a little more securely. Boo is super shy, so my main concern is to tease him out of his shell.

Boo goes LIVE on YouTube!

I just posted a short video clip of Boo bathing on YouTube.

In fact, I started my own little Tortaddiction YouTube channel. I plan to post little fun or educational video clips of my tortoises on there for you.

Boo's new tort enclosure

I am so excited to show you all our Greek tortoise Boo's new enclosure! I built this from my own design - and I had fun painting it. I had to use my neighbor's tools, and he took over a little lot more of the work than I would have chosen... however, truth be told, the end result is probably much more sturdy than it would have been if I had built it completely by myself. Boo's new tort fort is both functional, and attractive.

As you may have already read, I rescued Boo from a family who kept him in a tiny 20-gallon aquarium in the winter, and in the Summer kept him in the garden, tethered by a ring drilled into his shell.

This is what Boo used to live in:

20 gallon aquarium

...and this is what Boo lives in now:

48"L x 18"W x 15"H wood and glass enclosure

In the grand scheme of tortoise tables, even this new one is actually not very large. In a few years I am going to build Boo a much larger enclosure, and this tort fort will turn into the Russian tortoise nursery... (you know, when Timmy lays some eggs? *wishful thinking*)

The challenge, when building a tortoise table, is that tortoises are happier when they have solid walls around them. They can't grasp the concept of glass, and continually attempt to walk through it. However, the large dresser that I wanted to set the enclosure on was high enough up that nobody would have been able to see in if all four walls were made of wood. I created a simple design that allowed for three solid wood walls, and glass in the front for easier viewing. (I got the 1/4" thick tempered glass on Craigslist for $3!)

...done painting and staining, still need the glass front and the vinyl flooring

I built this tortoise enclosure out of stain grade wooden boards treated with several coats of 'mission oak'-tinted polyurethane, with vinyl flooring, caulked cracks, and a glass front that I decoupaged and painted a sight barrier on the bottom 4.5 inches. I painted a little mural on the back that matches the design of our curtains. The hide box doubles as a plant stand (and the flower pot helps prevent Boo from climbing up and out - he's half monkey!)

...the glass is installed, and the UV light is in place.

 For substrate I used a mix of moistened coconut coir and sand. The coco coir is 4 inches deep, except in the hide box, where it is closer to 6.5 inches. Boo will be able to burrow to his heart's content.

Live spider plant, and some bird seed, barley, and kale planted in some organic soil

 I planted some seeds in a plastic container of organic soil. They have sprouted in the meantime, and Boo enjoys nibbling on the sprouts, as well as digging in the soil. The spider plant has taken somewhat of a beating, too, since Boo keeps trying to climb it.

All moved in! 

 Once I was content with the set-up, I moved the basking lamps over from the little aquarium, and moved Boo in. The flat basking rock is nice and big, and helps hold the basking temperature at a steady 95-100 degrees F. The UVB light is installed in a way that Boo will benefit from as he moves around his tort fort.

This plant got replaced with a pumpkin in the meantime, until I find a good climbing rock.
The jade plant didn't survive Boo's climbing for long.

 Have I mentioned that Boo is half monkey? Tortoises seem to find the most complicated route to get from a) to b) and then they make it more interesting by doing acrobatics along the way. They are especially happy if in the process they can drag as much substrate and food into their water dish as possible.

All tuckered out from exploring and climbing!

At the end of the day, Boo luxuriously dug into his 6+ inches of substrate in his hide house and went to sleep!

I hope that some day Boo will learn to trust me enough to eat out of my hand. He is a VERY picky eater, and he still pulls into his shell any time someone reaches into the tort table (I don't blame him, after being disrespected by his old owners). He does seem so much more happy in his new enclosure, though. He is very active, explores, basks, climbs, digs... he is able to look out through the glass if he climbs to a high point, and he definitely watches the kids as they play.

Boo is still very shy...

...but with much patience...

...he is getting used to me!

Peek-a-Boo!

Boo (the incredibly shy Greek tortoise) is still being incredibly shy... but he is warming up just a little! A few days ago he stayed outside of his shell for long enough that I could trim his beak a little. It still needs more trimming, but this is already SO much better than it was before!

Boo! (Aaaah!)

I am almost finished with his nice new tort table (remember, he's still living in the little aquarium his old owner kept him in). I've been working on it for 2 weeks, have dried the 6th layer of polyurethane, and just caulked the cracks today. It looks so nice! It has wood on 3 sides, and then 1 side has glass, but the bottom 5 inches are opaque. I went a little artsy, and I painted a fun design on the back wall that matches the design of our curtains, and I also built a little hide house. I still have to install the linoleum floor, and then wait for a few days for the poly smell to fade, then he can move in! I'll post pics on here, of course. I'm hoping I can move him into his new table this weekend. Boy will he love having all that room to roam!

Boo, aka the mystery tort

Boo is my most recent tortoise rescue. He is an Antakyan Greek tortoise (Testudo graeca antakyensis). I have only had him for 3 weeks, and he is VERY shy.

This is what you see when you try to visit with Boo while he is soaking...

I have been searching our local Craigslist for a female Russian tortoise for a long time (still haven't found one... so many males!) On one of my weekly "tortoise" searches, a listing in 'farm and garden' for a 'Tahitian tortoise' caught my eye. At first I was just intrigued. I did a google image search for 'Tahitian tortoise' and only came up with some fancy glasses and pens, a galapagos tortoise at the Tahitian zoo, and a sea turtle. I asked some folks on the tortoise forums, and nobody had ever heard of a Tahitian tortoise. I finally contacted the owner to find out more.

The owner was adamant that it was a 'Tahitian' tortoise, and that she purchased it from the breeder in Seattle at a reptile show 6 years ago as a yearling, hatched 2005. She just wanted to find a good home for it, because her son lost interest. I asked her for some pictures, which she sent. The owner bragged that the tort had a metal ring drilled into the back of his shell (yikes!). He was being kept in a tiny 20 gal aquarium without UV light. He didn't seem to have much pyramiding though, which is probably due to the fact that they kept him tethered by his ring outside in the yard during the Summer, so at least he was getting UVB then. The rest of the year they fed him romaine lettuce and carrots.

This is the first pic the previous owner sent me. Can you see how overgrown the beak is?!

Aside from wanting to have the tort due to the 'cute' factor, it sounded like this tort wasn't being cared for properly. I talked to my husband and to some folks on my favorite tort forum, and decided to go for it. I met the previous owner at a Shell station out in the boonies near where she lived. The tort came with his 20 gal aquarium filled with dry bark chips that REEKED of cigarette smoke, a hide log, and a lamp fixture that had a garage-type spotlight in it (which by the way was burnt out).

Once I was home, the first thing I did was to run a warm soaking bath for the little mystery tort. The owner told me that this kind of tortoise doesn't need water, and that she soaked it once every week or so... so I just assumed it was probably dehydrated.

Boo soaking. He still had his ring. Isn't he pretty though?!

Then I proceeded to throw away the icky smoke-stinking bark chips. I washed out the little tank, and filled it with a flat rock on one end and some 50:50 moistened coconut coir sand mix. The tiny tank would have to do until I built a nice big tort table, since my 'rescue' table was currently occupied by Mo.

Back view - this was still during the first bath, so the ring is still in.

I decided to name the little mystery tort "Boo" because we got him the day after Halloween, and because he was so shy. I couldn't even (and still haven't been able to) trim Boo's terribly overgrown beak, since he covers his face with his legs and pulls into his shell so far that nobody can reach him.

Top view of Boo's carapace, still with the ring.
I took this to help folks on the forum identify what kind of tortoise we had. 

Of course after his first bath I removed the metal ring from Boo's shell - no tortoise should be tethered! This was harder than I thought it would be, it must have been stainless steel or something... but in the end, I cut it in half and got it out.

After his bath, I placed Boo into his little tank, and placed a ceramic heat lamp on one end. Since the floodlight the owner sent along with him was burnt out, I wasn't sure if he'd been kept warm enough, so I wanted to make sure he had the option to bask if he wanted to. The next day I 'borrowed' the UVB light from Mo, and ordered a new UVB fixture and tube light for Boo, as well as a new basking light. Until those arrived, I just moved the UVB back and forth between Mo's table and Boo's tank.

I took this pic of the bottom of Boo's shell to help identify him.

Knowing exactly what kind of tort I had just rescued would help me properly care for him, so I set out on a quest for proper classification. My initial guess was that it could be a Hermann's tortoise, however, this guess was quickly refuted when I posted a pic of him on the Hermann's tortoise forum. Someone said that they thought he was a Greek, though for his age he is pretty small. Researching Greek tortoises led me to thinking he could be a Tunisian Greek tortoise (which kind of sounds like "Tahitian" so maybe the previous owner misunderstood?). However, an expert on the forum said that Boo's markings weren't quite right for a Tunisian - that he is an Antakyan greek tortoise (Testudo graeca antakyensis). Lucky for me, the care for this kind of Greek is very similar to the captive care of Russian torts. Of course I will not keep them together - mixing species is a bad idea, as they can transmit parasites and pathogens, and might also fight each other.

Boo bathing. No more ring!

I am finding that Boo is a VERY picky eater. His old owner used to feed him nothing but romaine and carrots (although at least she dusted with calcium). Boo will just ignore the food he doesn't like, even if he hasn't eaten that day. It was time for some tough love - I knew he wouldn't starve himself, so after a few days of me offering him good healthy greens and him ignoring them, he finally gave in and ate his fill. Now he's doing ok, although he does turn his nose up at a few of the things my other torts love.

Boo eating. I had to use the zoom on my camera to get this shot.  Yes, Boo still has an overgrown beak.

I am hoping that the new, bigger tort table with plenty of hide spots and room to roam will help little Boo get more comfortable. He was probably dragged around by his ring, so I don't fault him for being so shy. He's also still very young, so with kind treatment and the wisdom that comes with age he will hopefully become more friendly.

Weigh-in

It is generally not a bad idea to weigh and measure your tortoise(s) on a somewhat regular basis to make sure they are growing and gaining weight. Young tortoises should display steady slow growth. Older tortoises won't show much change, but at the very least they should not be losing weight.

I weigh Timmy and Roz about every 6 months as long as they are eating normally. I weigh rescue torts when I first get them, and then every few weeks after that, to make sure they are thriving. Keep in mind that weight may differ a little depending on whether they just ate or defecated... I usually weigh my torts after a bath, before their meal.

I use a metric kitchen scale. It doesn't have to be a metric scale - although both medical dosage calculations and growth charts are metric, so depending on what your purpose of weighing your torts may be, you might have to do a little conversion math. It's a good idea to take note of the weight every time somehow.

Roz gets weighed upside-down... he's half monkey, and wriggles out otherwise.

The most recent weigh-in was on November 3:
Timmy: 855g (7.3 inches shell length) ~remember, Timmy is female
Roz: 505g (5.5 inches shell length)
Joe: 500g (6 inches shell length)
Mo: 580g (6 inches shell length)
Boo: 475g (5.5 inches shell length) ~ I just got Boo, he's a little on the light side, but still ok.

Roz has definitely packed on some weight since I last weighed him - he was 475g at the beginning of the year. Mo is an old old man, so it isn't surprising that he is so heavy - he is one dense tortoise!

If you are unsure if your tortoise is a good weight, HERE is a good calculator using Jackson's Ratio. All my tortoises are within the healthy range.

In comparison, Norbert (aka Stumpy) weighed only 275g when I first rescued him, and he is the same size as Roz! I'm working on writing his rescue story down right now...

Meet the tortoise stars!

Welcome to my brand new tortoise blog!
Here you will have the opportunity to read about the stories of each of my tortoises, as well as hopefully learn about proper care and feeding.

Meet the stars of the blog:

My Russian torts (testudo horsfieldii), Timmy (front, female) and Roz (back, male)

The amazing little rescue Russian tortoise, Norbert (aka "Stumpy" ).

Mo, the ancient Russian tortoise rescue

Joe, who was rescued along with Mo

Boo, aka the little mystery tortoise. He has been identified as an Antakyan greek tortoise (Testudo graeca antakyensis).
Ps: He came with that ring drilled into his carapace... it has since been removed!

Mila, a young female Russian tortoise we adopted. 

Jill, also a young female Russian tortoise. She and Mila came from the same home.