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.

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!

Timmy, my first Russian tortoise

Several years ago, I decided that I would like to get a tortoise. After much research, I decided that I wanted a Russian tortoise - but I did not want to buy one from a pet store. For weeks I read everything I could get my hands on about this species' needs and care. I combed Craigslist, until I finally found someone who no longer wanted their Testudo horsfieldii. There was just one catch: the tort came with a 55 gal glass tank, and a very large bearded dragon!

I met the friendly senior gentleman who no longer could care for his pets in a Fred Meyer parking lot, I gave him the very reasonable adoption fee, we shook hands, and just like that I had 2 new pets.

As soon as I got home, I took out the bearded dragon, and surveyed both pets. I hadn't known quite what to expect, as I hadn't previously seen pictures of them. I was happy to see that the tortoise looked and acted pretty healthy (though somewhat grumpy over being moved around). She seemed to be overweight, I could see what I thought were bulges of fat coming out of her shell, and she couldn't pull herself all the way into her shell. The previous owners had fed her mostly thawed frozen mixed veggies. My guess was that the starch from the corn in the mix had caused the obesity. Proper food and plenty of exercise surely would correct this. Her shell looked good. Her toenails were long, but not terribly so. She was clearly a female, about 7 inches long, and had beautiful BRIGHT yellow coloring.
Judging by her face, she was no longer young, but I had no idea how old she was. It is very difficult to estimate a tortoise's age, unless the hatch year is known. Since many pet tortoises in the US have been wild-caught (WC), nobody knows their age. The torts came with light fixtures, but no bulbs, so I had to make a quick trip to the pet store.

Now I just needed to figure out what to do with the beardie... Bearded dragons and Russian tortoises (RTs) have completely different environmental needs (humidity, climbing opportunities, temperature), and their diets are absolutely incompatible (beardies are carnivores, RTs are herbivores). While I think beardies are cool, I felt no real affinity to it. I asked the woman who works in the reptile department of the pet store if she knew of someone who would be interested in a large-ish bearded dragon. She said that yes, for a matter of fact, her friend had recently lost her beloved beardie, has a huge tank with all the supplies, and would surely LOVE to have mine. We arranged a meeting place, and the moment the woman saw the beast, she took it into her arms, hugged it close, gave it a kiss, and said "Oh, honey! NOW you are home with Momma!" - I knew it was in good hands.

Back home, I cleaned out the tank, and got all the lights (basking, heat, UVB) set up, and placed my new tort into it. My son named her "Timmy."

Timmy basking, the day we got her in 2009

Over the next years, I became more confident and knowledgeable in my care for Timmy. I fed her exclusively dark leafy greens that I grew in my garden, or in the case of dandelions, picked in my friend's garden. I found a great list of edible plants that I referenced often, many of which already were in my garden, and I added others over the years that followed.

After about half a year, I decided to upgrade her tank from a 55-gal to a 75-gallon tank. This was before I had learned about tortoise tables.

Timmy is such a funny tortoise. We joke that she truly is a female, because she LOVES to rearrange her furniture! Just to keep her entertained, we sometimes switch around the log(s) and stones in her tank, and she bulldozes them into the spot she wants them, clonking and clunking until she is happy.

Tortoise push-ups!

We found that Timmy also loved to climb all over everything, both in her tank, and outside of it. When it was sunny we let her explore our garden, and she always made a beeline for the rock garden and scrambled all over it. Indoors the kids built obstacle courses for her out of blocks, and she climbed and bulldozed her way through them.

Next chapter: Timmy gets a boy friend! Ok, for the first year it was just a friend who happened to be a boy...

~By the way, while there is A LOT of information on the internet concerning care of Russian tortoises, I found that The Russian Tortoise had the most comprehensive set of information, including information on the proper habitat, feeding (including a list of edible plants), breeding, and so much more.