Hi Harryricci and welcome to The Tortoise Table to you and Jonas!
Did you intend to post some photos with your message? Without them, or some description then it's difficult to answer your questions. Here are instructions on how to resize and post photos
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=3 but If you find it difficult to post photos, you can send them to me at
nina@thetortoisetable.org.uk and I will post them for you.
I have put some responses next to your questions in your message below, and I hope that is OK (I have put two asterisks before my reply, so that it is easy to see where it starts).
harryricci wrote:
What do you think about his living conditions?
** I'm afraid you will need to post a photo or describe the condtions before I could comment on them.
Is it the appropriate size for his size? I am obviously planning to upgrade it as he grows. I plan to stick with plastic boxes increasing in size.
** What size is it? Could you give me dimensions or post a photo?
Is a closed enclosure a must? I would really prefer to keep his enclosure open, and I spray it down with lukewarm water ocassionally, obviously keeping moulding in mind.
** No, you definitely want an open enclosure, to allow air circulation and a good range of temperatures between the cooler and the warm ends of the enclosure. So definitely keep it open, and spraying it lightly every few days to keep it from getting dusty is the right thing to do. Closed enclosures like vivariums (glass boxes with a lid on top) are not good for tortoises, so you have done well to give him an open enclosure.
Is the heating lamp and the UV lamp placed appropriately? I switch them off at night. Is a nightlamp necessary? We have central heating in my house.
** I don't know where your lamps are placed, but the heat lamp should be at one end of the enclosure, so that you have a warm end and a cooler end. No night lamp is necessary.
Does this potting soil appropriate for him? It not chemically treated. Is it layered thick enough?
** Potting soil should be fine, and it is good if you mix a bit of children's play sand (not builder's sand) in with it, as in the wild they live on a sandy soil. How thick is it layered?
He is not yet bothered by the fact that his enclosure is seethrough; should I still wrap it around with pretty fake greenery?
**In general tortoises don't understand the concept of glass or clear plastic, and if they can see through it then they will want to walk through it and will scratch away, trying to get through. However, if yours isn't bothered by it then that is fine and it's not necessary to put up the greenery (you can also just tape a length of cardboard along the outside at the bottom, just high enough so that he can't see out -- but of course greenery would be prettier).
What do you think about his diet? He only eats leafy greens from the garden (I always research them before giving it to him) and avoids all vegetables. I grind sepia on his greens, otherwise he ignores it. Won’t he get too much of it?
** That is excellent that he is eating plants from the garden, and you can always check out a plant first by looking for it in our database of plants
https://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/plant-database/ and if you can't find a plant there then write to us and we will research it. Variety is great, so feeding lots of different plants is perfect.
Is it okay that he does not poop every day? He drink everday, he goes into his bowl, and I soak in in about every three or four days.
** Yes it is fine that he does not poop every day, and it is excellent that he drinks every day, so you are doing great with him.
How to enrich his life?
** Going out into the garden when it is warm will be great for him, because tortoises do love being outdoors, and the UVB from the sun is a better quality than the UVB that we provide indoors. Tortoises are curious animals and love to explore. I would make his indoor enclosure as large as possible and put a variety of things into it so that he can't see from one end to the other without interruption. You can put big rocks in there that he has to walk around, things to climb over, pebbles on the ground for him to walk over, etc.
I plan to take him out to the garden, ofc safe and protected and I put nice rocks in his enclosure. What else can I do?
**Nice rocks outdoors will be good. Plants will be good too (but be sure that there are no plants right next to the walls of his enclosure as sometimes tortoises use those as ladders to climb out!). It is good if there is just soil/earth with a few plants and not all grass. I have used curved roofing tiles outside to make a tunnel for a tortoise to walk over and through. A water dish outside is good, and somewhere for him to shelter (half of a flower pot lying on its side can make a shelter, or some bricks made into a little shelter -- anything that he can go into to hide or nap if he wants).
Here is a photo of showing the roofing tile tunnel with mine standing on top, and behind that you can just see a blue half of a flower pot on its side, for a little shelter.
[attachment=0]IMG_1327 (Copy).JPG[/attachment]
What do you think his gender is? Is it to early to tell? He is 9 months old. When will he reach his full size?
**We will need a photo, but it is definitely too early to tell. You can't really tell until they are about five years old, but if you send us some photos, with one of his underside, clearly showing his tail, then we will have a look.
Please be kind in the comments, I am happy to learn.
** I think that it is great that you are doing your research and asking very good questions, because it shows that you love your tortoise and want to give it a good life. What country do you live in?
Here are links to two care sheets for two different species of Greek tortoise (they are pretty much the same in terms of advice on how to care for them, but I thought I would give them both):
https://www.tortoise-protection-group.o ... 014New.pdf
and
https://www.tortoise-protection-group.o ... 014New.pdf
I hope that helps, and we look forward to seeing some photos from you. Also, in case you weren't aware, when you are writing a message to post on here, below the box that you are writing in there are some boxes that you can tick, and if you tick the box that says 'Notify me when a reply is posted', then as soon as someone replies to your post you will get a message notifying you of that.
Nina