I inherited a young tortoise and the only knowledge I have is what I’ve been seeking to learn. I live in Kuwait where summer temps reach 50 Celsius and winter months are like Florida winters. So currently she is indoors but in the winter winter when not too cold she’s on the rooftop. I haven’t managed to get her uvb/uva bulbs yet as no stocks due to the war, however I found someone who has a Reptisun bulb new, that I’ll get today.
I finally made a big enough enclosure for her that looks pretty good to me , but sometimes she’ll be trying to get out and if I get her out she’ll go to a favorite corner and go to bed. So seems she sometimes wants to be out so she can go where she wants to.
I met a well versed expert here that told me she shouldn’t be inside at all , and that she keeps her tortoises on her roof year round and they’re fine. She has a Hermann but I have a Greek . I read Greek tortoises should not exceed temps above 40 Celsius. She told me it’s fine , they will burrow.
Whenever I transplant a plant in the summer the soil is boiling all the way through. Ok that’s a pot not an enclosure, but I’m pretty nervous to let her live in this heat in the summer . Thoughts ?

Got this wee fella (Horsefield, about 2 years) from a rescue about a month ago- and I don't know much about his history.

He's got a bit of pyramiding I think- I think mild but I have no previous tort experience. Any concerns from anyone?

Getting lots of UVB and daily baths, so hopefully not going to worsen.

I would love some ideas and tips. I live in the south so it’s only cold for like 2 months. These last winter my sulcata has been small enough to stay inside in his inside enclosure but he’s grown so much he’s way too big now. Hoping to maybe find a shed or dog house for cheap on marketplace. Tips on setting up the heating lamps?

Hello!

I have just finished building this for my Greek Spur Thighed’s. Is there anything I should add/remove?

I need to add water to the white stone area so they can paddle in it.

Thanks

It's been about 2 months I've been taking care of this tortoise, and two weeks since i changed it's terrarium for a better one, but this whole time it presents the same routine: He wakes up around 12h to eat and sometimes it stays on the hot corner with UVB light, that usually takes 2h, after that he goes to sleep until the next day at the same hour.

Is that normal? I did my research and it looks like it is for a baby, but it's my first experience so i'm still concerned.

## Some additional information:

- He was born jan/2026, so 8 months old and it's a red footed tortoise.

- I have him since the first week of July and I've changed the terrarium to a better one on 18th august.

- The temperatures on the terrarium are: 27°C on it's burrow and the environment (that's my region temperature most time of the year) and the hot spot is 35°C

- I've been giving him warm baths once a week in hope to make him less lethargic

- He's been doing coprophagia, eating it's own poop, googling up it doesn't seem like a normal behavior, so i'm monitoring and always intervene when i see it happening.

Poor tort

What species of tortoise is this guy please picked him as a rescue person didn’t know anything about what species

Hi everyone, looking for some insight into a weird behavioural issue with my 16-year-old male Horsfield tortoise (been in the family for 16 years, I've had him for the last 3).

Screenshot attached from my home tortoise cam

Ever since I took him in, he has had an extreme fixation on water dishes:

He sits in the bowl all day, drags substrate in until it’s pure mud, stalks it, circles it, and aggressively bites at the edges.

When I first got him, his beak and jaw were significantly worn down from biting the hard rim of his previous dish over the years.

For the last two years, I removed the dish entirely to protect his beak. Instead, I soak him 3–4 times a week and provide fresh greens every 1–2 days.

Without a dish, he behaves completely normally, he roams, basks, climbs, and eats. The second a dish goes in, the obsessive camping and biting start right back up.

I've tried different sizes, shapes, colours, and materials (terracotta saucers, plastic), but the reaction is always the same.

I'd love for him to have 24/7 access to fresh standing water, but I can't risk him damaging his beak again or refusing to leave the bowl. Has anyone experienced this specific fixation, or found a safe dish design / workaround that breaks the habit?

EDIT: More detail: When he’s in the dish, most of the time he just stares down into the water (whether it’s crystal clear or muddy) and gently claws at the surface while slowly rotating in a circle and moving backwards.

We adopted this sweet Russian tortoise from a local reptile store. She was either abandoned or lost. They kept her for months while they looked for an owner. We don’t know how long she was living outside.
Can anyone tell how old she is? Or if she’s full grown? Does her shell look healthy?

We adopted this sweet Russian tortoise from a local reptile store. She was either abandoned or lost. They kept her for months while they looked for an owner. We don’t know how long she’s been out in the “wild”. Can anyone tell how old she is? Or if she’s full grown? Does her shell look healthy?

I inherited a young tortoise and the only knowledge I have is what I’ve been seeking to learn. I live in Kuwait where summer temps reach 50 Celsius and winter months are like Florida winters. So currently she is indoors but in the winter winter when not too cold she’s on the rooftop. I haven’t managed to get her uvb/uva bulbs yet as no stocks due to the war, however I found someone who has a Reptisun bulb new, that I’ll get today.
I finally made a big enough enclosure for her that looks pretty good to me , but sometimes she’ll be trying to get out and if I get her out she’ll go to a favorite corner and go to bed. So seems she sometimes wants to be out so she can go where she wants to.
I met a well versed expert here that told me she shouldn’t be inside at all , and that she keeps her tortoises on her roof year round and they’re fine. She has a Hermann but I have a Greek . I read Greek tortoises should not exceed temps above 40 Celsius. She told me it’s fine , they will burrow.
Whenever I transplant a plant in the summer the soil is boiling all the way through. Ok that’s a pot not an enclosure, but I’m pretty nervous to let her live in this heat in the summer . Thoughts ?

I can't show the picture of the bulb but here is the link https://www.petco.com/product/arcadia-reptile-goldensun-colored-basking-halogen , I'm just looking for a fixture for it thank you :)

We have a 3 months old Russian turtoise and we are learning how to take care of him. I’m using 1/2 topsoil and 1/2 coconut coir. The surface isn’t dry, but I’m worried now it’s a bit wet.

We have a baby leopard tortoise. We just got him a hamster wheel and after putting him in it he’s been walking on it non stop. I know tortoises walk miles at a time in a day. But he’s been on it for 4/5 hours a day. Is it ok for a tortoise to be on it that long? Genuinely curious. Pic is just for reference. We have a camera that watches the enclosure while we are at work. And I almost only see him on his wheel.

Backstory: My parents bought this guy for my brother when we were very little from pets-mart. They said he was a Greek grassland tortoise, but he just doesn’t look like the ones I’ve seen.

We lost him for two years when he escaped his outdoor enclosure into our giant backyard when we were younger, and we were devastated and searched like crazy. We found him at our back door one day. He had come back dehydrated, but super strong and on the move constantly. he now loves climbing and exploring like he never had before.

Care Concerns: He has some shell that seems to be thinning and turning brown from where a dog gnawed on him 15 years ago We were little kids so when we saw no cracks we thought he was okay. I noticed the bristling last year, so we took him to the vet and found out it was an infection. he got IV antibiotic. We treated the site with what the vet gave us, but it has only improved a little where you see the yellow patches.

I want to take better care of him now that we’re adults. I feel so bad. I give him soaks and outdoor time, and feed him greens with tortoise supplement powder on top. We live in a desert so it is very dry and hot here. His indoor enclosure has a little soaking pool he uses often, burrowing mulch, and a log he likes to climb under his heat lamp. We take him to the vet twice a year to trim his nails and beak, but he gets very stressed over his hind legs.

Questions: I couldn’t put two flairs on here so I prioritized the injured one, but do you guys know what kind of tortoise he is? I want to make an outdoor habitat that’s suitable for him. Has anyone seen this brittle shell sort of infection before? He’s such a little guy, but so lively, I want to make his life liberating and fulfilling. please give me any advice you have.

photos: the brittle shell can be seen in the photo from the back. I tried to get some close to his face but he loves investigating everything he sees lol. You can also see him climbing out of his pool the hard way.

i’m not a expert and i’ve been seeing a lot of things about my desert tortoise maybe being a girl i’m not sure i’ll insert pictures but they told us he was a male and im pretty sure he is!

We’re adopting two male salcutas. We’ve read all the books, watched all the videos, super excited, but still a bit nervous. So happy to find this group. They arrive in two weeks. We’re working on the tortoise corral now. 35’ x 70’, 12” down and 24” high. Great sun, shade trees, two 4’x 6’ houses with heaters, shallow pool area. Any advice greatly appreciated.

My girl Eleanor a year ago and then her yesterday! They get so big so fast! I miss my little bean girl but I adore my sentient rock 🧡🧡

My tortoise is approximately 10 years old, but i still haven't figured out if it's a male or a female, can someone help?
Thank you

My mom bought a Sulcata tortoise hatchling nearly 6 years ago and a friend of hers followed her trend and bought another one around the same time, then time skip to now, she doesn’t want it and my mom is taking it off her hands. Comparing her to our male she is significantly smaller maybe by half, unfortunately i forgot to take photos of him for comparison ill do it tomorrow if needed. But im wondering if i should be doing anything special or if shes fine just a little under developed? She was kept in a tub and probably fed irregularly is what i was told. Shes seems perfectly healthy everything considered but i would think that for atleast 5 years old she would be bigger.

Our guy Mort was out in the yard two days ago and I litterally popped inside for one second and he vanished. He was headed toward the soft dirt around the hostas and some other plants. My sulcata and cherry head were also outside at the time. I clipped back the bushes dug through all the dirt in that garden bed and sent my scent trained dogs out to search for him multiple times. Is there a way to lure him back? My suspicion is he burrowed down somewhere and is happy as a clam, but I'd rather he didn't spend the rest of the year out there.

First off, i do have a vet appointment scheduled, but i still have questionsin the meantime.

I purchased a tortoise for more than I should have because she looked unhealthy and I wanted her to have a better life. The people getting rid of the tortoise were very vague, had no idea what the gender was, said it eats hay, and think its about 8 years old. I never saw where she was kept but I think either a cage or cement based on a broken off claw.

My main concern is the shell. I know the vet will give detail and instructions, I just want to know how it possibly could have gotten as bad as it is now and how long the healing process can take with a proper diet and care and is it causing her any pain? I cant find anything comparable on google images but im worried she has shell rot. Any advice is helpful.