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BASIC CARE OF MEDITERRANEAN TORTOISES

BASIC CARE OF MEDITERRANEAN TORTOISES

BASIC CARE OF MEDITERRANEAN TORTOISES

Mediterranean Tortoise (TESTUDO GRAECA)   - Medium size tortoise. The length of the carapace is up to 23 cm in males and 30 cm in females. The color is brighter than that of the Central Asian tortoise. The overall tone is yellowish brown. On shields brown or almost black large spots. Sometimes the spots merge, and the entire turtle acquires a dark, almost black color. On the front legs 5 fingers. There are conical "spurs" on the hips of the hind legs. Young turtles are painted in lighter colors.

It is included in the Red Book of Russia, the IUCN Red Book, in the second Appendix of the Convention on International Trade (CITES).
The Mediterranean tortoise is common in southern Europe, North Africa, and South-West Asia: from Spain in the west to Iran in the east, and from Libya in the south to the Black Sea coast of the Krasnodar Territory in the north.

 Throughout the range, the Mediterranean tortoise adheres to open steppe areas of plains and mountains, sand dunes, and is found in light forests, vineyards and orchards. Activity morning and evening. Spends the night and the middle of the day in shelters under bushes, in fox and badger burrows, sometimes digging burrows on their own.
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For captivity, a terrarium with a bottom area of ​​at least 0.4 square meters is required. m for one pair. Less digging than the Central Asian tortoise. Therefore, the soil layer can be about 5 cm. It is best to use garden soil or peat mix as the soil. As a design and for additional top dressing, wheat or oats are sown in the ground. Sprouted cereals give the terrarium the look of a steppe corner. In addition, they are readily eaten by turtles. A less demanding species for insolation than a steppe tortoise. But nevertheless, it is recommended that, on occasion, the turtle be exposed to direct sunlight, if the climate and season permit, and in winter, short-term irradiation with quartz lamps used for artificial tanning.

The Mediterranean turtle feeds

The Mediterranean turtle feeds on plant foods - cereals, legumes, and rosaceae. She eagerly eats leaves of trees and shrubs, fruits of plums, apricots, grapes, apple trees, etc. In winter, in addition to apples, cabbage, cucumbers, lettuce and germinated cereals, grated carrots, beets, and cottage cheese are added to the feed. Unlike the Central Asian tortoise, the Mediterranean consumes a lot of animal protein. In nature, it eats insects, land mollusks, sometimes ruins the nests of birds nesting on the ground, eating eggs and chicks.

 Willingly uses food and carrion. Based on the foregoing, your turtle will also need meat food. It is better if it is not beef meat, but pieces of boiled heart, chicken paws (raw, with bones, skin and claws), pieces of fish, insects (for example, "flour worms").

As a mineral dressing, it is proposed to feed the crushed shell of raw chicken eggs into the feed. In winter, in addition to apples, cabbage, cucumbers, lettuce and germinated cereals, grated carrots, beets, and cottage cheese are added to the feed. Unlike the Central Asian tortoise, the Mediterranean consumes a lot of animal protein.

 In nature, it eats insects, land mollusks, sometimes ruins the nests of birds nesting on the ground, eating eggs and chicks. Willingly uses food and carrion. Based on the foregoing, your turtle will also need meat food. It is better if it is not beef meat, but pieces of boiled heart, chicken paws (raw, with bones, skin and claws), pieces of fish, insects (for example, "flour worms").

As a mineral dressing, it is proposed to feed the crushed shell of raw chicken eggs into the feed. In winter, in addition to apples, cabbage, cucumbers, lettuce and germinated cereals, grated carrots, beets, and cottage cheese are added to the feed. Unlike the Central Asian tortoise, the Mediterranean consumes a lot of animal protein. In nature, it eats insects, land mollusks, sometimes ruins the nests of birds nesting on the ground, eating eggs and chicks. Willingly uses food and carrion. Based on the foregoing, your turtle will also need meat food. It is better if it is not beef meat, but pieces of boiled heart, chicken paws (raw, with bones, skin and claws), pieces of fish, insects (for example, "flour worms").

As a mineral dressing, it is proposed to feed the crushed shell of raw chicken eggs into the feed. Unlike the Central Asian tortoise, the Mediterranean consumes a lot of animal protein. In nature, it eats insects, land mollusks, sometimes ruins the nests of birds nesting on the ground, eating eggs and chicks. Willingly uses food and carrion. Based on the foregoing, your turtle will also need meat food. It is better if it is not beef meat, but pieces of boiled heart, chicken paws (raw, with bones, skin and claws), pieces of fish, insects (for example, "flour worms").



As a mineral dressing, it is proposed to feed the crushed shell of raw chicken eggs into the feed. your turtle will also need meat food. It is better if it is not beef meat, but pieces of boiled heart, chicken paws (raw, with bones, skin and claws), pieces of fish, insects (for example, "flour worms").

In some collections and zoos, great successes have been achieved in breeding this turtle in captivity. Males during the mating season behave extremely aggressively towards each other, therefore it is recommended to keep one male in one or two females in the terrarium. One and a half months after mating, the female lays eggs 2-3 times in each laying two to three times in the sand. Incubation lasts from 107 to 115 days at 90% humidity and a temperature of + 27 ° C. Hatched young turtles are about 5 cm long.


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