Mediterranean turtle (Testudo graeca). Species:Mediterranean tortoise - Testudo graeca A short message about the Mediterranean tortoise

The turtle has been living with us for almost ten years. My husband bought it, and I take care of it, well, everything is as usual. If you are thinking of buying such a creation for small child- not worth it. And in general, when buying it, think ten times - is it worth it? I’ll tell you why later.

Turtles are relatively easy-to-care creatures, but they also require special conditions. They are often bought as gifts for children, without thinking that they are not so easy to maintain.

Under no circumstances should turtles be kept on the floor; cold and drafts are harmful to them. And let them assure you that their turtle lived well for five years somewhere behind a closet, do not listen to them. Turtles live in hot climates, they need heating, absence of drafts and ultraviolet light.

It is best to keep them in spacious containers (for example for clothes). They need a place to walk, a place to eat, rest and sleep. You can’t keep them in a dark aquarium or jar, they need space. Unfortunately, there are no terrariums for such turtles in pet stores; you can actually find special custom-made terrariums on the Internet, but they are quite expensive.

The turtle needs to be cleaned regularly; pebbles, stones, and hay are suitable as filler. But we add wood filler because it makes it much cleaner. But its disadvantage is that a turtle can swallow it.

Whatever filler you use, the terrarium must have large stones on which the turtle can walk, exercise its muscles and grind its claws.

To sleep, you need a box (made of wood, plastic or Corton), where she can hide and sleep. Although they rarely drink water, they still have to keep it standing and change it every day.

Separate place for food. You can use a saucer or lid for this purpose. Our turtle got so used to the saucer that when he wanted to eat, he came to it and waited to be fed.

Turtles definitely need heating; an incandescent lamp of approximately 60 W is suitable for this purpose. Every day, 12 hours a day, all year round

. Under the lamp you can place a flat stone on which the turtle will sit and bask.

Since turtles are cold-blooded, they require warmth in order for their bodies to function properly.

They definitely need ultraviolet light to grow their shells. Lamps are sold in pet stores, ours are 15 watts. The cost is approximately from 1000 to 2000. It must be changed every 1.5-2 years. In the summer, it is necessary to take the turtle out into natural light and walk it, while making sure that it is not dragged away by other animals and that it does not run away. Despite their slowness and clumsiness, turtles crawl and bury themselves somewhere with enviable persistence. On green grass they are almost invisible. It is enough to turn away for a couple of minutes to lose sight of her.

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The land turtle is herbivorous. She doesn’t need any meat, cottage cheese or eggs. You definitely won’t go broke on food for a turtle. She eats little, once a day. In the summer, all food grows underfoot - dandelion, clover. And other food - apples, zucchini, pumpkin, etc. - is quite cheap or for nothing. Winter is another matter. But you can easily feed a turtle in winter, although it’s a little more expensive. But considering how little she needs, buying zucchini, salad and apples once a week is quite manageable.

Foods high in calcium are very useful - dandelions, parsley. In the summer, be sure to give dandelion flowers and leaves every day, fortunately it comes across until the fall.

Also give zucchini, apples, pumpkin, beets, cucumbers, carrots, lettuce, and various berries. Make sure that the food is varied, and not just cucumbers every day. Give cabbage rarely, as it interferes with the absorption of calcium.

The turtle has no teeth; it bites off food with its beak and swallows. Therefore, the food must either be finely grated or, on the contrary, coarsely chopped so that she can take a bite. She bites off with her beak, moves her head to the sides and helps with her front paws.

For example, she will not be able to eat such pieces, and if she does eat them, they will get stuck in her throat.

Water, I repeat, should be freely available to the turtle, as they sometimes drink, especially in the heat. And so they get moisture from juicy vegetables and fruits.

Periodically give vitamins to turtles, ground cuttlefish shell, eggshells To make her eat it, grind it and sprinkle it on her favorite food.

It's also pretty simple. Periodically bathe in warm water.

Turtles have constantly growing claws and beaks. Some sources advise filing them with a file. We've never done this. The only thing is that at the veterinary clinic they shortened her beak. We did this with ordinary wire cutters. There are no nerve receptors there, so it doesn’t hurt turtles, it’s like our nails. In nature they wear off naturally when the turtle climbs and digs.

If these conditions are not met, the turtle may get sick, which is what happened to us. I ask animal defenders not to throw slippers or burn them at the stake, my conscience has already done that.

I took care of the turtle exclusively. While we didn’t have children, I managed. And with my first child, I didn’t forget about her either. She even asked him to keep an eye on her - to make sure there was always water, to bring her food. At first he liked it. Then he forgot about her.

But when the second child was born, there was no time for her. Then both of our lamps broke and the turtle was left without light for some time, and we didn’t have the time or money to buy them all. The food was also bad - monotonous. Without light, she became lethargic, ate little and rarely went out.

So one day I decided to give her a bath, took her in my arms and felt that the shell below was soft... I felt how she was breathing and the shell was moving up and down. I even felt sick.

We ran to the veterinary clinic (not everyone treats turtles by the way, call in advance and find out), the doctor scolded us, threatened to sue and diagnosed us with rickets, lack of calcium.

Treatment was prescribed - liquid calcium injections for five days, ultraviolet light, dandelions, walking in the sun. The first injection was given right there, but the rest were given by my mother-in-law. The injections were made with the thinnest syringes - insulin, in the paw. By the end of the treatment, the turtle became active and began to go out and eat. Of course, we immediately bought and installed both lamps, varied the diet and took them outside in sunny weather. If it was not possible, then they put it in a box on a window in the sun. In this case, the window was opened, since ultraviolet radiation does not pass through glass.

By the end of the treatment, the shell became much harder. Activity has returned.

By the way, at the veterinary clinic the doctor told us that it was a boy, but all this time we thought it was a girl. This can be identified by the lower part of the shell and tail. I also counted the rings on the turtle and approximately reported its age - 15 years.... turtles, like trees, have annual rings on their shell, from which, in addition to age, you can also determine the conditions in which the turtle was kept. If the rings are clear and large, the conditions were good, and if they were blurred, then the conditions were correspondingly bad. Our turtle did not hit the mud with its face - the rings were clear and large :)

I definitely don’t recommend a turtle as a gift for children. Of course, at first they are delighted with her, they take care of her, but then they quickly get bored with her. And you will have to take care. The turtle does not cause any particular joy - you can’t pet it, you can’t play with it. In the morning he goes out, eats, sits under the lamp and comes back. Get ready for the fact that you will simply contemplate it.

I really got the hang of stroking the top of her head with my finger, but she was very timid and quickly hid her head.

Its undeniable advantage is that it does not take up much space in the apartment,

Doesn't run around the apartment

Doesn't knock furniture

Doesn't howl, doesn't bark and doesn't piss in slippers

It is also suitable for allergy sufferers; it will not cause fur throughout the apartment.

You only need to walk him in the summer and not every day.

There will be no smell from it.

Eats little, food is not expensive

Therefore, if you wanted an animal that you can put in a box and forget about it, then a turtle is definitely not suitable. Better then get a cockroach

But overall, this is a cute animal, and if you put in a minimum of effort, you will be able to provide her with normal conditions.

That's all I wanted to tell you about keeping turtles, I will be glad to answer your questions in the comments. I hope my review was helpful)

Thank you for your attention!

In this article I will tell you about Mediterranean turtle. After reading this article, you will receive all the information on how to keep this turtle at home, you will learn how to choose and how to arrange a terrarium for it, you will learn what conditions should be maintained in the terrarium, as well as what to feed Mediterranean turtle.

So, let's begin. The maximum size of this turtle ranges from 14 to 30 centimeters. In nature, it lives in Southern Spain, North Africa, Turkey and North-Eastern Greece. Hence its second name, Greek tortoise.

This is a rather slow turtle; juveniles are more active. Even though the turtle will spend more time in the terrarium, it needs walks around the room. All walks must be carried out only under your supervision. Once a week you need to give your pet water treatments.

1. Terrarium. To keep one adult Mediterranean turtle you need a terrarium with a minimum size of 50x40x30 centimeters. Approximately 5 centimeters of fine sand should be poured onto the bottom of the terrarium. You need to place a feeder and a drinker in one corner.
2. Lighting lamp. A lighting lamp is needed for all reptiles to regulate the duration daylight hours. A lamp can also be used to heat one corner. You can put either an incandescent lamp or a fluorescent lamp in the terrarium.
3. Irradiation lamp. All reptiles require UV light to be healthy. At least once a day, your pet needs an hour-long session.
4. Thermal mat or thermal cord. A thermal mat or thermal cord is needed to heat one corner of the terrarium. The second corner should be at background temperature. For my reptiles I use a thermal mat, I simply place it under one corner of the terrarium. The temperature in the warm corner should be 30-32 degrees, the background temperature should be 24-27 degrees.
5. Two thermometers - in a warm and cold corner. Two thermometers are needed for easy temperature monitoring. With their help, you can easily understand where you are underheating and where you are overheating.
6. Feeder. You need to install a wide but shallow container. The feeder is placed so that the turtle does not scatter food throughout the terrarium.
7. Drinking pond. The optimal depth of the drinking bowl is 3-4 centimeters. There is no need to make a very deep container, otherwise the turtle may drown.

This is all necessary equipment, which you should have. If you wish, the Mediterranean tortoise can be kept in groups. They are not aggressive animals.

Now about how and what to feed your turtle. The Mediterranean turtle needs to be fed every day with a small amount of vegetables, fruits and succulent shoots of various plants. The most important thing is that these plants are not poisonous.

This turtle is also called Caucasian, Asia Minor or Greek. Last title unfortunate, since this species does not exist in Greece. The Mediterranean turtle is found less frequently among Russian hobbyists than Central Asian turtles. Its homeland is North Africa, the Middle East and Southwestern Europe. The turtle has a moderately high, dome-shaped carapace of yellow or olive color with black spots on the scutes. The color is very changeable. The nape scute is narrow; in its posterior part it can widen somewhat. The plastron is yellow or greenish-yellow, with a black spot on each scute. In adult females, the posterior part of the plastron is somewhat mobile. The head is medium size. The front paws have five claws. There are well-developed spurs on the hips. Maximum length shell - 35 cm.

Scientists distinguish four subspecies of the Mediterranean tortoise. Testudo ggaes ggaes lives in the south of Spain, Morocco, on the coast Mediterranean Sea- from Algeria to Libya. The Caucasian tortoise Testudo ggaes ibera lives in South-Eastern Europe, including Russia. The Middle Eastern tortoise Testudo garae terrestris inhabits the territory from eastern Libya to the Nile, in Syria, Israel, the Sinai Peninsula and southern Turkey. The fourth subspecies, Zarudny's turtle Testudo ggaes zarudnyi, is native to Eastern Iran. Caucasian subspecies Lately divided into four more: Nikolsky's, Iberian, Armenian and Pallas's tortoises.

Mediterranean turtles live in dry steppes, semi-deserts, open forests, on mountain slopes, rising to an altitude of 1100 m above sea level. Reptiles can often be found in gardens or agricultural fields.

The shell of the Mediterranean tortoise is more convex than that of the Central Asian tortoise, smooth, and slightly jagged along the posterior edge. Its length is up to 30 cm. The Mediterranean turtle has four claws on its front legs (the Central Asian turtle has five). I would recommend that fans pay attention to this particular feature, and not to the images of the physiognomies of turtles and the shape of their shell. These symptoms may be influenced various reasons change, and it is unlikely that a turtle will be able to break off two identical claws on two paws at once.

In addition to plant foods, the Mediterranean tortoise happily eats various invertebrates.

From hibernation turtles emerge in February-March, and almost immediately their breeding season begins. During this period, males are very active, they growl loudly and hoarsely and constantly get into fights with competitors. In June-July, the female lays from four to 16-20 ellipsoidal or almost spherical eggs at short intervals. Their length is 3.2-4.6 cm, diameter - 3-3.9 cm. After two to three months, young turtles hatch with a carapace length of 3.5-4.5 cm; most often they burrow deeper and only come to the surface next spring. With good care, Mediterranean turtles can live up to 100 years in captivity.

Central Asian land turtle (Testudo horsfieldi)

Until recently, this species was included in the genus Agrionemus. Now he has returned back to the Testudo genus.

Most often, domestic novice hobbyists purchase a steppe, or, more correctly, Central Asian, turtle. She lives in the southern regions of Kazakhstan, the flat part Central Asia, Northeast Iran, Afghanistan, northwest India and Pakistan. It can be found in clayey and sandy deserts with vegetation thickets, in river valleys, on cultivated lands. In the foothills it rises to 1200 m above sea level. In some places, hundreds of these animals of varying sizes can be found during the breeding season.

In nature, Central Asian turtles eat various plants, including agricultural ones, which cause dislike among the local population. The diet also includes various insects, droppings of other animals, and carrion.

After wintering, Central Asian turtles begin to reproduce. In May-June, females lay up to three clutches containing from two to five eggs. Starting in August, young turtles appear. But they remain underground until next spring. And adult turtles, having accumulated more fat, fall into summer hibernation in June, which often turns into winter.

The Mediterranean (Greek, Caucasian) turtle is a small reptile of the land turtle family. The length of the shell does not exceed thirty centimeters. Males are slightly smaller. Their shell can only reach twenty-three centimeters. The body of the turtles is sand-colored, with spots of brown shades. The ventral part is also light. The shell is almost black, decorated yellow spots. The legs are short. Toes can be seen on the forelimbs.

The habitat of Mediterranean turtles is expanding in North Africa, Southern Europe, and Asia. You can see an animal of this breed in the steppe zones, near the foot of the mountains, in sparse forests. Caucasian turtles cannot tolerate heat, so activity is observed in the evening and early morning. The reptile prefers to rest, hiding under some small plant. Most often it can be seen between stones, under bushes. The turtle’s body reacts negatively to a sharp drop in temperature, so the animals sleep all winter. At the beginning of spring they wake up. At this time, young couples can give birth to offspring. You can distinguish a male from a female by the shape of the shell. In males it is more voluminous.

Recently, Greek tortoises have been taken as pets. This decision is explained by the fact that this breed reptiles are quite hardy. At proper care the pet lives up to thirty years. Before buying a turtle, take care of housing. A terrarium or aquarium is perfect. There should be room for the animal in it, so you should decide on the breed of turtle in advance. Cover the bottom of the “shelter” with a thick layer of a special substrate (sand, peat). At the bottom you can plant small plants (oats, millet, other grains). The sprouts will serve as additional food for your pet. It is not recommended to plant two males in one terrarium at once. Sometimes they can provoke conflicts that will negatively affect the health of one of the animals. It's better to buy a couple. Individuals of different sexes get along well together. Later they can give birth to offspring. Some time after mating, future mom begins to lay eggs. The female buries them shallowly in the soil. It is recommended to immediately transfer the eggs to a special container. This will protect the embryos from injury and premature hatching. In the incubator, the eggs are kept under special ultraviolet paws for four months. Newborn babies (about five centimeters in length) are born completely unprotected. At first, they perceive the environment poorly.

Adult turtles eat almost everything. You can safely give fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, boiled egg. Dairy products are also beneficial for growing reptiles. You can buy special food at the pet store. Nutritional supplements, vitamins. Change the water in drinking bowls daily. Remember that turtles are used to light. Therefore, take them outside regularly. Sun rays very useful for the animal.

Everyone knows turtles. These harmless, slow animals enjoy constant sympathy, especially among children. They can be seen at the zoo, in the pet store and in many people's homes. Central Asian land tortoises usually end up in city apartments from pet stores. large quantities in spring can be found in the deserts of Central Asia and Kazakhstan. The second type of land turtle - the Mediterranean, often called the Caucasian, Asia Minor or Greek (although it does not live in Greece) - has become very rare. Even herpetologists who study reptiles only occasionally see this animal in nature, which was still found in many places relatively recently. Black Sea coast Caucasus and Transcaucasian republics.

Total for globe There are more than 200 species of turtles, most of which are members of the land turtle family. Many large turtles, the land giants of the oceanic islands, were exterminated by people because of their delicious meat. And no one thought, or rather, did not know that these unique ancient animals many millions of years ago looked the same as they do today.

IN Mesozoic era Reptiles reigned on Earth - they swam in the seas and flew through the air, and the largest of them, giant lizards, lived on land. But in this world everything passes, the golden age of reptiles is over... 150 million years ago, most of them disappeared during mysterious circumstances, which scientists are still arguing about different countries. But some of the ancient reptiles were able to survive to this day, almost unchanged. Turtles that appeared on Earth, which served as the initial forms for modern species, were predominantly terrestrial inhabitants. We learn about the animals that inhabited the ancient land from the remains, skeletons or fragments thereof, and fossilized traces that are discovered by paleontologists during excavations. This is how our contemporaries learned that the largest turtle that once lived lived in water and reached a length of 3.3 m, and the span of its flippers was 3.6 m!

Modern land turtles live in Africa, Asia, Southern Europe and America, but in the Soviet Union there are only 2 types.

The uniqueness of turtles lies in the fact that their body is covered with armor, a shell, which serves as a means of protection for them. The carapace consists of 2 shields: the dorsal (carapace) and the abdominal (plastron), connected to each other by a tendon ligament or a bone bridge. By the shape of the shell, you can determine where the turtle lives - on land or in water. Terrestrial turtles have a high, dome-shaped, often tuberculate shell; in species that live in water, especially marine ones, it is flattened, smooth, and streamlined. Unlike other reptiles, only the cervical and caudal sections of the spine are mobile in turtles, while the rest grows to the carapace. Toothless, with sharp horny edges, the jaws of turtles are perfectly adapted to feeding on plant foods, although on occasion they do not disdain animals. Turtles, like all reptiles, breathe with lungs that have a complex, spongy structure. They hear almost nothing, perceiving sounds only of low and medium frequencies; their underdeveloped hearing is compensated well developed vision and sense of smell.

Turtles are inhabitants of southern latitudes. They usually populate open spaces, steppes, savannas and deserts. Only a few species are found in damp and wooded areas.

In case of danger, these clumsy animals do not flee, but hide in their shell, pulling their head and paws inside. In this case, the neck bends in a vertical plane in an S-shape and is pulled together with the head under the shell. Therefore, all terrestrial turtles, together with freshwater and others, are united in the suborder of cryptonecked turtles.

Mediterranean turtle - typical representative his family and order of turtles. Therefore, by talking about it, we will thereby give an answer to everyone who wants to learn more about these animals.

The Mediterranean turtle is a medium-sized animal, up to 30-35 cm long. On top it is colored yellowish-brown or light olive, usually with dark spots on the scutes. The carapace is convex and smooth, slightly serrated along the posterior edge. There are large symmetrical shields on the head. There are scutes of the same size, but overlapping each other, on the outer surface of the front legs, and on the hips there is one large conical tubercle. There are 5 claws on the front paws, not 4, like the Central Asian turtle.

Except this turtle Soviet Union distributed in North Africa, Southern Spain, the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula, Syria, Iran, Iraq and Western Asia.

In the Western Caucasus, this animal is found in forest clearings, gardens and vineyards, and meadows. The habitat of the turtle in Transcaucasia is different in that it prefers dry steppes and mountain slopes covered with bushes and open forests. In nature, the Mediterranean tortoise feeds on lush herbaceous vegetation, mainly legumes and asteraceae, while eating green parts of plants and flowers, and sometimes fruits and berries. IN small quantity The turtle also consumes animal food - mollusks, worms, insects. There is evidence that these turtles often eat the chicks of ground-nesting birds and even use excrement as food. In Bulgaria, a closely related species, the Balkan tortoise, was twice observed eating the carcasses of a lamb and an adult tortoise. Sometimes animals walk along the seashore and pick up food scraps thrown ashore. Turtles are fed in captivity various vegetables and fruits, lettuce, dandelion leaves and other green plants.

The Mediterranean tortoise is a diurnal animal, so they are easy to observe both in nature and in captivity. In summer, they are active in the morning and evening, and turtles spend the hottest hours in the shade to avoid overheating. In winter, turtles hibernate, having previously accumulated the fatty substances necessary to maintain life during this period. They use fox and badger holes, crevices between stones, or burrow themselves into the ground to a shallow depth as shelters.

In spring, with the onset warm days and the appearance of lush vegetation and flowers, the turtles wake up and crawl to the surface. Soon they begin the most crucial period associated with procreation. Peaceful, phlegmatic male turtles turn into angry creatures - they bite each other's heads and paws, causing injury, tearing out pieces of skin and meat. But these mating tournaments don't end fatal- the stronger male wins, but the weaker and younger male does not leave the winner alone for a long time. The male shows his attention to the female in a rather unique way, driving her out of hiding with blows of the shield and bites on the legs. The hoarse growling sounds of males are heard only during this period. From the end of May, the female lays 2-8 white, almost spherical eggs with a diameter of up to 35 mm 3 times per season. In a well-heated place in wet soil the female digs a special hole with her hind limbs. In soft soil, such a hole can be quickly dug - Central Asian tortoise, for example, it does this in 10-15 minutes. Having dug a hole, the turtle lies motionless for some time, and then begins to lay eggs. Having laid her eggs, she rests, after which she buries the hole and compacts the loose soil with a plastron. Having finished this important process, the female leaves the nest forever.

After 2-3 months, the turtles, ready for hatching, begin to drill into the shell with a sharp horny tooth - an egg tooth located at the end of the beak, break off a piece of the shell, stick their heads out, and then, vigorously working with their hind limbs, crush the shell and climb out. Young turtles, as a rule, do not appear on the surface until the following spring, but burrow even deeper in the vicinity of the nesting chamber.

During hibernation they feed on yolk sac, and next spring, already stronger, they appear on the surface. Turtles grow very slowly and reach sexual maturity only at 12-14 years of age.

Intensive growth occurs before the onset of maturity, and the age of turtles during this period can be determined by the number of concentric rings on the horny scutes of the shell. Turtles are among the longest-lived animals in the animal kingdom and have been known to live for up to 100 years in captivity.

In our country, the Mediterranean turtle was common on the western coast of the Black Sea, and many vacationers did not deny themselves the pleasure of bringing home a living souvenir. One of the last refuges of turtles on the Sochi seaside was the yew box grove of the Caucasian state reserve, where they were met in large clearings in oak forests. In 1981, the reserve staff organized a special search, but they were unable to find a single specimen, and only a lone male was found in the grove the following year. Now numerous tourists visiting the yew-boxwood grove see the turtle not in nature, but in an enclosure.

In the eastern part of its range, in Transcaucasia, the Mediterranean tortoise is still found in natural habitats, and in last years Positive results have been obtained for its breeding in captivity.