Mediterranean tortoise at home: description, features of the content and interesting facts

A pet can become a true friend and a source of positive emotions. It is important to know in advance all the subtleties of the care and maintenance of the animal that is planned to be introduced into the family. What does the Mediterranean turtle look like? Description for children and adults, photos, as well as interesting facts about the animal are given in the article below. What to feed and how to properly water the reptile? What conditions will be required to maintain such an exotic friend as the Mediterranean land tortoise?

What we know about Mediterranean turtles: the habitat

Like any pet, a Mediterranean tortoise will require conditions close to the natural environment for human habitation. The thermophilic and sun-loving reptile lives, depending on the variety in the countries of the southern European region, in the semi-arid or steppe region, in the Caucasus mountains and Transcaucasia.

Two of the more than twenty varieties of this land tortoise can be found on the territory of our country. These are the turtles of Nikolsky, listed in the Red Data Book, a Mediterranean tortoise that lives exclusively in the Russian subtropics of the Krasnodar Territory, and the Pallas tortoise in certain regions of the Dagestan Republic. However, selling in pet stores and keeping houses of these rare animals is prohibited.

Appearance (description)

What does the Greek (or Mediterranean) turtle look like? The description of this reptile can be found in any directory. An adult is a small, only 15-30 cm, turtle with a powerful and fairly strong shell. The animal's weight rarely exceeds three kilograms. The most obvious difference from the no less popular Central Asian turtle is the number of fingers on the reptile's legs: this species has as many as five, while the Central Asian "relatives" have only four fingers on each foot. The color of the shell is brown, with a pronounced mottled pattern, the color of the young reptile is somewhat brighter.

The age of the turtle can be determined by studying the ring-shaped pattern on the shell: the more on the surface of the rings, the older the animal.

What is interesting about home tartilla?

For those who only plan to purchase a turtle as a pet, it makes sense to learn that such a pet needs to be provided with the perfect combination of external conditions, nutrition and hygiene - only in this case the Mediterranean tortoise can live a long life, at least 25-30 years .

And of course, at the initial stage all this will require certain financial costs. Is the home Mediterranean turtle worth such efforts? Can such a pet interest children and become a good alternative to a warm-blooded animal?

Of course, curiosity, the ability to observe the habits and way of life of the pet, careful and responsible attitude to a living creature - the Mediterranean tortoise can teach the child all this. Interesting facts about this reptile, discovered by scientists, allow us to conclude that the turtle will not become a "living toy", but a real friend. Here are just a few interesting details:

• The Mediterranean tortoise completely refutes the claim that all turtles are slow and slow creatures. Young healthy reptiles move around the house with pleasure: the higher the temperature, the faster the speed of the "turtle run". In addition, this species is able to climb a significant height for the turtle, clinging to claws for projections and irregularities. For example, they can easily get on an armchair or a bed.
• Land turtles have excellent hearing and sight, are able to distinguish smells. To this is added the ability to memorize objects and human faces, to respond to voice intonation.
• To some extent, the turtle shell contains phosphorus. Because of this, an amazing feature is noted to accumulate sunlight (if the reptile spent the whole day under the influence of sunlight) and emit a small glow at night.
• Turtles are hardy and can do without food for a very long time, slowing down and hibernating.

Also, each reptile can have its own characteristics and habits, which, of course, will make it an interesting object for observation and will be able to interest both adult members of the family and the child.

Home for a reptile: where to settle a pet?

Even before you bring a pet home, it is worth taking care of the terrarium - a "turtle farm", where the Mediterranean tortoise at home will feel as comfortable as in a natural environment.

This requires a tank, best of thick transparent glass, with a minimum size of 50x40x30 cm. At the bottom of the future terrarium, a soil is created: a layer of decontaminated soil and on top of it a layer of clean sand or hay, at least 5 cm high. Further design of the terrarium depends on the imagination of the owner: the relief can be decorated with small clean stones or wooden elements, artificial plants. Live green plants are undesirable, at least for fear that the turtle will eat them. Of the required elements in the terrarium will need to establish:

• Equipment for lighting and heating.
• Shelter.
• Feeding trough and drinking bowl.

If the size of the terrarium allows, you can dig a container under the swimming pool. The plus of this device will be the additional physical activity of the reptile. But the worries at the same time will increase: it will be necessary to regularly change the water and monitor its temperature.

The location for installing the terrarium should be well lit, but away from drafts and direct sun rays. For the winter, the pet can provide conditions for hibernation. To do this, the tank with the terrarium is moved to a cool, darkened place. Before moving to the "winter" mode, the reptile needs to be redeemed and not fed for one or two weeks. The signal for the beginning of wintering is a change in the behavior of the pet: the tortoise noticeably slows down and tries to burrow into the ground.

Lighting

To create the necessary lighting in the terrarium, a powerful lamp equipped with a reflector is suitable. A lamp for 60-90 kW will serve not only as a source of light, but also as heating. This "artificial sun" is located in the corner of the terrarium in such a way that the reptile has the opportunity to choose the temperature mode that is needed at the moment. For monitoring, the air temperature is measured with a home thermometer: in the "sunny" corner this figure should be at least 30-35˚, while in the opposite "cool" corner it is about 24-26. For comfortable conditions, it is not necessary to turn on the lamp for a whole day. At night, in the terrarium, you can also make a "night" by turning off the light source.

In addition in the terrarium it is necessary to install an ultraviolet lamp. The optimum height of fastening for it is from 20 to 40 cm from the height of the pet. Only one hour of operation of such a device will be enough for the turtle to get the daily norm of a "sunlight substitute".

Shelter

A small shelter in which the tortoise can rest - a "house" in the terrarium with opaque walls. It is best to buy a ready-made in a pet store, but if you buy a ready-made turtle house does not work, you can replace it with a dwelling for rodents, fixed by half of a ceramic flower pot or a homemade wooden box or safe plastic.

Heating

To heat a reptile in a terrarium, a special thermoset or a small thermocouple is often used. Equipment should be placed on the floor or fixed on a wall in one of the corners of the terrarium (not under the lamp). Completely close the entire surface of the terrarium is not necessary, permanent heating can be harmful to the internal organs of the animal.

How to feed a turtle: suitable products

When choosing foods, the following principle should be followed: land tortoises are natural vegetarians, so the best food for them will be fruits, berries, herbs and shoots of herbs. Figuratively, all products traditionally considered "snail food" can be divided into three categories:

• Prohibited (unsuitable): this includes animal food - fish, eggs, meat, cottage cheese and cheese and other lactic and dairy products. In addition, categorically not recommended are cereal products (cereals, cereals, bakery products), nuts, potatoes, corn, dates.
• Food that can be given for a change, but very rarely and in small quantities. This category includes exotic fruits (bananas, pineapples, citrus fruits), cucumbers, cherries, asparagus, radish and radish, green onions, legumes, spinach and sorrel leaves, beets, seeds, garlic, tomatoes, cabbage.
• Products that are good for a daily diet. It is berries, apples, young shoots of dandelion, nettle, clover, plum and nectarine, persimmon, parsley and dill, pumpkin, lettuce, sweet pepper, peaches and apricots, carrots, melon and watermelon (without pits and peels), kiwi, Zucchini and eggplant.

To give food should be carefully crushed, best in the form of a mixture of several products, in a ratio of 70-75% of vegetable food to 25-30% of crushed fruit.

The choice of dry food should be treated very carefully and carefully. Many veterinarians do not advise to include this food in the diet, but if necessary, you can feed the tortoise with a special food marked "for land".

Diet

The regime of feeding a reptile is no less important than the correct choice of food and vitamins. To avoid an abnormal increase or loss of body weight, it is recommended to feed the turtle in this mode:

• Young individuals - 1 time per day.
• Adult turtles, which do not need to grow actively, feed about 3 times a week.

Vitamins and supplements

If the Mediterranean tortoise lives in the house, care of the reptile is impossible without properly selected mineral and vitamin supplements to the food. One of the necessary additives for the turtle is calcium. The lack of this element leads to a curvature and abnormal growth of the shell and fractures of the bones. Calcium supplements are given once every one to two weeks, in the form of a spray or loose powder. An alternative to powdered calcium can serve as crushed egg shell.

In addition, you can feed the reptile with a special vitamin complex, but also not more often than once a week. For example, every 10-12 days you can add a couple of drops of "Trivita" or fish oil to your pet's food.

Content with other animals

An important question is how much the Mediterranean tortoise can coexist on the territory of the house with other animals of its own or other species. Owners of this species of turtles claim that due to the low aggressiveness of these reptiles, several Mediterranean turtles perfectly coexist on the same territory. However, the size of the terrarium must correspond to the content of such an amount of animals. In addition, experts recommend planting turtles in the mating season or in case the individuals clearly demonstrate aggressive behavior to each other.

As for other types of domestic animals, it is better to protect the turtle from contact with them. The excessively active behavior of a dog or a cat can cause stress and, as a consequence, an animal's disease.