Greek Tortoise — Fact Sheet

Testudo graeca · Greek Tortoise

📋 At a glance

🏠 Enclosure

• Outdoors preferred during warm months; direct sun, space, shade, secure shelter
• Outdoor minimum for one adult: several m²; more is always better
• Indoor: open tortoise table for juveniles, quarantine, or cold periods
• Substrate: soil, sand, and clay mix that allows digging without staying wet
• Avoid: closed glass tanks, cedar/pine shavings, cat litter, slippery floors

🪨 Enclosure furniture

• Sunny basking zone + cool shaded zone + dry shelter + slightly humid hide
• Low shrubs, edible weeds, flat stones, roots, visual barriers
• Dig-proof outdoor edges; no climbable corners or loose gaps

💡 Lighting

• UVB essential indoors
• Best: T5 HO UVB plus separate basking heat or a measured mercury vapor system
• Outdoor direct sun is excellent; glass/plastic blocks UVB
• Photoperiod: 10-12 h with seasonal adjustment; no night light

🌡️ Temperature

• Basking spot: 32-35 °C

• Warm zone: 26-30 °C

• Cool zone: 20-24 °C

• Night: 16-20 °C

• Clear gradient required; the tortoise must choose between zones

• Measure basking surface with an infrared thermometer

• Avoid heat rocks and permanently overheated enclosures

💧 Humidity & water

• Mostly dry adult setup, but not permanently dehydrating
• Shallow clean water dish always available
• Juveniles: regular short lukewarm soaks and a slightly humid hide
• Avoid cold, muddy, stagnant, or chronically wet substrate

🥬 Diet

Feed freely:

• Dandelion (Taraxacum spp.)
• Plantain (Plantago spp.)
• Mallow (Malva spp.)
• Chicory, endive, sow thistle, safe grasses and weeds
• Mulberry, hibiscus, unsprayed grapevine leaves

In moderation:

• Clover (Trifolium spp.)
• Arugula, escarole, grass hay

Avoid:

• Fruit as a routine food
• Animal protein, dog/cat food, dairy, bread, processed foods
• Large amounts of spinach, beet greens, lettuce, cucumber

Supplements:

• Cuttlefish bone available at all times
• Light calcium dusting indoors; does not replace UVB

💤 Winter rest

• Appropriate only for healthy, established animals of suitable origin
• Do not hibernate: sick, underweight, newly acquired, dehydrated, or uncertain-origin animals
• Pre-check: weight, appetite, droppings, hydration, parasite risk
• Typical winter-rest target: 4-8 °C with ventilation and no freezing
• Use active overwintering if origin or health status is uncertain

🩺 Health — warning signs

• Soft or uneven shell growth → UVB/calcium/diet problem
• Swollen eyes → infection, vitamin imbalance, dehydration
• Nasal discharge or wheezing → respiratory disease
• Refusal to eat outside seasonal slowdown → husbandry or health issue
• Chronic pacing → enclosure too small or poorly structured
• Lethargy outside cool periods → illness

Consult a reptile-experienced vet for respiratory signs, severe weakness, injury, parasites, or prolonged anorexia.