FaunaClassifieds - View Single Post - Russian or Greek?
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Old 04-14-2012, 01:20 PM   #2
rcarichter
Care of Russians and Greeks is very similar, with Greeks being slightly more sensitive to environmental conditions. Have you considered Hermann's? Of the three, they have the most friendly, outgoing personality. Hatchlings are fairly easy to come by. Of course, you have to be extremely careful keeping a tortoise outdoors for the first few years. Even if the pen is escape-proof, they are easily picked up by hawks, cats, racoons, etc. Also, you have to provide for full drainage to prevent drowning, while not having any escape gaps.
I would plan on keeping it indoors for a few years, or getting an adult. Their lifespan is as long or longer than ours.
I have Hermann's and Egyptians. They are in an outdoor pen April-October, 6X6, with a heated small doghouse, several hides, a concrete birdbath top for water, areas of deep mulch for burrowing. I plant a multi-lettuce garden (outside the pen) to grow food. Anything planted in the pen will be trampled or eaten. They are also fed clover and dandelions.
In the winter, they are kept in the basement, in a kiddie pool w/ 6 inches of sand, heat lamps, and UV.

Noelle