I was recently given two tortoises. A small male of about 4 inches and a much larger female. Both were purchased from the souks one in Casablanca the other in El-Jadida. I assume them to be T.graeca graeca. They both live outside in a walled garden. Their food of choice would seem to be Hibiscus leaves and flowers. The male seems to hide away for days at a time and his weight seems low. Can anyone tell me what the weight should be or give me a link to a chart? I believe the female has laid eggs this week, given that they take c.100 days to hatch this would mean any young would emerge in November. November is often wet but not usually very cold. The garden soil is very sandy and well drained.Should I take any action regarding the eggs? I am told that the tortoises in this area do not usually hibernate winter temps never falling below 9C at night and usually higher with daytime temps mostly in the 17c-22c range. Any advice on this much appreciated. I should also like to hear from anyone with knowledge of keeping Spur toed tortoises within their home range. Many thanks.

Hello everyone. I'm very new to this forum and have just this minute joined because I am worried sick about my tortoise. Not even sure what type he is although he is very similar to a Herman I suppose. I have had him now for over 35 years and he has been in good health. I have a safe enclosed garden which he wanders around at his leisure. Normally, I hibernate him in a box with shredded newspaper and he happily stays there in the garden shed until it's time for him to wake up. However, I haven't seen him since Monday afternoon and I can't find him anywhere. I have been on my hands and knees all over the garden and there is just no sign of him. I know he can't get out so he must have dug himself in somewhere. He has never hibernated in the garden before and I am at the end of my tether worrying about him. I did hope that with the lovely sunshine and mild weather we're having that he would have appeared, but no sign of him. He is 120 years old according to the vet who checked him over last year. If any of you have tortoises who happily hibernate in the garden I would love to hear from you just to put my mind at rest. The forecast is for good weather here in the South East for at least another couple of days, so there's still a possibility he may suddenly walk across the lawn, but I'm not in all day, every day, so I worry I may miss him.