Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hello to all, I aquired a male hermans greek tort about 4 years ago. he was about 3'' round, seemed to be in good health...last spring he was breeding size, and at the beginning of the spring last year i realized he was ready to breed because of his behavior as he became very active i assumed roaming for a mate.

i purchased him an adult female from a so called specialist, she was a standard greek, much bigger than him...he tried repeatidly for im guessing two months daily to breed with her, but she totally wouldnt submit...im not sure if it was the size difference or if she had already layed for the year before i got her (which wouldnt suprise me as the supplier new what i wanted her for but took him many mins to go in the back room to bring her out, he dont have a solid name) but the breeding failed. I gave the female to a friend, but kept my male.

but about 8 months ago (shortly after he gave up trying to breed) i noticed a deformation on bottom jaw. it looked to be bending down...the deformation seemed to changed more to the likes of the bottom of a birds beak. he has troubles eating certain things, i have to feed him greens and squash graded up...occasionally soft fruits with vitamins. hes a big eater but the problem seems to slowly becoming worse...with his bottom jaw (near the front) constantly open, he spends time drinking n moreless im guessing wetting his mouth. he's healthy other wise and dont see the prob becoming so severe that his life will be shortened with the aid of me prepping his meals.

my question is this, would it be wise to again tryin breeding him. id love to breed him, but not sure if the prob has or will have an impact on him breeding. being spring he is beginning to roam a little more. but this time im going to get a female greek hermans that im hoping will be more his size vs the standard female that wouldn't submit.

is it normal for him to totally stop trying to breed with her as he did last year? or is it possible the issue with his mouth put his mind elsewhere as i first noticed the prob about the same time he gave up on her? also i was told the hermans could breed with the standards and id get both species if the breeding was successful, but she was much larger than him and it didnt seem right....is it ideal to breed him with another hermans? any advice would be greatly appreciated....

thanks,
chance

I think you should take him to the vet and find out why his mouth is deformed. It might be a symptom of a vitamin/mineral deficiency (even though I'm sure you've been trying to avoid that) and you also probably don't want to be feeding him mush for the rest of his life.
Unfortunately I'm too unfamiliar with Greek torts to know about breeding them, but I think it's unlikely you'd 'get both species' in the litter. They'd probably all just be hybrids.
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Eryx - All the fun of a boa in a convenient pocket size!

thanks for your reply....

ive been doing some research and finding out more, but im still confused as to what EXACT breed he is....are hermans know as greek hermans? i just saw some pics and from what i saw it indicates hes from the western group.....hows the best way to find out what i even have.......sorry for the ignorance, but the hermans site i was looking at was talking about permits etc...

i once had his mouth looked at and was told he has a deformity, not from lag of anything...he eats better than me lol....so im going to assume the mouth issue wont interfere with breeding but before purchasing a fem, i need to know what to get......

the first fem i got him last year was way to big, any more thoughts or ideas?

thanks bunches,
chance