Baskden a warm den for reptile folk

🩺 Your free vet-prep sheet

Your Greek Tortoise Vet-Prep Sheet

Reptile vets are rare, and it is easy to freeze in a crisis. This is the one page to have ready — how to find a vet, what to bring, what to tell them, and the questions to ask. This helps you prepare for a visit — it is not a way to treat at home. Print it and keep it with your care notes.

Black & white saves ink and prints cleanly on any printer.

Not sure it’s a vet trip yet? Try the Is this normal? triage first — many worries turn out to be a husbandry fix.

Baskden a warm den for reptile folk · baskden.com
Greek Tortoise — Vet-Prep Sheet

🔍 Find a reptile / exotics vet — before you need one

  • Search the ARAV Find-a-Vet directory (the Association of Reptilian & Amphibian Veterinarians), or in the UK the RCVS Find-a-Vet — or search "reptile / exotics vet near me".
  • Call ahead and ask the key question: "Do you see reptiles?" Not every practice does.
  • Ask the exam fee when you call. Knowing the cost up front removes the money-panic in a crisis.
  • Find and save one now, while things are calm — not in the middle of an emergency.

📇 Fill this in now — before the crisis

Two minutes now saves ten in a panic. Print it and keep it with your care notes.

My reptile vet
My greek tortoise
What I'm seeing

🚨 Is this an emergency now?

See a reptile vet promptly if you notice any of these:

  • Soft, flexible, or increasingly lumpy/pyramided shell, bowed or weak limbs, or a tortoise that won't grow — classic signs of metabolic bone disease; see an exotics vet.
  • Nasal discharge, bubbling, wheezing, open-mouth breathing, or a persistently gaping mouth — possible respiratory infection (a real emergency in tortoises).
  • Runny or crusty eyes, or eyes swollen shut — get it checked.
  • Not eating for an extended period, marked lethargy, or steady weight loss (watch your weight log) — non-specific but always worth a vet visit.
  • Any wound, cheesy/white patches or ulcers in the mouth (mouth-rot), or a runny nose noticed before hibernation — do NOT hibernate; see a vet first.
  • Straining, no droppings, or a swelling near the tail (possible constipation, egg-binding, or prolapse) — urgent.

When in doubt, a vet call is never wrong — most issues are reversible if caught early.

🚗 On the way / while you wait

✅ Do

  • Keep it warm at a safe transport temperature — a cold reptile crashes fast (a warm car or a covered container with a warm, not hot, pack helps).
  • Keep it calm, dark and quiet in a secure, ventilated container — stress makes almost everything worse.
  • Bring it in its own container so the vet sees it as it lives.

⛔ Don't

  • Don’t offer food, or any OTC, aquarium-shop or online-forum remedy — many are useless or harmful and can mask the signs.
  • Don’t let it get cold on the way in.
  • Don’t handle it more than you must.

🎒 What to bring

  • A short video and a couple of clear photos of the behaviour or sign — it may not show it in the clinic.
  • A note of your setup (basking, cool-side and night temperatures, UVB, humidity, substrate) and exactly what — and how often — you feed.
  • Your reptile, transported safely in its own secure, ventilated container — kept warm (see below), not in a cold car.

🗣️ What to tell the vet

A general vet may not know this species. Come ready to explain its correct care:

Temperature
Basking spot 95-105°F (35-40°C) directly under the heat lamp. Ambient / cool end 75-85°F (24-29°C), giving a proper warm-to-cool gradient across the enclosure. Heat can be turned off at night; a natural drop is healthy. Don't let it fall below ~50°F (10°C) indoors — if a night shelter dips lower, give supplementary heat to hold ~55-60°F (13-16°C).
UVB & lighting
High UVB requirement (Ferguson Zone 3 — open sun-basker, basking-zone UVI ~2.9-7.4). Use a strong linear T5 HO tube such as Arcadia T5 HO 12% or Zoo Med Reptisun 10.0, sized to cover much of the enclosure and mounted per the maker's chart (roughly 6-8 in for the Zoo Med / 17-18 in for the Arcadia above the shell). Replace UVB tubes every ~12 months even if they still glow. Natural unfiltered sunlight outdoors is ideal.
Humidity
An arid/semi-arid species: low ambient humidity is fine, but always provide a humid microclimate — a humid hide or damp substrate area kept around 65-70% so they can hydrate and burrow. Hatchlings are far more prone to dehydration and do best kept at 65-70% ambient with regular soaks.
Enclosure
Adults need a minimum of ~12 sq ft (about 6 x 3 ft / 1.8 x 0.9 m) of usable FLOOR space indoors, and bigger is always better. Ideally they live outdoors in a secure, predator-proof, escape-proof planted pen for the warm months — tortoises are diggers and surprising climbers, so bury the walls and check the top.
Substrate
A deep, diggable, moderately water-holding mix — a ~50/50 blend of topsoil and play sand (or topsoil/coir with some sand) works well. At least 4 in (10 cm) deep so they can dig and thermoregulate; deeper is better. Avoid cedar and pine shavings (respiratory irritants). Spot-clean often and fully replace every few months.
Diet
Strict herbivore and grazer. Base the diet on low-calorie, high-fiber leafy weeds and greens: dandelion, clover, plantain, hawksbit, cat's ear, sow thistle, plus collard/turnip/mustard greens, kale, hibiscus leaves and flowers, and grazing grasses. Offer variety daily. Fruit is NOT appropriate for Mediterranean tortoises — their gut isn't built for sugary food, and it causes digestive upset. Avoid high-protein/animal foods and iceberg-type filler greens.
Supplements
Calcium is critical for shell and bone health. Dust food with a plain calcium (or a plant-focused supplement like Repashy SuperVeggie) on most feeds, and keep a cuttlebone available for free-choice gnawing. Keepers relying on strong UVB or real sunlight generally use little-to-no added D3; if UVB is weak or absent, a limited D3 source becomes important — get the balance right, because both deficiency and excess cause problems.

⚕️ Reptiles are ectotherms kept at species-specific temperatures — a cold reptile can’t metabolise medicines properly, so tell the vet your exact temperatures and keep it warm for transport. Reptiles are prey animals and hide illness until it is advanced, so early changes matter. Mention your UVB/lighting and any supplements or remedies you’ve already used, and ask for reptile-safe products and doses.

Then note which of the warning signs (above) you are seeing, when they started, and whether they are getting worse.

❓ Questions to ask

  • Do you routinely see reptiles? If not, can you refer me to a vet who does?
  • What are the likely causes — and could my setup or diet be contributing?
  • What is the treatment plan, the likely cost, and what should I watch for at home?
  • How do I prevent this from happening again?