A Tasty Treat

I don't understand why, but Hector and Phoebe love to bite our fingers.  In fact, sometimes to get them to eat something that we know they need but refuse to eat, we'll hold the food a little to the side of their heads so that our fingers are right in front of them.  Right before they chomp down we move the food into their mouths--success!  If they really don't like the food then they will spit it back out (which is quite funny to see since they can't "grab" food with fingers), but this technique usually convinces them that the food we're offering is worth-while.  I have an idea or two as to why they do this, but nothing too concrete.

An idea that I have is that they have formed such a strong association between our skin color and food (since we often, but not always, feed them by hand) that sometimes our skin looks even more enticing than the food we're offering.  The problem with this theory is the fact that they will continue to bite a finger for several minutes until they finally give up on the idea of getting any food for all the energy being spent (or they are tired of the salty taste of our skin).

Oddly enough, while Hector and Phoebe bring the total number of Greek Tortoises we have had to five, they are the only two that have ever exhibited this behavior.  If any of our past Greek Tortoises ever bit a finger it was on accident while we were feeding them.  (A notable exception to this rule occurred with Sampson I as seen here).

They don't even care how big the skin is, they just like to chew on it.

Yes, this hurt a little.

Phoebe the Night Crawler

Sometimes it's Hector, sometimes it's Phoebe, but one or both of them frequently decide that they've slept too much that day so they take a late-night stroll.  Last night Phoebe decided that 11:00 pm was an appropriate time to go clambering over the rocks in her vivarium.  In case you are unaware, Greek Tortoises are not known for their grace, and Phoebe is no exception.  For about ten minutes she was scraping around the vivarium having a grand time while we were trying to sleep.  I considered giving her a little snack but I was afraid that might keep her up longer and even wake up Hector (if he was even asleep still).  Fortunately, sleep took her again and, eventually, so it did us.

In this case, Phoebe wasn't really active for too long. Our first Greek Tortoise, Sampson I, would often get a second wind at night!  I remember one night in particular that he was clawing around for 30+ minutes; and though he was in the next room, he was so loud that we could not get to sleep.  Finally, I turned off his red night light hoping that if he couldn't see at all and he cooled-down some more that he would go to sleep.  Though it wasn't an immediate fix, he was quiet within a few minutes and we finally slept soon thereafter.