60 year old Hermanns came with the house

[Greco]

The house I recently moved to used to belong to an old lady with a 60 year old Hermanns tortoise. A while ago the lady passed away and the house was renovated into three apartments. I rented one and in my lease was a clause that a tortoise resides in the garden during summer (and hibernates over winter). The ground floor tenant (not me) is responsible for daily care of the tortoise.

Last week he (tortoise) was woken up from hibernation and is now living in his enclosure in the garden. All of the tenants of the house have agreed to help out with caring for him, but none of us have experience with tortoises (but we are all animal lovers). I have been reading and am hoping for some guidance from you.

Some things that concern me:

- the property manager who has been caring for the tortoise has said that he only needs to eat lettuce. We initially followed this advice but are now trying to make sure there is some variety. The garden has sections of clover, dandelion and other various weeds that we let him wander through and eat in addition to salads from the supermarket.

- His enclosure has a large shrub in it that blocks much of the sunlight. We don't want to cut the shrub as it's quite nice, so want to relocate the enclosure. Is full sunlight with a few hidey-holes okay? Currently the flooring is grass/weed and in his 'bedroom' is some sort of strawlike material that he buries himself at night.

- Have never seen him drink. Started to give him baths. Today he did a big wee (so I guess the baths are working). Should the water containers (shallow plant pot saucers) be buried at ground level to facilitate drinking (I'm thinking maybe he finds the side too high to get a drink from). If they are buried up to the rim, how do you clean them?

- His shell is flared at the back. Normal? There is a small chip on the top. The underneath has a larger broken bit - maybe an old injury, should we be concerned?

- Is it okay for him to be outside 24-7? If there's a cold snap should he come inside? In spring and autumn we get an average of 7 hours of sunshine, more over summer. As far as I understand he is used to living outside spring-autum. He will hibernate in winter.

Thanks for your help. Here's our old man...

 

[JoesMum]

Hi there

I am guessing that this tort is in the UK.

He may also be a she - we need to see the tail to confirm

Yes he can be out 24/7 with care and, like my old boy, will be a total nightmare indoors.
I think you will find this helpful that I wrote. Care of Greeks and Hermann's is very similar
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/outdoor-accommodation-in-a-colder-uk-climate.140866/

Diet is much wider than lettuce - leafy weedy greens. It can't digest sugars properly - they cause digestive and kidney problems- so fruit, tomato, pepper and carrot should only be fed very sparingly and very occasionally- if at all.

That said, these garden torts do well finding their own weedy leafy greens in a garden that isn't highly manicured. And my tort, Joe's diet is best described as garden weeds supplemented with supermarket greens

Look green things up on The Tortoise Table Plant Database for suitability to feed
http://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/

The shell flare is normal. The shell rot on the plastron isn't. Someone like @Yvonne G with experience of shell rot can tell you if that needs treatment

 

[JoesMum]

This tort needs free access to water. Terracotta plant saucers are ideal water bowls that can be pushed into soil so the tort can drink.

It should also be soaked twice daily in warm water for at least 20 minutes to rehydrate it after hibernation.

Use a washing up bowl or clean, soap free kitchen sink. The water should be just deep enough to come up over the join between the shell and plastron

 

[Greco]

Thanks for your reply JoesMum.
We are based in Switzerland.

He has free access to water, but the only ones that seem to be using it are the birds. So, I've been giving him a soak once a day. I will up it to twice based on your advice. He does seem to enjoy it as he hangs out for about 15 minutes and then crawls out when finished.

The garden is far from highly manicured. We've been tidying it up a bit as it was left in a real state. However, we are leaving the various weeds and just mowing as necessary as there are also two dogs who live in the house and enjoy a romp in the garden (only when tortoise is in his enclosure). I find the tortoise eats lots when out in the garden, not so much in his enclosure with supermarket salad mixes.

Can't seem to get a photo of his tail, he likes to hide it.

 

[Taylor T.]

Welcome to the forum!
Be sure never to use fertilizers or pesticides in his garden, or on the shrub in his garden.(you probably already know I'm just making sure)
here is a helpful care sheet:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/sticky-hermanns-tortoise-care-sheet-updated.101410/

 

[cdmay]

Wow, this is the coolest tortoise story I've heard in years! You are so very fortunate---and so is the old tortoise for getting you as the new homeowner.
Joe'sMum is correct as is Taylor T. regarding the pesticides.
Please keep us updated.

 

[Pearly]

Hello and warm welcome from Texas, USA! You are getting great advice here, Joes Mum knows the species, I don't. Mine are the Redfooted, but one thing jumped at me, again, sorry if you already know about that. Just wanted to say that when your tort shares outdoor space with dogs, be sure to pick up any dog poo, as torts like to eat it at times and dogs on heartworm meds will excrete ivermectin commonly used in those in their caca. Torts are known to be sensitive to it (toxic stuff for them). As for the plastron I wonder what it would look like if you washed it out in his bath really good and gently scrubbed under stream of running water with old soft toothbrush. It looks like it maybe shell rot, but why would it be only in this one area? Anyway, try to clean it all up and post another pic. And again, WELCOME to the Forum!

 

[Greco]

Hi all. Thanks for the warm welcomes and helpful tips. We definitely don't use any pesticides or fertilisers in the garden. Both dogs like to graze on grass so we have been a spray free household from the start. Also, poop is always cleaned up as soon as it's deposited. We all like to hang out in the garden (usually barefoot) so poop is a no no.

I will try giving him a little toothbrush scrub on the plastron at his next bath and post another photo for your inspection

It's really cool, he's starting to warm up to me and doesn't retreat into his shell so much any more. I got a few head pats in today. Sweet old dude... I wonder what things he's seen over the last 60 years. I've only known him a week and think I'll have to renew my lease indefinitely as he's pretty much the coolest landlord.

 

[wellington]

Hello and Welcome. This is pretty cool to have a resident tortoise the new owners are letting stay there and even protecting it by having him in the rental agreement.
I don't own that species. However, I wouldn't try changing too much. He did fine for a lot of years the way he was cared for, and looks good. It must have been a good life the way he had been raised.

 

[Taylor T.]

Be VERY careful to keep your dogs away from the tortoise as they see tortoises as chew toys, and can very quickly hurt or kill him.

 

[Greco]

Of course we are careful with the dogs... we wouldn't want any of the animals to be injured. There's also a cat in the picture, but he seldom ventures outside. One of the dogs is a 12 year old rescue from a puppy mill. Poor thing spent her life in a cage churning out pups. She's happier now, but doesn't do much. She just enjoys lying in the sun (birds could land on her and she wouldn't stir). She also has no teeth. The other dog is younger and has lots of energy. However, she's a very clever poodle and doesn't like being wrong (if she could tell tales on other dogs who don't follow the rules, she would). I've been working with her to ignore the tortoise and she's learnt the game already. She's calm around him and ignores him.

But of course none of the animals are ever (or will ever be) left out together unsupervised. Even if the two dogs are out, there is always at least one human out. We don't have any grand ideas of dogs and cats cuddling with tortoises

 

[Taylor T.]

Thank you for being careful. You are doing a great job with your new tortoise!

 

[Stuart S.]

That's an incredible tortoise! Glad he is still being cared for the way he needs.

 

[JoesMum]

They are creatures of habit. They do know what they like and like what they know.

It is pleasing that this tort has been allowed to continue in his garden. We were never in any doubt that the garden was actually Joe's.

You will find this tort has routines organised regardless of what you think or do. You will learn to read him to recognise the weather is about to be very cold ... or very hot ... simply because he chooses to sleep in a different place or do things differently.

Joe was like a sun dial. You could pretty much tell the time by where he was in the garden.

 

[Greta16]

What a wonderful story!! He or she is so lucky to have such caring carers. Good luck. ☺

 

[TammyJ]

A beautiful story and a lucky tortoise!

 

[Alicia Hoogstra]

What a great legacy to leave. I'm glad you all are caring, animal loving people

 

[Greco]

Hi all,

Thanks again for your kind welcome. I have given Gréco a (soft) toothbrush scrub. The damage to his plastron worries me. It definitely broken. No idea how old this injury is, whether it causes him pain and if it should be seen by a medical professional. Normally I take my pets to the vet if I have concerns, but because of the circumstances (especially since he is not my tortoise) I am asking here first. What do you think?

 

[JoesMum]

It looks like old damage to me. @ZEROPILOT are you around to take a look?

Athlete's foot cream is used to treat shell rot and using it for a couple of weeks will do no harm just in case.

 

[TammyJ]

I have heard somewhere that sometimes some kind of adhesive has been used to "patch up" the shells...not sure about this though. I will do some research.