Hermanns tortoise

[Terri McCartney]

Please can anyone help me.I inherited a Herman tortoise 5 years old from my son who went to live in Dubai,l have been thrown in at the deep end and my knowledge of this lovely little man is second to none.At nighttime he gets very restless and try's to climb the walls in his vivarium.He then bangs on the glass doors until l get him out and let him wander around the house until he gets tired then he finds a corner to settle in.Some days he will eat other days he either sits in the corner or goes under his log.He has a heat lamp and a uv light.When we had him in the summer he used to wander round the garden.Do you think he dislikes his home and just wants to be free or is he distressed?I just want to do the right thing for him.He is quite happy to sit on me and have his back and neck stroked.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Terry, and welcome to the Forum!

What's going on with the tortoise is the fact that he used to live in the big wide wonderful world of your garden and now he's stuck inside in a small container. It's very difficult for them to acclimate when this drastic a change has been made.

At night a tortoise wants to hide in a safe, dark place until morning. I'm guessing from your words that he has no such place in the viv. I'm also guessing that the viv is way too small for a full grown Hermanns tortoise.

It's not a good idea to allow a torotise to wander around on the floor. We've read many horror stories about sick and injured, even dead tortoises that were allowed on the floor.

My advice is to give this tortoise the biggest indoor habitat you can, furnish it with the appropriate lights and accoutrements and leave him in there to adjust to his new surroundings.

Here's a very good care sheet for you to read:

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/sticky-hermanns-tortoise-care-sheet-updated.101410/

And here's an example of an indoor habitat for a tortoise:

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hi Terri

 

[BILBO-03]

Hi and Welcome!

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Hello, Terry, and a very warm welcome to Tortoise Forum.
Have a look at http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/ also.

 

[Moozillion]

You mention glass doors in your post. If a tortoise is in an enclosure with transparent walls, they seem to want to walk through them. Covering the walls and doors of the indoor enclosure so they're not transparent might help some.

I also rake up a bunch of dry leaves (mostly oak) from my yard and dump them in my tort's indoor enclosure. She seems to really like plowing into the leaves so she can hide.
A palm tree "boot" is her absolute favorite place to sleep and hide!

 

[von345]

Yvonne said it perfectly. Read the care sheet. Even on warm days " I live in Louisiana " I have blocked off areas wee he is free to roam. Happy Tortying

 

[Moozillion]

Yvonne said it perfectly. Read the care sheet. Even on warm days " I live in Louisiana " I have blocked off areas wee he is free to roam. Happy Tortying

Hi, Von345!
I live in Louisiana, too! We're in Covington. Where are you?