New Member and Tort owner

KayLeo7

New Member
Joined
Jul 25, 2017
Messages
14
Location (City and/or State)
Indiana
Hello,

Very excited to be a new member of this wonderful forum that has offered me such valuable information over the past two months of research.

My baby Hermann's tortoise, Leonardo, arrived today and I am so unbelievably in love. Also, a bit nervous as a beginner reptile/tortoise owner.

Once Leo arrived I gave him a good soak for about 20 minutes, during this time he drank and to my surprise, pooped. After his soak I immediately placed him in his new forever home, as shown below. Basking temperatures stay at around 93/94 degrees, humidity is regulated at 70%-80%, and the cold side doesn't go below 77 degrees.

After munching on some romain lettuce, baby bok choy, hibiscus, and carrots he climbed all over his new home for around 8 hours. I fed him dinner at around 7pm that consisted of dandelion, clover, hibiscus leaves, and a baby tortoise food pellet and he fell asleep shortly afterwards.

Am I missing anything? Also there was no information sent with him about his hatching dates. I am unsure of how old he is exactly. He is about 2.5" in length.

All tips/tricks/suggestions/constructive criticism is very much welcome and appreciated. I have had an unexplainable love for turtles and tortoises for so long and want nothing more than for Leo to strive and be my lifelong friend.

Thank you,

KayLeo7
 

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KayLeo7

New Member
Joined
Jul 25, 2017
Messages
14
Location (City and/or State)
Indiana
hi, I would recommend top soil and not wood chip for the base.
I do have about 2 to 3 inches of organic top soil underneath the chips. Not sure if I should just remove the wood chips? Are you talking about the reptibark or the cypruss mulch?
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
63,269
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
hi, I would recommend top soil and not wood chip for the base.

I disagree. Topsoil is messy and there is no way to know what it is made of. Is it harmless plant material, or is it composted oleander leaves and chemically treated grass clippings? No way to know unless you make your own soil and compost.

The orchid bark she is using will work great. I prefer coco coir for baby Testudo, and fine grade orchid bark for large ones.
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
63,269
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
Hello,

Very excited to be a new member of this wonderful forum that has offered me such valuable information over the past two months of research.

My baby Hermann's tortoise, Leonardo, arrived today and I am so unbelievably in love. Also, a bit nervous as a beginner reptile/tortoise owner.

Once Leo arrived I gave him a good soak for about 20 minutes, during this time he drank and to my surprise, pooped. After his soak I immediately placed him in his new forever home, as shown below. Basking temperatures stay at around 93/94 degrees, humidity is regulated at 70%-80%, and the cold side doesn't go below 77 degrees.

After munching on some romain lettuce, baby bok choy, hibiscus, and carrots he climbed all over his new home for around 8 hours. I fed him dinner at around 7pm that consisted of dandelion, clover, hibiscus leaves, and a baby tortoise food pellet and he fell asleep shortly afterwards.

Am I missing anything? Also there was no information sent with him about his hatching dates. I am unsure of how old he is exactly. He is about 2.5" in length.

All tips/tricks/suggestions/constructive criticism is very much welcome and appreciated. I have had an unexplainable love for turtles and tortoises for so long and want nothing more than for Leo to strive and be my lifelong friend.

Thank you,

KayLeo7

Looks like you are off to a great start.

  • I like to keep the basking area 95-100.
  • I'd skip the romaine and carrots. The hibiscus leaves, clover, and dandelion are all great, and I'd look for more good weeds and leaves. If you must use grocery store foods, favor endive and escarole heavily, but use lots of variety.
  • Soak daily until around he/she reaches around 100 grams. You can start skipping days occasionally after that.
Good luck and happy torting. Keep the pics and updates coming!
 

GBtortoises

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Feb 27, 2009
Messages
3,618
Location (City and/or State)
The Catskill Mountains of New York State
Orchid bark and coconut coir are definitely not good substrates for babies and certainly not for species where a medium level of soil moisture is required such as most Testudo species.
Orchid bark is a wood based material, okay for mature tortoises that are done growing and developing. As would be cypress mulch. For a baby tortoise it is very uneven, cumbersome to navigate and very dry most of the time. It is no good whatsoever for burrowing into which many baby tortoises, including Hermann's tortoises will instinctively do for security.
Coconut coir by itself is a terrible substrate choice. Unless kept very wet it becomes dusty and that dust is easily inhaled and can cause nasal compaction. It also sticks to everything wet such eyes, mouth, nostrils and foods.

Organic potting and top soils work very well in that they are easy to keep at the right moisture levels without having to be wet. They absolutely facilitate easy burrowing and still remain firm at the top level to allow for good footing for leg muscle development and easy navigation.

I have been using soil based substrates for as long as I have been raising baby tortoises and have not encountered a single problem whatsoever of any kind.
 

KayLeo7

New Member
Joined
Jul 25, 2017
Messages
14
Location (City and/or State)
Indiana
Orchid bark and coconut coir are definitely not good substrates for babies and certainly not for species where a medium level of soil moisture is required such as most Testudo species.
Orchid bark is a wood based material, okay for mature tortoises that are done growing and developing. As would be cypress mulch. For a baby tortoise it is very uneven, cumbersome to navigate and very dry most of the time. It is no good whatsoever for burrowing into which many baby tortoises, including Hermann's tortoises will instinctively do for security.
Coconut coir by itself is a terrible substrate choice. Unless kept very wet it becomes dusty and that dust is easily inhaled and can cause nasal compaction. It also sticks to everything wet such eyes, mouth, nostrils and foods.

Organic potting and top soils work very well in that they are easy to keep at the right moisture levels without having to be wet. They absolutely facilitate easy burrowing and still remain firm at the top level to allow for good footing for leg muscle development and easy navigation.

I have been using soil based substrates for as long as I have been raising baby tortoises and have not encountered a single problem whatsoever of any kind.
Thank you so much for your input I will be removing the cypress mulch and the repti-bark from his enclosure.
 

Maitaimommy

Active Member
Joined
Jul 26, 2017
Messages
229
Location (City and/or State)
04005
Welcome Kay Leo! Sounds like you've done your research! I use coconut fiber for my Russian. I've tried several different types of substrate and this is the favorite. As for food, I go to the grocery store reguarly and buy organic produce like clover sprouts, endive, riddiccio and escarole. Like other people have mentioned...variety is key. I try to avoid fruit and make sure mine has access to plenty of natural sunlight throughout the day.
So happy for you and your new baby tort:)
 
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