New Mum!

[Brimstonefox]

Hi, I have just hatched my first clutch of baby Hermann's (eggs donated by a friend). I am new to tortoise-keeping, hence my finding this forum in my search for husbandry advice. Its all very exciting and a bit scary! I am sure I shall be picking your brains over the days and weeks to come!

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Crikey!
In at the deep end.
A very warm welcome to Tortoise Forum.
Your profile pic looks rather like me.
Have a look at http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
and this section : http://www.tortoiseforum.org/forums/tortoise-breeding.125/
should provide you with lots of information and some answers.
Don't be afraid to ask if you have any questions.

 

[Brimstonefox]

Thank-you!
I have already read the beginner's mistakes post! :-D

 

[Beep-Beep]

Welcome to TTF,
I'm new too, and made a bunch - if not a ton - of beginner's mistakes.
Got properly corrected , fantastic place.

Cheers,
Beep-Beep

 

[wellington]

Wow jumping all in at once, very brave. Hello and Welcome.
Our Hermans expert is @HermanniChris
Good luck they look great so far

 

[Brimstonefox]

Thanks, everyone, for the welcome!
Ok, well, as I'm here....
My current concerns are;
1. Little guys all seem well but not very interested in food - read today that they may not eat much for the first couple of days (the first hatch on Friday and the last on Monday) so hope that is all it is. Am pretty confident it is not because they are too cool - temp at warm end of viv is 26-30C during the day.
2. Have read so many conflicting things about substrate; bought reptile pellet substrate from local exotics shop (its what their baby tortoises are kept on) but it wasn't very baby friendly so now on clean compost mixed with about 5% play sand and some of the pellets, which have broken down into soft fibre after being damped by spraying (exotics shop assured me they would be harmless if ingested). The resulting mixture is nice and soft and the babies all burrow into it at night, which I am assuming to be a good thing as they can regulate their temp a bit and reduce moisture loss. The down-side is I have to dig through the whole lot in the morning to find them for their bath! :-D My only worry with this is that they will eat it but that seems to be a danger with any loose substrate.

I have been doing a lot of reading up (and, although new to tortoises, I have a lot of experience in animal husbandry generally) and, once the babies are eating well, I will relax a bit but some reassurance on the appetite/substrate fronts would be very welcome!

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Yes, they may go quite a few days without eating as they settle into their new home. As long as the temps, humidity and diet are good they should start eating in time.
Don't think anybody much uses pellets any more, compost only good if you know that all the plants it's made from are tortoise friendly. Sand, i wouldn't use any percentage of, though i believe the care sheet differs, sand's an impaction risk.
You need to use fine grade orchid bark, coco coir or cypress mulch, I think many prefer the orchid bark for this species which you can get more cheaply in the garden centre than at pet stores.

 

[Brimstonefox]

Thank-you! I do have some coir for my African snail - find it rather dusty, though, unless kept very damp. I shall investigate the orchid bark - I have some of that, too, as I like orchids.

 

[Yvonne G]

Welcome!

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Thank-you! I do have some coir for my African snail - find it rather dusty, though, unless kept very damp. I shall investigate the orchid bark - I have some of that, too, as I like orchids.

I use coir for my Greek, a very close cousin of the Hermann's, keep it moist and pressed down and i have no problem, but as i say, others prefer the orchid bark, it's just a case of experimenting to find out what works best for you and your little ones.

 

[RosemaryDW]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[Loritort]

Hi, I have just hatched my first clutch of baby Hermann's (eggs donated by a friend). I am new to tortoise-keeping, hence my finding this forum in my search for husbandry advice. Its all very exciting and a bit scary! I am sure I shall be picking your brains over the days and weeks to come!

View attachment 215687

Great pic!

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hi

 

[Brimstonefox]

Quick up-date; they're into their grub, now! :-D