Timmys home

[MikeyG86]

Hi everyone.

I just wanted to share with you all the setup I have for my 12 year old Hermanns Timmy. I'm keen to make his home the best I possibly can so I welcome any ideas you guys might have about where I'm going wrong or any improvements you can think of.

Once he's out of hibernation he lives outside and has the run of the garden which I have made safe by adding more gravel boards around the bottom of the whole fence. We moved into our new build house a little over three years ago so I've made the garden from scratch.


I have built a "house" for him to stay in at night and as somewhere to go to bask or to get out of the rain. The main area has a feeding rock and basking lamp and rock. His "bedroom" has a ceramic heater on a thermostat that doesn't allow it to drop below about 16C.




The original one I built had a Perspex roof on the right hand side making it into a kind of cold frame, but I had to rebuild it this year as the wood I used originally was ruined by our English weather and it was easier to make a solid roof as I was in a rush to finish it.

As you can see I have a weed garden for him around his house and I also have other plants dotted around around the garden including petunias (that he has pretty much demolished), begonias (he barely touches), pansies, violas, campanula glomerata superba, Malva alba, aubrietia Audrey blue. These are new this year and as such are still small. I'm also growing some others in a little greenhouse I recently bought.

When we first got Timmy 3 years ago we fed him mainly supermarket curly kale, cucumber and little gem lettuce because we were quite unprepared. We took him in when my wife's grandma could no longer care for him.

He also has access to a cuttle fish bone (that he never uses) a water dish sunk into the ground and various different terrains to walk over.

Although he has plenty of plants to hide under I plan to make him a rock or wood hide soon when I get some time. Just trying to work out whether to put it in a sunny spot or shaded spot.

The main things I'm concerned about are humidity, as he lives outside I can't control it. And his calcium intake as he won't use the cuttlefish and I want him to feed himself from around the garden I can't exactly dust his food with calcium powder either.

 

[Okinawan]

Your garden is beautiful! I need to create an outdoor night house as well and have been looking at dog houses on craigslist to hack. I saw one that had a hinged top with a heater to boot and waited a day too long and it was gone. You have given me some ideas, thanks for posting.

 

[MikeyG86]

Thank you. My grass looks rubbish this year I need to try and sort it out.
I know a lot of people use dog houses as night houses for their torts, I think they're ideal. The only reason I made one myself was because I wanted to incorporate a shelter from the rain into it but the silly thing stays out when it's raining. I often wonder whether it's because he's got too cold too quickly to return to his house but when I put him in it he usually goes back out in the rain!

 

[Okinawan]

The kid doesn't know what's good for him! He'll learn that warm is cozy feels a whole lot better than wet and cold...maybe?

 

[MikeyG86]

Ha yeah that's what I thought but I'm not convinced.

 

[Big Charlie]

Thank you. My grass looks rubbish this year I need to try and sort it out.
I know a lot of people use dog houses as night houses for their torts, I think they're ideal. The only reason I made one myself was because I wanted to incorporate a shelter from the rain into it but the silly thing stays out when it's raining. I often wonder whether it's because he's got too cold too quickly to return to his house but when I put him in it he usually goes back out in the rain!

They aren't too smart! You can't rely on him to know what is good for him. When they get cold they often will just hunker down wherever they are. I don't think they understand rain. I've never seen Charlie try to get out of it.

I know nothing about Hermanns but isn't 16 C too cold? I've got Charlie's set to 80 F. I don't think the torn newspaper is good for him either.

I wouldn't worry too much about calcium. I think there is quite a bit in the grass and weeds. He probably needed more supplementation when you were using grocery foods.

I love the sunken water dish. I need to do something like that for Charlie.

Your house looks very nice. Much nicer than a doghouse.

 

[Alex Z]

Hi everyone.

I just wanted to share with you all the setup I have for my 12 year old Hermanns Timmy. I'm keen to make his home the best I possibly can so I welcome any ideas you guys might have about where I'm going wrong or any improvements you can think of.

Once he's out of hibernation he lives outside and has the run of the garden which I have made safe by adding more gravel boards around the bottom of the whole fence. We moved into our new build house a little over three years ago so I've made the garden from scratch.
View attachment 209149

I have built a "house" for him to stay in at night and as somewhere to go to bask or to get out of the rain. The main area has a feeding rock and basking lamp and rock. His "bedroom" has a ceramic heater on a thermostat that doesn't allow it to drop below about 16C.
View attachment 209150
View attachment 209151
View attachment 209152

The original one I built had a Perspex roof on the right hand side making it into a kind of cold frame, but I had to rebuild it this year as the wood I used originally was ruined by our English weather and it was easier to make a solid roof as I was in a rush to finish it.

As you can see I have a weed garden for him around his house and I also have other plants dotted around around the garden including petunias (that he has pretty much demolished), begonias (he barely touches), pansies, violas, campanula glomerata superba, Malva alba, aubrietia Audrey blue. These are new this year and as such are still small. I'm also growing some others in a little greenhouse I recently bought.

When we first got Timmy 3 years ago we fed him mainly supermarket curly kale, cucumber and little gem lettuce because we were quite unprepared. We took him in when my wife's grandma could no longer care for him.

He also has access to a cuttle fish bone (that he never uses) a water dish sunk into the ground and various different terrains to walk over.

Although he has plenty of plants to hide under I plan to make him a rock or wood hide soon when I get some time. Just trying to work out whether to put it in a sunny spot or shaded spot.

The main things I'm concerned about are humidity, as he lives outside I can't control it. And his calcium intake as he won't use the cuttlefish and I want him to feed himself from around the garden I can't exactly dust his food with calcium powder either.

Standing ovation..

 

[MikeyG86]

When it's a hot day and I'm watering the garden he'll often wander over and have a shower and when he's had enough he'll wander off again but with rain it's different, like you say because he gets cold he just stays where is. Daft thing.

Well I did a lot of research when we got him and everything I read seemed to say don't let it drop below 16C at night. Although I suppose that's the minimum so I guess a few extra degrees would be ok for him. Not sure what the maximum is though.

I started off this year without any newspaper in there and made his substrate deep enough for him bury into a little. But he didn't seem to like it, he kept coming out and hiding under a plant. I think he likes it when he has something to hide under, maybe it's because he had newspaper in his previous home and just got used to it. But once I put some newspaper in there he started staying in there and going there every night of his own volition.

Thanks I got the water dish idea from this forum actually. Only did it a week or so ago. Not sure if he's figured it out or not yet though.

 

[MikeyG86]

That's a question I wanted to ask: those of you who's torts live outside and have a water dish or bath of some description for them to use at their leisure do you still bath your torts yourselves every so often or do you just trust them to do it themselves when they need it?

 

[Huw]

Hi Mike, love your graden!

Was wondering - do you ever have visits from neighbouring cats? I'd be inclined to leave my Monty out if I wasn't so worried about cats!

 

[MikeyG86]

We do get one cat visit occasionally but he mostly seems interested in the bird box. I've never seen the cat even notice Timmy before

 

[Big Charlie]

That's a question I wanted to ask: those of you who's torts live outside and have a water dish or bath of some description for them to use at their leisure do you still bath your torts yourselves every so often or do you just trust them to do it themselves when they need it?

I would still soak them. Like I said, you can't trust them to always do what is good for them.

 

[wellington]

The paper is a bad idea on a couple levels. Molds, can start a fire, ink isn't good for them and they will never come across it in the wild. Dirt, leaf litter, tortoise safe wood chips all good.
The temp of 16 is too low. Humidity with low temps make a sick tort.
What you found 3 years ago, if not found on this site is probably wrong and/or outdated info.
Please read our caresheet written by a member that raises Hermanns.

 

[Belinda charpentier]

Some good ideas. Looking to set up my garden area.