My Tort is a bit big

I noticed recently that my tort is rather big for his age.

Some background on me and my tort, I purchased him/her March 2019. My first tortoise, an Eastern Hermann.

Although I don't know specifics, his hatch date was in 2017. But last time I weighed him [28/12/19] he weighed in at 488g... huge. Each month he gained on average anywhere from 40g-100g a month.

I had only noticed something was wrong was about 2 weeks ago, I noticed what looks like the early signs of pyramiding. That's when I started to research (online and in books) on tortoise weight and diet extensively.

His diet, in the beginning, was supermarket-bought salad bags, which had little lettuce and replicated what my college (I study animal management) feeds their Hermann tortoises, but since late May this year has been primarily Mazuri Diet, recommended by my exotic pet shop. As I was afraid I wasn't providing him all the nutrition he needed.

I am currently in the process of completely overhauling his diet, for the time being, I am going to have to source the greens from my local supermarkets or greengrocers until my mini-weed garden starts producing enough.

I have a few questions; What is the best course of action now?

leave him the weight he is but supplement heavily or, try and reduce his weight slowly (whilst also supplementing)?

Any advice is appreciated.

I'd love to see pictures of this tortoise.

I think you'll find that a lot of pyramiding is caused from the tortoise being kept in too dry conditions rather than the diet.

On the question of appropriate weight. I wouldn't go out of my way to try & encourage any weight loss. I would stop feeding Mazuri daily and just provide it maybe 2x / week. Feed the appropriate greens & other feed. Lastly, how large of an enclosure is your tort in? Maybe increase the size so it has more room to roam & exercise.

Pix are always good! Regards & Good Luck

Thank you for your advice.

As its still cold in the UK, he is indoors atm. In a 2ft x 4ft Tort Table, Substrate is Tortoise Life, Has a water bowl which he has access too 24/7, Lamp is a D3 Mercury Vapour bulb (UVA,UVB & IR).
It is one of those flat-packed tables, which has an 'indoor' part.

Working on a 6ft x 4ft outdoor pen, hopefully, will be completed by the end of Jan.

What humidity should the humid hide be for him?

Pictures with a thermometer for scale
(Thermometer was left underneath the heat lamp)

https://ibb.co/hZvRtHJ
https://ibb.co/pwqJ6vN

BigGoose said:

Thank you for your advice.

As its still cold in the UK, he is indoors atm. In a 2ft x 4ft Tort Table, Substrate is Tortoise Life, Has a water bowl which he has access too 24/7, Lamp is a D3 Mercury Vapour bulb (UVA,UVB & IR).
It is one of those flat-packed tables, which has an 'indoor' part.

Working on a 6ft x 4ft outdoor pen, hopefully, will be completed by the end of Jan.

What humidity should the humid hide be for him?

Pictures with a thermometer for scale
(Thermometer was left underneath the heat lamp)

https://ibb.co/hZvRtHJ
https://ibb.co/pwqJ6vN

Click to expand...

Your tortoise looks great! One thing I noticed about your enclosure is the substrate, I may be incorrect but it contains little white specs which can be harmful to your tort. These can be ingested by your tort aswell as a load of soil. I would switch to coco coir or orchid bark perhaps

Ben02 said:

Your tortoise looks great! One thing I noticed about your enclosure is the substrate, I may be incorrect but it contains little white specs which can be harmful to your tort. These can be ingested by your tort aswell as a load of soil. I would switch to coco coir or orchid bark perhaps

Click to expand...

Thanks, I was worried, and also thanks for the quick reply

I'm pretty certain those white specks are limestone so if it's eaten he gets some added calcium, I rarely see him go for the substrate anyways and I always put the food on his slate. So far I've had no problems. Although the substrate does seem to dry quickly, I may try part Tortoise-life and Coco coir.

https://www.pro-rep.co.uk/portfolio/tortoise-life/ - the Substrate I use.

A gorgeous tort. God bless.

Please give him daily soaks in warm water.


And a very warm welcome to both of you.

BigGoose said:

Thank you for your advice.

As its still cold in the UK, he is indoors atm. In a 2ft x 4ft Tort Table, Substrate is Tortoise Life, Has a water bowl which he has access too 24/7, Lamp is a D3 Mercury Vapour bulb (UVA,UVB & IR).
It is one of those flat-packed tables, which has an 'indoor' part.

Working on a 6ft x 4ft outdoor pen, hopefully, will be completed by the end of Jan.

What humidity should the humid hide be for him?

Pictures with a thermometer for scale
(Thermometer was left underneath the heat lamp)

https://ibb.co/hZvRtHJ
https://ibb.co/pwqJ6vN

Click to expand...

He’s very handsome!

He/she is very beautiful!! Very nice specimen.!

BigGoose said:

Thanks, I was worried, and also thanks for the quick reply

I'm pretty certain those white specks are limestone so if it's eaten he gets some added calcium, I rarely see him go for the substrate anyways and I always put the food on his slate. So far I've had no problems. Although the substrate does seem to dry quickly, I may try part Tortoise-life and Coco coir.

https://www.pro-rep.co.uk/portfolio/tortoise-life/ - the Substrate I use.

Click to expand...

I highly recommend coco coir, it will stay moist for a lot longer,

BigGoose said:

Thank you for your advice.

As its still cold in the UK, he is indoors atm. In a 2ft x 4ft Tort Table, Substrate is Tortoise Life, Has a water bowl which he has access too 24/7, Lamp is a D3 Mercury Vapour bulb (UVA,UVB & IR).
It is one of those flat-packed tables, which has an 'indoor' part.

Working on a 6ft x 4ft outdoor pen, hopefully, will be completed by the end of Jan.

What humidity should the humid hide be for him?

Pictures with a thermometer for scale
(Thermometer was left underneath the heat lamp)

https://ibb.co/hZvRtHJ
https://ibb.co/pwqJ6vN

Click to expand...

He's lovely.
Have you seen the hermanns caresheet in the species section? That may help you with humidity levels as well as everything else.
I was advised that right temp + humidity = healthy tort but too cold + humidity = sick tort so it's important to get the balance right.
I struggle with humidity in my leopard's room, but he has a warm soak most days which seems to have stopped the pyramiding he came with getting any worse.
I don't know when hermanns usually hibernate until, but I wouldn't rush to get him outside by the end of Jan as its still quite cold here then. Maybe wait until it's a bit warmer?
The minimum recommended size for a tort enclosure for the smaller species is 4' x 8' so go as big as you can.
I agree with Ben about the substrate those white bits and sand could cause problems. Many people use a pinch of calcium powder a couple of times a week or cuttlefish bone (same as sold for budgies) for extra calcium - either left for the tort to nibble or scraped into his food.

Yeah, I would dump that substrate altogether. I have tried quite a few combinations of substrate since having my tort so might be able to help? I'm no expert by all means but I've found that topsoil and Coco coir mixed has been the best. You'll want to sieve the topsoil as it can sometimes contain bits you don't want in their. If you have a little extra money to spare, mixing in some sphagnum moss keeps it nice and moist, also some orchid bark would make it look more irregular and natural if you know what I mean? If not 50:50 topsoil to Coco coir would be my suggestion.

Your torts shell doesn't look bad, misting the table with water every morning and night helps keep the air a little bit moist. Do you have a humid hide?

Regarding your torts size, I'm not sure on that one.

I hope I could help you out! And other members, if my info is wrong please do correct me. I'm trying my best to help other people out on here like you did with me!

ayrgrn said:

Yeah, I would dump that substrate altogether. I have tried quite a few combinations of substrate since having my tort so might be able to help? I'm no expert by all means but I've found that topsoil and Coco coir mixed has been the best. You'll want to sieve the topsoil as it can sometimes contain bits you don't want in their. If you have a little extra money to spare, mixing in some sphagnum moss keeps it nice and moist, also some orchid bark would make it look more irregular and natural if you know what I mean? If not 50:50 topsoil to Coco coir would be my suggestion.

Your torts shell doesn't look bad, misting the table with water every morning and night helps keep the air a little bit moist. Do you have a humid hide?

Regarding your torts size, I'm not sure on that one.

I hope I could help you out! And other members, if my info is wrong please do correct me. I'm trying my best to help other people out on here like you did with me!

Click to expand...

Topsoil is generally not recommended because it turns to mud when wet and you can’t be sure of the composition, but it’s still definitely not the worst substrate choice out there. Other than that, your info isn’t too bad