We're in the 60's Today!

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HermanniChris

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We got lucky here in NJ and it's pretty warm here today, so I brought just a few tortoises outside for some sun and photos.

Some of my Italian T. hermanni hermanni and T. marginata from Greece. I didn't want to chance it with other animals such as my T. h. hermanni from Spain, still a little chilly for them.

Enjoy:
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jeffbens0n

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They are beautiful! Your grass looks fairly green considering the winter we have had! Any of my grass that is showing through the snow is all brown and smashed down!
 
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Maggie Cummings

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We're in the high 30's today with rain and only Bob is outside pitifully looking for graze of which there is none...Great pictures...
 

Nay

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Wait a minute. your in NJ and you have grass showing????
I am in Mass and think we won't be seeing grass till June!!(But it is a balmy 45 right now!!) I can't believe you have leaves!!
Beautiful torts!
 

gummybearpoop

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Nice photos/animals Chris!

I was sweating today....high was 79 degrees. I planted lots of seeds the past few days and they are already sprouting! Very excited to see how the pens will look this year....though I am afraid I planted too much stuff
 

tortoiseguy65

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Drool, Drool. I need to wipe off the monitor.:) Thanks for the photos. Very nice looking tortoises. Nothing better than a nice smooth Marginata. They are very attractive looking in my eyes. Something about those flared marginals that give them their latin name that I really like. Any chance you will have babies available from either your Italian T. hermanni hermanni or the Spanish variety?
 

Yvonne G

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A while back we had a thread about oak trees and toxicity. Did you participate in that thread? I see plenty of oak leaves on your lawn, so it looks like maybe they're not toxic to tortoises?

Your animals are just beautiful!
 

HermanniChris

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Thanks everyone, yes we do have grass showing but my ponds and pens are still covered in snow, I feel bad for the turtles under all that out there!

I will most likely have hatchlings from all my T. h. hermanni groups but this year I plan on keeping most, if not all the babies, I will let everyone on my waiting list know the deal as spring rolls around. And yes, it's rare to come across marginata this nice, this is an elite group imported from Greece years ago, they are highly impressive animals.

And I must have missed that post on oak leaves, yes there are plenty of oak trees behind my yard but in all the years nothing has ever happened because of them, I will now be keeping a closer look on this!
 

tortoiseguy65

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So how does one get on your hermanni waiting list?:) Is that group of Marginata actively reproductive? What are the sizes on the individuals? How are they different than marginata of other origins?
 

HermanniChris

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If you visit my website www.gardenstatetortoise.com you can fill out the form for the list.

The marginata are between 8.5 and 10.5", yes they are a very reproductive group and are all proven. The only thing I can say is I have had questions about them quite possibly being T. marginata weissingerii being that they did come from Greece and that although they are adults with perfectly natural growth, they are smaller. I would have to post some detailed shots of them to get some opinions. They also do not have marginals that are highly serrated like many wild marginata.
 

Tom

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Gorgeous pics Chris. Glad to see you guys getting a respite up there. Its been pretty bad this year for the East coast. We had a cold spell for two or three weeks, but we've had a pretty mild winter out West here. We've got some rain coming in the next few days, if that makes anybody feel any better...

Question: Of all your tort groups, which ones are the "friendliest" and most personable? Least fearful and most curious? I really like the hermanns, but I really don't care for shy, or fearful torts that hide all the time. Also, do you not hibernate them?
 

ChiKat

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They are stunning!! I can't get over how brightly colored they are.

And someone on here once told me that oak leaves were okay for them to eat, hmm...
Nelson nibbled on a dried one when he was a hatchling so I made a post about it.

It was in the lower 40s here in Chicago today. Not tortoise weather but to see the sun shining and snow melting gave me hope that SPRING will be here some day :p I can't wait until it's warm enough to bring my little nugget outside!!
 

HermanniChris

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Thanks again everyone :)

As for personality, I find pretty much all Mediterranean tortoises to be very outgoing. My Italian hermanni will stretch their heads out and let me pet them all the time. There's a video I posted of it a while back on youtube just look for gardenstatetortoise. My marginatas seem to be the shyest of all of them but not incredibly shy at all. My Spanish hermanni literally run to me for food and after all they've been through (was a real project getting them imported over here) you'd think they wouldn't display so much trust.

I've noticed radiata do not seem to be very personable until you get them to a decent size.
 

steve426

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Beautiful Torts!!1

I still have a foot of snow in the backyard, not the kind of weather for my torts.
 

Isa

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Wow! I am speechless! Your tortoises are beautiful, their shells are perfect and I love their colors :) thanks for sharing.
 
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