Hello, we're about to buy out 1st Hermann

Hello everyone, the info here is great, so thanks right from the beginning. So the reptile expo is coming up in Sept in Sacramento and the plan is to bring home a Hermann (or two!).

I've read that one is fine and two should be same sex for ease and less stress for them, and direct thoughts on that? It'll be my 10 yr old's first (and mine) tortoise and we're excited.

Oh, and we live in San Jose (n. Ca) so if I researched properly the Hermanns, for their relatively small sizes, would be a solid type to go with, almost seemed like the main choice to steer towards. We rent and plan to keep them indoors to start, then build our habitat outside for them. I like that the only grow to about 9" on the high end so that's good.

Any thoughts or suggestions for another tortoise type a first time tortoise owner n N. Ca?
Thanks,
Louie

Welcome to the forum

Welcome!

"I've read that one is fine and two should be same sex for ease and less stress for them, and direct thoughts on that?"

A solitary tortoise will do fine on it's own. As far as two together-female Hermann's usually get along very well together in any and all circumstances. Two males may not (and generally don't) once they reach sexual maturity. As with most Testudo species of tortoise, male Hermann's are often territorial and one will always be the dominate male which can cause undue stress and even physical harm to the submissive male. That is also often the case when a mature male is kept with a single female (as opposed to a group scenario). The male will constantly pursue the female to mate sometimes to the point of the female becoming extremely stressed and possibly physically injured. The two most common cures for this is to either keep them males and females seperately all the time except for the purpose of breeding or to keep a small group of at least one male and two females with 3 or four females being more ideal, in a large enclosure.

Eastern Hermann's are excellent first tortoises too.

Welcome to the forum!

Hi Louie:

Welcome to the Tortoise Forum!!

Hello and welcome to the forum...

We recently acquired an adult male hermann....all I can say is - Awesome -

Welcome.

Hi Louie and welcome to the group