bigapplejohnny
New Member
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2016
- Messages
- 2
I recently inherited a Hermann's tortoise that has been passed between my brother and sisters for almost 8 years now. My 1st sister did an alright job of taking care, but my other sister did a terrible job. Before I start I want to let you know that I have plenty of past experience with reptiles and currently own 2 snakes and a turtle. I plan on giving this tortoise a very long term home and take the best care of him that I possibly can.
The person that had him the most recently took terrible care of him keeping him in a zoo med tortoise box (36x12x24) with no substrate,uvb light, no cuttlefish bone or supplements, and fed him only lettuce. Since i got him one week ago I have added coco coir to his enclosure and aspen to his hide, and I have replaced his water and food dish with terracotta saucers. I have bought Mazuri tortoise food as well as introduced a cuttlefish bone to his enclosure and 4oz each of dandelion and strawberry leaves, blessed thistle, red clover, and hibiscus flower from mountainroseherbs.
I currently have plans to build him a better table hopefully a little after Christmas, but I feel that going into too much detail with that would be better suited for a different sub-forum. But to keep it short I plan on making an indoor enclosure that is 8x4 giving him 32 sq feet to roam. In the summer I plan to make him an outdoor enclosure that would be 10x10 and have cinder block walls.
What may be controversial/ frowned upon that I'm doing is letting him walk around my room. I provide a heat lamp and food and water at all times. I Keep a close eye on him to make sure he isn't eating anything and acting normally and not lethargic or distressed. When he is in his enclosure he will climb at the walls for hours and though I know not to anthropomorphize my pets I do feel bad for him and put myself in his shoes. When he is in my room he walks around for hours literally nonstop. When I build the indoor enclosure I plan to cut back on this a lot as he will have room to roam, and in the outdoor enclosure I will stop completely.
The last thing that I want to mention is that I think his beak and claws are overgrown. I attempted to sand them both down with an emery board, but I am scared of hitting his quick. I know he is male and male turtles almost always have longer nails, so I assume the same applies for tortoises. I have provided some pictures so that you can give me advice to sand down or not.
Any constructive criticism is welcome, I will try to find my temp gun and digital humidity reader and give you actual numbers.
Thank You
The person that had him the most recently took terrible care of him keeping him in a zoo med tortoise box (36x12x24) with no substrate,uvb light, no cuttlefish bone or supplements, and fed him only lettuce. Since i got him one week ago I have added coco coir to his enclosure and aspen to his hide, and I have replaced his water and food dish with terracotta saucers. I have bought Mazuri tortoise food as well as introduced a cuttlefish bone to his enclosure and 4oz each of dandelion and strawberry leaves, blessed thistle, red clover, and hibiscus flower from mountainroseherbs.
I currently have plans to build him a better table hopefully a little after Christmas, but I feel that going into too much detail with that would be better suited for a different sub-forum. But to keep it short I plan on making an indoor enclosure that is 8x4 giving him 32 sq feet to roam. In the summer I plan to make him an outdoor enclosure that would be 10x10 and have cinder block walls.
What may be controversial/ frowned upon that I'm doing is letting him walk around my room. I provide a heat lamp and food and water at all times. I Keep a close eye on him to make sure he isn't eating anything and acting normally and not lethargic or distressed. When he is in his enclosure he will climb at the walls for hours and though I know not to anthropomorphize my pets I do feel bad for him and put myself in his shoes. When he is in my room he walks around for hours literally nonstop. When I build the indoor enclosure I plan to cut back on this a lot as he will have room to roam, and in the outdoor enclosure I will stop completely.
The last thing that I want to mention is that I think his beak and claws are overgrown. I attempted to sand them both down with an emery board, but I am scared of hitting his quick. I know he is male and male turtles almost always have longer nails, so I assume the same applies for tortoises. I have provided some pictures so that you can give me advice to sand down or not.
Any constructive criticism is welcome, I will try to find my temp gun and digital humidity reader and give you actual numbers.
Thank You