hi everyone, so i'm picking up a female eastern Hermann roughly 8" in length and they believe it to be about 5-10 years old but will try and narrow it down for me. it is coming from a reptile store near me, seems healthy feels heavy when I picked her up, she eats fine in front of people, she is able to walk on all four legs. she does have long nails but they are not folding in or turning, and a long beak.
i'm picking her up on Wednesday or Thursday this week.
I wanted to clear a few things up because of all the information I have read I am still confused
1, Substrate: aspen, mulch, soil, coco fiber/coir, rocks, grass, timothy hay, 50% sand 50% soil mix, all have been said to be good.
I just want the best substrate for her I know to help trim her beak and nails naturally i will have rocks, slate rock on top of the substrate for her to climb and eat off of to help "naturally" trim down nails and beck
2. diet: another confusing topic, i have herd that tomatoes are fine once and a while herd never feed tomatoes. and that is only one example from many conflicting care sheets
i'm looking for types of flowers, weeds, veggies or anything else i can grow both in her enclosure and outside(when spring hits) i will also be feeding mazuri tortoise diet every 3 days/2 times a week i also have read the tortoise lasagne and will try that once i get to know her appetite better.
3. temps: this one im not confused but want to make sure i'm on the right track. night time temps 60-65 day time 70-80 and 90 basking spot does this sound right? i will have a good temp graduate in her indoor enclosure but want to ensure i am right with what temps i need
4. enclosure size, i plan on putting a tortoise table together about 5ft by 2ft (might be bigger we will see when i start to build). as for height i have read somewhere, not sure where but the rule of thumb is scl plus half for the walls above substrate (example scl 8"+4"=12" above substrate) is this correct? so if i'm building my substrate depth 6" then it will be fine with 18-20" walls?
sorry for such a long thread there has been many conflicting information so any or all help would be great thank you in advance
here is the only pic i have of her right now (not even close to the ideal setup but it is what they had to work with)
i'm picking her up on Wednesday or Thursday this week.
I wanted to clear a few things up because of all the information I have read I am still confused
1, Substrate: aspen, mulch, soil, coco fiber/coir, rocks, grass, timothy hay, 50% sand 50% soil mix, all have been said to be good.
I just want the best substrate for her I know to help trim her beak and nails naturally i will have rocks, slate rock on top of the substrate for her to climb and eat off of to help "naturally" trim down nails and beck
2. diet: another confusing topic, i have herd that tomatoes are fine once and a while herd never feed tomatoes. and that is only one example from many conflicting care sheets
i'm looking for types of flowers, weeds, veggies or anything else i can grow both in her enclosure and outside(when spring hits) i will also be feeding mazuri tortoise diet every 3 days/2 times a week i also have read the tortoise lasagne and will try that once i get to know her appetite better.
3. temps: this one im not confused but want to make sure i'm on the right track. night time temps 60-65 day time 70-80 and 90 basking spot does this sound right? i will have a good temp graduate in her indoor enclosure but want to ensure i am right with what temps i need
4. enclosure size, i plan on putting a tortoise table together about 5ft by 2ft (might be bigger we will see when i start to build). as for height i have read somewhere, not sure where but the rule of thumb is scl plus half for the walls above substrate (example scl 8"+4"=12" above substrate) is this correct? so if i'm building my substrate depth 6" then it will be fine with 18-20" walls?
sorry for such a long thread there has been many conflicting information so any or all help would be great thank you in advance
here is the only pic i have of her right now (not even close to the ideal setup but it is what they had to work with)