Hello all from New York

[tort_luv_5055]

Hello!
I have recently purchased a Hatchling Hermann's Tortoise from Tortoise Shack named Charlie.
Not exactly a fairytale, long story short, Charlie came rock hard and cold as ice, almost dead!
After a nice bath and a basking session, Charlie was eating and moving and yes, pooping, all around! He is healthy as can be. I am so happy that this little tortoise came into my life. I just have a few questions about my care for him and would love to be corrected if i need to change anything, ie his husbandry, diet, routine or lighting+heating.
CHARLIE'S DIET:
I feed my little guy an alternating salad of romaine, green leaf and collard greens everyday. He has a tortoise block in his enclosure to nibble on and a calcium supplement with D3 that i sprinkle on every day. He also has a water dish to drink from and go to the bathroom in. I also bathe him everyday and scrub his shell (lightly!) with an extra-soft bristle toothbrush.
HUSBANDRY:
First off, Charlie is a 1 and a half inch tortoise. His enclosure is 3' by 1' (Indoors) and he loves it! Inside I have a green reptile carpet (temporary) and a half log hide, along with a food dish, water dish, rocks and pebbles to climb on.
HEATING AND LIGHTING
I have a uvb strip that runs half the length of his enclosure and a heat lamp with a 75 watt zoo-med basking bulb. I also have an under the tank heater. His basking spot is about 95 degrees, the warm end is 90, the middle is 80 and the cool end is room temperature, maybe a bit warmer.
Thank you!

 

[Jacqui]

Hi! Wow what a close call with Charlie and the cold. Shipping in the winter really scares me.

I am going to move this to the Hermanni section so you can get some good replies.

 

[wellington]

Hello and Welcome. Glad all worked out. I have t heard the greatest from that place. Hope all goes well from here.

 

[tort_luv_5055]

Yep everything is going well! I am just a little concerned about using the green carpet as a substrate because I dont want him to eat any of it...

 

[[email protected]]

He/she looks really nice. The shipping at this time is for me also a big concern when they are not shipped with heat pack, but it went well.
The little guys need in the beginning a lot of humidity, not damp but more "water" than one could imagine. I would add a water bowl and I have a sweater box large size with a 8 inch bark mix. Mine are dalmatians, and I'm always impressed how much they love the flower saucer under a 40w heating light with water. They spend a lot of time in the water and drink a fair amount of water. Variety in diet is imortant, as well as fiber. I ad for them soaked mazuri diet, which helps also over the hard start he had in case he is not eating or s.th happens different you never know. Romaine is also a trigger to get them started, well anyway yours seems to do fine. I'm not a friend of carpet, because it does not offer moister and for me personal it is not natural. They burrow also in the bark mix during night. In the morning when the light goes on then they stick their head out sooo cute. temps are perfect.
Annette

 

[tort_luv_5055]

Thank you for the advice! I do plan on changing the substrate for humidity purposes. What are your thoughts on a fogger? To add humidity? And also, I ordered a under the tank heater and it said that you shouldn't put water near the heat source (?) I might try the flower pan idea when he gets more adjusted to his enclosure. Thanks again!

 

[HermanniChris]

I replied to your PM but I just noticed something. Can you please post a photo of your tortoise's plastron? Looking at the carapace shot, those don't look like typical Hermann's markings.

 

[Raymo2477]

The tort pictured looks more like a testudo graeca ibera (a Greek tortoise from Eastern Europe/turkey) than a Hermann's...do you have any other pics?

 

[Raymo2477]

Don't take this the wrong way, this is just meant to be informational, but they did not send you a Hermann's tortoise, they sent you a Greek. The large semi circular scale on it's head indicates that it is a Greek. The first Hermnann's I got was a Greek and second was a Marinated! So it sometimes happens.
The good thing is it looks like an Ibera Greek which has similar care as a Hermann's tort.

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/30978975@N03/8528283330/
This is a picture of the Greek I had

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30978975@N03/9256849310/
This is a picture of one of my Hermann's

 

[tort_luv_5055]

Don't take this the wrong way, this is just meant to be informational, but they did not send you a Hermann's tortoise, they sent you a Greek. The large semi circular scale on it's head indicates that it is a Greek. The first Hermnann's I got was a Greek and second was a Marinated! So it sometimes happens.
The good thing is it looks like an Ibera Greek which has similar care as a Hermann's tort.

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/30978975@N03/8528283330/
This is a picture of the Greek I had

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30978975@N03/9256849310/
This is a picture of one of my Hermann's

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oH MY GOODNESS!!!Thank you so much for pointing this out! I guess I am just going to have to make some adjustments...I can't believe I went like Two weeks without realizing this! HAHA poor thing, he is probably like why do you keep telling everyone I am a Hermann's Tortoise??? I hope everything I am doing is OK for this 'greek' tortoise...Are you sure the care is the same? Now I am a little worried!

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this is his plastron

 

[HermanniChris]

Yes you definitely do not have a Hermann's. It's in fact a Greek tortoise. Judging by the carapace and plastron markings, there's a chance it is not an ibera. However, because of the constant mixing of various subspecies, it may be impossible to know exactly what type of Greek it actually is.

 

[tort_luv_5055]

Ok thank you. I was just wondering if most Greeks are the same care? Do you know?

 

[Pokeymeg]

Look at how chunky those front legs are!! Compared to his back legs, looks like someone's been skipping his 'leg days' at the gym! =P

No matter what type he is, he's adorable! And greeks/Hermanns are similar to care for. I can't imagine you'd want to send him back, but you may want to let them know they need to work on ID'ing torts...

 

[tort_luv_5055]

Haha, I agree with you! Looks like I need To do more bench presses with him!