Hello New Hermann's tortoise owners

[The Philipp Family]

Hello everyone. Today we just received our new Baby Hermann's Tortoise. I just found this site last night. Prior to that i have been doing a lot of research online so that we could be prepared to home our new tortoise. I've been spending a lot of my morning reading a bunch of good information on this site. As soon as he was delivered, we examined him. And then let him soak in warm water for about 20 minutes. We have had his habitat set up for a few days now so that way we could play with a heat and humidity. He is about 2 inches in length and appears to be healthy.We have a 10 gallon glass enclosure That does have a mesh lid but I taped it off just allowing enough room for the lamps to sit on.(75w basking lamp and a 10.0 UVB 13w flourescent lamp) He is now in his enclosure. He was not moving a whole lot at first but has since moved around and borrowed himself underneath the substrate. For the substrate we are using Forest Floor Cypress Mulch. Temperature seems to be hanging around 85° and humidity between 60-70%.. From the information I found on here It sounds like I should have set things up a little bit differently.. Any helpful advice would be appreciated..We hope to provide this tortoise with a happy and healthy life.

 

[Ink]

Welcome to the forum. An expert will be able to help you. Try to get to the temperature up in the enclosure.

 

[Ink]

@wellington or maybe @ZEROPILOT will be able to help you soon.

 

[wellington]

10 gallon is way too small. You need at least a 40 long. Neither light bulb is good to use. The temp gauge is no good, very unreliable.
Ramp water dish in first pic is deadly.
Return it all and pick up a low sided clay saucer for water. A tube florescent for uvb and a incandescent flood bulb for basking, a ceramic heat emitter for night heat and if added day heat is needed and a digital thermometer.
The double light fixture is useless and single ones work much better.

 

[wellington]

Forget what you have read outside this forum and forget what the pet store told you. They know nothing and sold you all the wrong stuff
Do more reading and research on this forum and make changes ASAP!

 

[SuzanneZ]

Hello everyone. Today we just received our new Baby Hermann's Tortoise. I just found this site last night. Prior to that i have been doing a lot of research online so that we could be prepared to home our new tortoise. I've been spending a lot of my morning reading a bunch of good information on this site. As soon as he was delivered, we examined him. And then let him soak in warm water for about 20 minutes. We have had his habitat set up for a few days now so that way we could play with a heat and humidity. He is about 2 inches in length and appears to be healthy.We have a 10 gallon glass enclosure That does have a mesh lid but I taped it off just allowing enough room for the lamps to sit on.(75w basking lamp and a 10.0 UVB 13w flourescent lamp) He is now in his enclosure. He was not moving a whole lot at first but has since moved around and borrowed himself underneath the substrate. For the substrate we are using Forest Floor Cypress Mulch. Temperature seems to be hanging around 85° and humidity between 60-70%.. From the information I found on here It sounds like I should have set things up a little bit differently.. Any helpful advice would be appreciated..We hope to provide this tortoise with a happy and healthy life.

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Two inches! And adorable.
Welcome. An expert will be with you shortly. 😄

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Read this. It will explain most of what you need to do.

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[The Philipp Family]

Forget what you have read outside this forum and forget what the pet store told you. They know nothing and sold you all the wrong stuff
Do more reading and research on this forum and make changes ASAP!

Appreciate the info we will make changes as soon as possible.

 

[EppsDynasty]

Appreciate the info we will make changes as soon as possible.

Good day from just up the 14. I live a little more than 60 miles from ya. It might feel as if you are being told everything you did is wrong. The 1 thing to remember is THIS is the site to get correct information, this is the place you can count on. The overwhelming amount of info gets easier every time you come here and learn more. In just a small amount of time you'll feel a lot more comfortable with what your doing for your little guy. The care info you receive here is from experts and how to do it right 100%. You will learn and know how to do it right, you will get responses from people that care about your guy just as much as you do. Don't give up and

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi, and welcome!

Your 10 gallon aquarium will be ok for a while, as he's only 2", and still a baby. But bear in mind their digestive tract depends upon them being able to do a lot of walking, so as he grows, he'll need more room. Two things about your lighting - first, the mesh filters out the UVB, so having the light on the screen is not good. And the other is the light itself. Those compact bulbs are really not a good source of UVB. You will need a fluorescent T5 tube, and hang it inside the aquarium. I usually buy my lights from lightyourreptiles.com.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Appreciate the info we will make changes as soon as possible.

You can "start slow", actually, addressing the most critical points and then, eventually make a great home for your little guy.

So far, the substrate and the enclosure don't need immediate replacement (yes, 10 gallons is a small one, but there is no such thing as "large enclosure" for tortoises). Humidity and temperature seem fine.

Below is mostly the sum of the previous posts:

These three points should be addressed first, your torts safety and health depends on them:
1. Get some terracota saucers from a garden or DIY store - one for feeding and the second one for water and bathing.
2. Get the right UVB lamp - look for T5 HO (High Output) kit with fixture. Such as ZooMed Reptisun 10.0 or Arcadia proT5 Desert 12%. Length of 22" is enough. They can be placed over the mesh top for a while - new lamps have higher UV output and enclosure is not very high. Later on (in a couple of weeks) remove the mesh top (it filters about 30-50% UV) and hang/mount on a stand the lamp fixture. UV light should be placed near the basking bulb. Turn it on for 2-4 hours in a midday (depending on how much time he basks under the lamp).
3. Replace basking spot bulb with an flood incandescent lamp (65 watt is enough).

Next go non-urgent things:
1. To keep humidity and temperatures stable - cover the mesh top. You can use aluminium foil or a large plastic box, for example. Watch temperatures closely, so they don't get too high - if they raise a lot, remove the cover partially. In a small enclosure it's really hard to tweak the heating, but it's doable.
2. Get a ceramic heat emitter (CHE) to keep ambient temperature high at nights. It's *necessary* to use a thermostat. Your "double fixture" probably could be reused - one socket for a basking bulb, second - for a CHE.

Third "wave":
1. Digital thermometer/hygrometer is not an urgent thing, but to have correct temperature/humidity meterings really helps to feel confident. Especially when doing changes in the enclosure.
2. Timer sockets to set on/off schedules for lightning are very convenient.
3. Ambient LED lights are nice to have, but in a well-lit room might be unnecessary.

All of those things (and substrate) could be reused in a new enclosure, so you won't waste your money.

And yes, plan for a bigger enclosure - where to place, what shape and so on. It's not necessary should be a glass tank, there are better options.

And please ask if something is confusing or you are uncertain what to buy.

And hello and welcome to the forum!

 

[Tom]

Hello everyone. Today we just received our new Baby Hermann's Tortoise. I just found this site last night. Prior to that i have been doing a lot of research online so that we could be prepared to home our new tortoise. I've been spending a lot of my morning reading a bunch of good information on this site. As soon as he was delivered, we examined him. And then let him soak in warm water for about 20 minutes. We have had his habitat set up for a few days now so that way we could play with a heat and humidity. He is about 2 inches in length and appears to be healthy.We have a 10 gallon glass enclosure That does have a mesh lid but I taped it off just allowing enough room for the lamps to sit on.(75w basking lamp and a 10.0 UVB 13w flourescent lamp) He is now in his enclosure. He was not moving a whole lot at first but has since moved around and borrowed himself underneath the substrate. For the substrate we are using Forest Floor Cypress Mulch. Temperature seems to be hanging around 85° and humidity between 60-70%.. From the information I found on here It sounds like I should have set things up a little bit differently.. Any helpful advice would be appreciated..We hope to provide this tortoise with a happy and healthy life.

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Hello and welcome. All the other members have already given you great tips. I just wanted to comment on the exceptional beauty of your new little one. Gorgeous.

 

[MariaBingham]

Morning all
I am learning from this new thread, thank you.
So the ceramic heat bulb is not a basking bulb? It is just for ambient heat?

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Morning all
I am learning from this new thread, thank you.
So the ceramic heat bulb is not a basking bulb? It is just for ambient heat?

Hello!
Yes, they are different: ceramic heat emitter doesn't give any light, only mild heat. Basking bulb gives both and resembles a sun patch, naturally attracting tortoise to bask. So CHE is used for ambient heat day and night and basking bulb only at day time.
It's possible to imitate a basking bulb by placing CHE and usual LED bulb close to each other.

 

[SuzanneZ]

Hello!
Yes, they are different: ceramic heat emitter doesn't give any light, only mild heat. Basking bulb gives both and resembles a sun patch, naturally attracting tortoise to bask. So CHE is used for ambient heat day and night and basking bulb only at day time.
It's possible to imitate a basking bulb by placing CHE and usual LED bulb close to each other.

🤔

 

[SuzanneZ]

Morning all
I am learning from this new thread, thank you.
So the ceramic heat bulb is not a basking bulb? It is just for ambient heat?

They will burn you. - victim

 

[The Philipp Family]

Good day from just up the 14. I live a little more than 60 miles from ya. It might feel as if you are being told everything you did is wrong. The 1 thing to remember is THIS is the site to get correct information, this is the place you can count on. The overwhelming amount of info gets easier every time you come here and learn more. In just a small amount of time you'll feel a lot more comfortable with what your doing for your little guy. The care info you receive here is from experts and how to do it right 100%. You will learn and know how to do it right, you will get responses from people that care about your guy just as much as you do. Don't give up and

Thanks, I haven't logged on in here in a few days. I've already ordered and installed a

REPTI ZOO T5 HO UVB Lighting Kit with Timer And 2 digital Temperature/Humidity readers so I can monitor the Basking zone and one for the cool side.​

 

[The Philipp Family]

Hi, and welcome!

Your 10 gallon aquarium will be ok for a while, as he's only 2", and still a baby. But bear in mind their digestive tract depends upon them being able to do a lot of walking, so as he grows, he'll need more room. Two things about your lighting - first, the mesh filters out the UVB, so having the light on the screen is not good. And the other is the light itself. Those compact bulbs are really not a good source of UVB. You will need a fluorescent T5 tube, and hang it inside the aquarium. I usually buy my lights from lightyourreptiles.com.

Thanks, I haven't logged on in here in a few days. I already made some changes including installing a
REPTI ZOO T5 HO UVB Lighting Kit with Timer And 2 digital Temperature/Humidity readers so I can monitor the Basking zone and one for the cool side. In the near future, I do plan on putting him in a bigger Enclosure.
Also he has been averaging a poop a day. Were also making sure to soak him every day for about 30 minutes in warm water. Also, the last couple of days, the weather has been nice here, so we've been letting him bask outside for about the same amount of time.
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