ChristineK
New Member
Hi, I'm Christine, owner of a 6 yr old Hermann's tortoise, we've been advised she's probably female but we're not 100% on that one.
We've inherited / rescued her from a family member who was keeping her in less than ideal conditions I think. She was properly purchased, we have her paperwork, she has a microchip in her leg which is slightly mind-boggling, she's so small. We've updated her microchip paperwork with our details in case she gets lost!
We've now had her for 2 months and are ready to start making changes to how she is kept. To be fair we should probably have started making changes the day we got her but we were a bit overwhelmed with responsibility and options. We've read so much about the different options for enclosures, soil, food, plants, it's a bit mind boggling. She's definitely livelier now than she was when she first came, she seems to respond to the brighter days as much as the heat, she's less active on overcast days.
She currently lives in an open tortoise table with see-through plastic sides, approx 1m x 0.5m which I'm guessing is too small so getting something bigger has to be a priority but we want to be sure we're buying the right thing.
We live in Edinburgh, Scotland, so realistically she's going to have to be inside for much of the year I think and her home is going to have to be the best it can be to keep her happy indoors. We also have a lot of cats and foxes in the garden so if she was outside it would need to be in something bombproof to keep her safe.
She arrived with a tiny water bowl in her enclosure but we've been giving her a bath most days in a big deep bowl, most times she lies there quite happily for ages, sometimes she climbs straight out.
I think we need to do something about her soil now, even before we buy a new enclosure. It's so dry. It's those block things that you soak in water but it dries out so quickly and we're not sure yet how to get the right balance between keeping it moist and preventing it getting mouldy. That needs to be a priority I think.
I'm off now to browse the tortoise enclosures forum and see what tips we can pick up.
Nice to meet you all.
We've inherited / rescued her from a family member who was keeping her in less than ideal conditions I think. She was properly purchased, we have her paperwork, she has a microchip in her leg which is slightly mind-boggling, she's so small. We've updated her microchip paperwork with our details in case she gets lost!
We've now had her for 2 months and are ready to start making changes to how she is kept. To be fair we should probably have started making changes the day we got her but we were a bit overwhelmed with responsibility and options. We've read so much about the different options for enclosures, soil, food, plants, it's a bit mind boggling. She's definitely livelier now than she was when she first came, she seems to respond to the brighter days as much as the heat, she's less active on overcast days.
She currently lives in an open tortoise table with see-through plastic sides, approx 1m x 0.5m which I'm guessing is too small so getting something bigger has to be a priority but we want to be sure we're buying the right thing.
We live in Edinburgh, Scotland, so realistically she's going to have to be inside for much of the year I think and her home is going to have to be the best it can be to keep her happy indoors. We also have a lot of cats and foxes in the garden so if she was outside it would need to be in something bombproof to keep her safe.
She arrived with a tiny water bowl in her enclosure but we've been giving her a bath most days in a big deep bowl, most times she lies there quite happily for ages, sometimes she climbs straight out.
I think we need to do something about her soil now, even before we buy a new enclosure. It's so dry. It's those block things that you soak in water but it dries out so quickly and we're not sure yet how to get the right balance between keeping it moist and preventing it getting mouldy. That needs to be a priority I think.
I'm off now to browse the tortoise enclosures forum and see what tips we can pick up.
Nice to meet you all.