Hey there

[Orpexo]

Hi everybody,

A few days ago a friend gave me a tortoise for my birthday. It is an hermann born in 2009, coming from a pet shop. The tortoise was named koopa (pretty common name for a tortoise I suppose )

As soon as I received koopa I started to read forums to give her the best food and environment possible. (I say "her" because according to the seller, there are more chances for it to become female). Here is a picture:

The turtle came with a uvb tube and some tortoise food (dried herb pellets), as it was adviced to my friend by the seller. Not satisfied by keeping the pet in a cardboard box, I spent my next week-end building an enclosure for our new family member. Unfortunatly we dont have a garden, so it is an inside enclosure, with the appropriate ligths (warming spot and uvb tube 5%). I made it as big as i could afford in my flat (115x60 cm), and as natural as possible. The tortoise seems to love climbing up and down the rocks and hills.

Despite my researches i have a few un-answered questions/worries. So I ll make a thread in the hermann forum

If you see anything inappropriate in my set up, tell me. I plan to add a few plants when the turtle will go to hibernate. After taking the picture I also added more dead leafs on the cold side so the tortoise is able to dig and hide under it.

 

[dmmj]

Welcome I don't personally own hermanns but we do have several on here who do, who can answer any questions you may have,

 

[egyptiandan]

Welcome to the forum

Danny

 

[Tom]

Hello and welcome.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Orpexo:

Welcome to the forum!!

I DO see something wrong with your tortoise habitat, and I hope you take my criticism in the vein it is intended. Not picking on you, I only have the tortoise's best interest at heart.

First of all, I really like your tort table. Its a nice size. But, I don't like your substrate. I don't keep Hermann's tortoises, so I'm not "up" on what most folks use as a substrate, so I may be all wet about that. But I think there are better substrates to use besides clumpy dirt...aspen bedding, cypress mulch, coconut coir, etc. I think Koopa is having a hard time walking on that rough surface.

Next, I think I see celery and long stalks of dandelion with the seed heads. There's not much nutritional value in celery, only fiber and water, and the part of the dandelion that I use is the leaves and the flowers. I'm not sure if they'd be interested in eating the seed heads.

I love your little baby. Koopa is just as cute as he can be. Babies dehydrate quickly, so be sure to provide water at all times, even soaking him, maybe 4 or 5 times a week.

Take a trip through our Hermann's part of the forum, and if you have any question, be sure to ask. There are many here who can help you.

 

[terryo]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[Orpexo]

thx all, and thx emysemys for the comments

It cannot be seen on the picture but there is a water point in the habitat. As for the dirt I had read on another forum that is was best since that was what this tortoise lives on in the wild. Not any dirt would work tough. And I would actualy think about it twice during its hibernation, and may change that, because the dirt makes the tortoise... dirty. Everytime she gets wet then walk on the dirt her skins gets layered by mudd. I m not sure if its good or bad. The inside bottom of the habitat is covered with a waterproof material so the wood doesn't start to rot or get wet. Also to be able the clean the habitat easily.

About the rough ground she actually seems to enjoy it. She doesn't stay on the flat sufaces, she keeps climbing up the stones, even the hardest ones to climb. She often falls on her back but always found a way to get back on her feet by herself (so far...). I ll keep trying to find info about that.

The food you can see on the picture is :
- blanching chicory, she just ate the yellow parts and left the center of the leaf
- dandelion, she ate the leafs and discarded the seeds just as you suggets
- curly endive

 

[Traveller]

Hi and welcome.

 

[magicjazzguitar]

Welcome

 

[tortoisenerd]

Welcome to the forum! FYI there is no need to hibernate a tortoise--its only a personal preference, and the tortoise can be perfectly happy and healthy without doing so. If you do decide to hibernate the tortoise, wait until you've had it for at least one winter, and the tortoise is healthy (vet check up and no parasites per a fecal test), and that you have the proper knowledge to do so (hibernating a tortoise improperly can kill it). I agree on the substrate. If you wanted to go with dirt, I'd use an organic potting soil that doesn't have the clumps, and keep it moist but not wet. More hides are great. Make sure you have a good temperature gradient (70 to 95 F is appropriate, using an accurate thermometer like a temp gun), and that UVB tube is the proper distance to have useful rays hit the tortoise (if its too far away the tort may get no useful UVB and therefore get metabolic bone disease). Those are very low output, so I would get a Mercury Vapor Bulb like a 100 Watt T-Rex Active UV Heat or Mega Ray when the tube needs to be replaced in 6 months. Any time you can get the tort out in the sun is very beneficial.

You can put the tort in a plastic tub with a hide and sit out with it for an hour or whatever when the weather is good. Make sure any area it goes in outside and any food you pick for it is chemical free (no pesticides or fertilizers). You want to give a pure calcium powder daily (you need UVB+calcium for a healthy tort--make sure the shell only gets harder, not softer). I recommend a vet check up and fecal test for parasites. Weigh and measure the tort weekly to track growth. I use a kitchen/postal gram scale and digital calipers to measure Straight Carapace Length (definition here: http://www.tlady.clara.net/measure.htm), but a ruler does fine too (just not quite as accurate). Make sure you get a good varied diet. The weeds and good lettuces are great. You can also feed edible chemical free flowers, greens ans leaves like grape leaves and leaves from veggies except tomato, small amounts of cactus pads, pumpkin, butternut squash (I like to keep those last three to less than 5% of the diet). One thing to watch for is you don't want everything fed to be higher in oxalic acid (like dandelion and chicory), as that binds to calcium and can cause a multitude of problems. I would ditch the pellets you described. If you feel the need to feed pellets as a very small part of the diet (there is no need to), Mazuri or Grassland Tortoise Diet are better choices, although not perfect. Fresh food is best. Good luck!

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I would not have obstacles in the enclosure such that the tortoise falls on its back, no matter how natural that is. Hatchlings are very fragile and many can't flip over on their own. They can't breathe on their backs and can die, especially if under a heat source or in water. I would not have the hills and rocks until the tort is more like a year old, and use hides with vertical sides that can't be climbed. Fake or real plants that don't droop on the ground too much (they like to climb those) are good. You can even use a pile of timothy hay for the tort to hide in.

 

[Jacqui]

I would not have the hills and rocks until the tort is more like a year old, and use hides with vertical sides that can't be climbed.

They said it was hatched in 2009, so there is a very good chance it's a year old already. Plus from what they said, seems it already knows how to right itself.

Orpexo welcome!! Koopa seems like a wonderful birthday gift! Yvonne gave you a couple of good thoughts and I am sure in the Hermanns thread you will be getting a lot more.