my 12 Hermann and greek tortoises

ursula

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Hi all,

I am happy to join this forum and hope to share my knowledge and learn some new things about tortoises. I am originally from Italy and for the past 17 years my mom has been taking care of my 12 hermann and greek tortoises in Rome. Now that I have stably relocated to southeast Michigan I am ready to move my babies from Italy to the US. I hope they will be happy in Michigan but I have lots of concerns because of the very different climate (they are Mediterranean tortoises after all).

Does anyone have experience with keeping these two species in southeast michigan not always in a terrarium? I want my babies to have some freedom in the yard but I wonder if the summer here is warm and dry enough for them. If you have any experience I would love to hear it!

I look forward to chatting with the forum members and share lots of tortoise stories :)
Ursula
 

method89

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Are they western or eastern Hermann's?
 

Yvonne G

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Hi, and welcome to the Forum!

Hermannichris, the fellow who wrote our Hermanns and Greek care sheets here on the Forum, lives in New Jersey. I don't know the weather comparison between Michigan and New Jersey, but Chris's animals all live outside. You can see pictures of his enclosures at his two websites: hermannihaven.com and gardenstatetortoise.com
 

wellington

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Wow big keap from Italy to Michigan. I'm originally from western Michigan.
You should have no problems keeping them happy in MI.
 

Ray--Opo

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Hi, and welcome to the Forum!

Hermannichris, the fellow who wrote our Hermanns and Greek care sheets here on the Forum, lives in New Jersey. I don't know the weather comparison between Michigan and New Jersey, but Chris's animals all live outside. You can see pictures of his enclosures at his two websites: hermannihaven.com and gardenstatetortoise.com
Jersey and south east Michigan are comparable.
 

Blackdog1714

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Jersey and south east Michigan are comparable.

Ray I respectfully disagree with you sir. Michigan is in between to Great Lakes and as such is affected by “Lake Effect”. I grew up in Akron, OH and remember weeks at a time in winter where 0 was the high! OMG I will never be back there for winter. I would recommend a Quonset hut style building with full indoor pens. Summer is very short, but beautiful up there!
 

HermanniChris

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Welcome to the USA!
Southern coastal NJ (where I live) is very different from Michigan and even most of the rest of the northeast. Our winters are cold but quite mild in comparison with much less snow than the rest of NJ. It can be 30F as a high in February and then 84F the next day and then back down to the 40s. Summers are blazing hot in the 90s and 100s. Autumn is warm and spring is either wet and cool or rather sunny and on the warmer side like this year was. Our Hermann’s and Greek tortoises live outdoors year round (active from March to late November and sleep from December to late February of March) with the exception of some Greek subspecies. Our climate and natural landscape/elements are very favorable for tortoise keeping in this region of the United States. None the less, you will find quite a bit of information on my site HermanniHaven.com
Feel free to contact me with any questions. I may be slow to respond for the time being as we just welcomed our second daughter into the world.
Good luck with moving your animals here.
 

Ray--Opo

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Ray I respectfully disagree with you sir. Michigan is in between to Great Lakes and as such is affected by “Lake Effect”. I grew up in Akron, OH and remember weeks at a time in winter where 0 was the high! OMG I will never be back there for winter. I would recommend a Quonset hut style building with full indoor pens. Summer is very short, but beautiful up there!
I agree with you. I lived in northern Michigan by lake Michigan. The snow affect was crazy. I remember having to shovel off my roof. I finally got smart and installed a metal roof. After reading HerrmaniChris post. I learned a little more about different species. I was thinking sulcata's when I made that post. Figuring in that region sulcata's would need about the same care.
 
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TammyJ

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Hi, welcome to the forum and all the best getting your critters set up where you now live. Look forward to the progress!
 
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