Need some help with my tortoise

[flashtort]

Okay, so I have zero experience with dealing with tortoises. We just found one outside some days ago so we decided to keep him. Here and here is what he looks like. I assume he's a Hermann's Tortoise (please tell me if I'm wrong). Haven't taken him to the vet yet and we keep him in our garden.
We feed him squash and cucumbers (we also plan to feed him leafy greens), but he also most likely eats leaves (like grape or violet flower leaves) and grass from the garden. I keep the water in a plate (that isn't too deep but also not too shallow) and the food scattered across the garden.
The problem is, he has these cracks in his plastron. He also has kind of "cracks" on his carapace (you can see them on the first photo). Should I be worried? Is he healthy, and am I doing anything wrong?
Thanks in advance.

 

[flashtort]

Anyone?

 

[Korall]

Where exactly do you live? Depending on that it could be illegal to keep him if he is a native species.
As for the cracks i would take him to a reptile vet to be sure.

 

[flashtort]

Where exactly do you live? Depending on that it could be illegal to keep him if he is a native species.
As for the cracks i would take him to a reptile vet to be sure.

I live in Saranda.

 

[Korall]

I live in Saranda.

There is this care sheet for hermann's tortoises: http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/sticky-hermanns-tortoise-care-sheet-updated.101410/

Squash and cucumber is not suitable for a hermann's.

I do not know if hermanns's tortoises can be found wild in Albania or not. He could either be wild or someones pet.

 

[Korall]

There is this care sheet for hermann's tortoises: http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/sticky-hermanns-tortoise-care-sheet-updated.101410/

Squash and cucumber is not suitable for a hermann's.

I do not know if hermanns's tortoises can be found wild in Albania or not. He could either be wild or someones pet.

Update: Hermanns can be found wild in Albania, if he is wild i would suggest you release him.

 

[flashtort]

Update: Hermanns can be found wild in Albania, if he is wild i would suggest you release him.

Ah alright, I guess I will. Thanks for the help.

 

[flashtort]

Update: Hermanns can be found wild in Albania, if he is wild i would suggest you release him.

What I'm concerned about though is that where we found him, he was on the edge of the street and I assume hurt (looking at the cracks). I'm scared that he might not be able to find food/gets run over by a car. Should I be concerned or will he be all good on his own?

 

[Yvonne G]

In my opinion, you should NOT release him. Quite often the mere fact he's been picked up by a human, negates the allowability of him being released back into the wild. If you can't find his owner, and you don't want to keep him, then try to find a wildlife rescue and turn him over to them. If you end up keeping him, I don't believe the cracks are life threatening. They seem old and healed.

 

[Korall]

In my opinion, you should NOT release him. Quite often the mere fact he's been picked up by a human, negates the allowability of him being released back into the wild. If you can't find his owner, and you don't want to keep him, then try to find a wildlife rescue and turn him over to them. If you end up keeping him, I don't believe the cracks are life threatening. They seem old and healed.

Yeah, i totally forgot about that. Good thing you pointed that out.

 

[flashtort]

In my opinion, you should NOT release him. Quite often the mere fact he's been picked up by a human, negates the allowability of him being released back into the wild. If you can't find his owner, and you don't want to keep him, then try to find a wildlife rescue and turn him over to them. If you end up keeping him, I don't believe the cracks are life threatening. They seem old and healed.

Oh, then I'll definitely keep him. I love the little guy. Also thanks for clearing up the crack problem, that was a little worrying.

 

[flashtort]

In my opinion, you should NOT release him. Quite often the mere fact he's been picked up by a human, negates the allowability of him being released back into the wild. If you can't find his owner, and you don't want to keep him, then try to find a wildlife rescue and turn him over to them. If you end up keeping him, I don't believe the cracks are life threatening. They seem old and healed.

I don't want to create a new thread so I'm posting this here. I have a couple questions
1. His urine is a really light blue coloring. It is solid/pasty. Is this fine?
2. I got rid of most of the squash, and gave him a lot of grass, hibiscus leaves, rose leaves and grape leaves. He's also eating a lot of the violet leaves in the garden. Is this better? I also plan on giving him thistle. Will he get hurt because of the prickles, and will he even eat it?
3. I've heard mouth color is important, and his is a light pink. Is this okay?
4. I accidentally dropped him from about half a meter high (onto soil). There is no damage in the shell. Will he be fine? (He seems to be moving and eating alright. There is also no damage in the limbs. His shell is strong and the only thing I've noticed bad about it are the two cracks.)
5. I think he's not drinking much water. There is a plate full of it for him, but I don't really notice him drinking. Is this a problem?
6. What do I do with him when it's hibernation time? Winters here aren't really cold.
I just got him about a week ago but I care a lot for him. Also, is there an easy way of telling his gender+age?

 

[Korall]

I don't want to create a new thread so I'm posting this here. I have a couple questions
1. His urine is a really light blue coloring. It is solid/pasty. Is this fine?
2. I got rid of most of the squash, and gave him a lot of grass, hibiscus leaves, rose leaves and grape leaves. He's also eating a lot of the violet leaves in the garden. Is this better? I also plan on giving him thistle. Will he get hurt because of the prickles, and will he even eat it?
3. I've heard mouth color is important, and his is a light pink. Is this okay?
4. I accidentally dropped him from about half a meter high (onto soil). There is no damage in the shell. Will he be fine? (He seems to be moving and eating alright. There is also no damage in the limbs. His shell is strong and the only thing I've noticed bad about it are the two cracks.)
5. I think he's not drinking much water. There is a plate full of it for him, but I don't really notice him drinking. Is this a problem?
6. What do I do with him when it's hibernation time? Winters here aren't really cold.
I just got him about a week ago but I care a lot for him. Also, is there an easy way of telling his gender+age?

I dont have any experience dealing with hermanns but a lot of things are universal with tortoise care.

2. Its good that you are feeding a varied diet with leaves, you can never have a too varied diet for your tortoise. Hibiscus, grape leaves and violets make excellent food. Rose petals are okay as long as they arent treated with pesticides (That goes for all leaves)

4. If he seems okay, is still eating and there are no visible damages you should be fine.

5. Are you soaking him every now and then? Its basically like giving your tortoise a warm bath (Not hot, same temps as you would bathe a baby) They often drink and poop during these soaks. Watch him carefully during the soak. The water should be up to the bottom of his shell.

6. Hibernation is not mandatory and there is a lot of debate about it. There is a way to hibernate them in a fridge but i can be dangerous if not done properly, you'll need to read up on it.

There is basically no way to tell his exact age due to the different sizes tortoises can be. Gender is possible to determine if he is old enough, you can post some pictures of its plastron (Belly) and we might be able to determine its gender.

Also, i'm curious. What does his enclosure look like? How warm is it during the night and day, how humid is it?

 

[flashtort]

I dont have any experience dealing with hermanns but a lot of things are universal with tortoise care.

2. Its good that you are feeding a varied diet with leaves, you can never have a too varied diet for your tortoise. Hibiscus, grape leaves and violets make excellent food. Rose petals are okay as long as they arent treated with pesticides (That goes for all leaves)

4. If he seems okay, is still eating and there are no visible damages you should be fine.

5. Are you soaking him every now and then? Its basically like giving your tortoise a warm bath (Not hot, same temps as you would bathe a baby) They often drink and poop during these soaks. Watch him carefully during the soak. The water should be up to the bottom of his shell.

6. Hibernation is not mandatory and there is a lot of debate about it. There is a way to hibernate them in a fridge but i can be dangerous if not done properly, you'll need to read up on it.

There is basically no way to tell his exact age due to the different sizes tortoises can be. Gender is possible to determine if he is old enough, you can post some pictures of its plastron (Belly) and we might be able to determine its gender.

Also, i'm curious. What does his enclosure look like? How warm is it during the night and day, how humid is it?

5. Yes I do soak him once every two days. (Is that enough?) Although, the plate isn't really deep, so most of the time I have to fight back against his feet. I'm thinking of replacing the plate with a terracotta plant saucer.

As for the gender, is the picture of the cracked plastron in the OP good enough?
His enclosure is basically a garden (and it's relatively big). Lots of trees, grass, plants and soil. There are many places to hide (under the leaves) and a lot of shade. There's also a little boulder in there (not very big, at all!). The temperatures during the day can reach 30-35 degrees celsius now in the summer. At night; 20-25 degrees. Humidity I'd say is on average 30%-40%.

Also, 1 more question. Do Hermann's tortoises eat animals like crickets and snails?

 

[Korall]

5. Yes I do soak him once every two days. (Is that enough?) Although, the plate isn't really deep, so most of the time I have to fight back against his feet. I'm thinking of replacing the plate with a terracotta plant saucer.

As for the gender, is the picture of the cracked plastron in the OP good enough?
His enclosure is basically a garden (and it's relatively big). Lots of trees, grass, plants and soil. There are many places to hide (under the leaves) and a lot of shade. There's also a little boulder in there (not very big, at all!). The temperatures during the day can reach 30-35 degrees celsius now in the summer. At night; 20-25 degrees. Humidity I'd say is on average 30%-40%.

Also, 1 more question. Do Hermann's tortoises eat animals like crickets and snails?

I don't have the time to answer your question right now but this care sheet should have all the information about basic care:

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/index....ERMANN'S-TORTOISE-CARE-SHEET-*UPDATED.101410/

 

[rolley]

Can someone help me ?

 

[Korall]

Can someone help me ?

With what? You could just make a new thread

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

Can someone help me ?

?????????