Hi everyone.
I finally brought Comet home today after quite a lot of preparation. She (well, obviously I have no idea whether she's a she but I'd prefer a female so I'm going with this until I can be sure) is a 2 and a half month old eastern hermann's tortoise. This website has been an incredible resource, particularly because people seem to be able to actually justify their claims with experience and I'd like to thank everyone who has contributed.
I was expecting to get a tiny animal that hides all day, doesn't eat for weeks and is terrified of everything but she's the total opposite. Within an hour of being in her new home she was munching on some dandelions, endive and lamb's lettuce. She spends no time whatsoever in her hiding spots, instead patrolling her enclosure non stop, and if touched she won't retreat into her shell, she just looks at you and actually almost seems to enjoy being petted on the head (is this possible?). I've also seen her gnawing a little on her cuttlebone, and when I was giving her a soak last night she peed. As far as I'm aware, these are all good signs but please someone let me know if they're not!
Humidity seems to fluctuate between 60 and 70, going up even higher when misted, and from what I've read on here this is okay. The only thing I'm slightly concerned about is the temperatures, because I'm unable to get the basking spot any higher than 29 to 30 degrees C (or 85ish degrees F). She does use it though, and as I said she's very active so hopefully this is OK. The other temperatures are approximately: warm side 25 degrees C (77 degrees F), cool side 22.5 degrees C (72 degrees F) and the night time low was around 20 degrees C (68 degrees F). Would anyone care to comment on these?
In terms of her enclosure, the substrate at the moment is 100% top soil however I'm planning on changing this out at least partially for some coco coir. I had a terracotta saucer for water (recommended on her by numerous people) but she seems to be able to get in and out better of the other one which I have now, which you can see in the picture below. It's very shallow and ideal for her size. I had another little hiding spot, which was essentially a plant pot cut in two, but she wasn't remotely interested in it so I've removed it for now to give her more room for walking.
One other thing, she doesn't seem to acknowledge Nutrazu (regular Mazuri in Europe) as food despite her appetite. Does anyone have any suggestions? I tried wetting it a little, and spreading it on the dandelion leaves (which are her favourite so far) but she doesn't seem interested. I know it's not a vital component of a balanced diet, but I'd like to add a couple of pellets per week in there just for variety.
Oh, and she weights 20 grams currently. How often do people weigh their animals? Every week or two seems reasonable to me, so as to not become totally obsessed.
Here are a few pictures:
I finally brought Comet home today after quite a lot of preparation. She (well, obviously I have no idea whether she's a she but I'd prefer a female so I'm going with this until I can be sure) is a 2 and a half month old eastern hermann's tortoise. This website has been an incredible resource, particularly because people seem to be able to actually justify their claims with experience and I'd like to thank everyone who has contributed.
I was expecting to get a tiny animal that hides all day, doesn't eat for weeks and is terrified of everything but she's the total opposite. Within an hour of being in her new home she was munching on some dandelions, endive and lamb's lettuce. She spends no time whatsoever in her hiding spots, instead patrolling her enclosure non stop, and if touched she won't retreat into her shell, she just looks at you and actually almost seems to enjoy being petted on the head (is this possible?). I've also seen her gnawing a little on her cuttlebone, and when I was giving her a soak last night she peed. As far as I'm aware, these are all good signs but please someone let me know if they're not!
Humidity seems to fluctuate between 60 and 70, going up even higher when misted, and from what I've read on here this is okay. The only thing I'm slightly concerned about is the temperatures, because I'm unable to get the basking spot any higher than 29 to 30 degrees C (or 85ish degrees F). She does use it though, and as I said she's very active so hopefully this is OK. The other temperatures are approximately: warm side 25 degrees C (77 degrees F), cool side 22.5 degrees C (72 degrees F) and the night time low was around 20 degrees C (68 degrees F). Would anyone care to comment on these?
In terms of her enclosure, the substrate at the moment is 100% top soil however I'm planning on changing this out at least partially for some coco coir. I had a terracotta saucer for water (recommended on her by numerous people) but she seems to be able to get in and out better of the other one which I have now, which you can see in the picture below. It's very shallow and ideal for her size. I had another little hiding spot, which was essentially a plant pot cut in two, but she wasn't remotely interested in it so I've removed it for now to give her more room for walking.
One other thing, she doesn't seem to acknowledge Nutrazu (regular Mazuri in Europe) as food despite her appetite. Does anyone have any suggestions? I tried wetting it a little, and spreading it on the dandelion leaves (which are her favourite so far) but she doesn't seem interested. I know it's not a vital component of a balanced diet, but I'd like to add a couple of pellets per week in there just for variety.
Oh, and she weights 20 grams currently. How often do people weigh their animals? Every week or two seems reasonable to me, so as to not become totally obsessed.
Here are a few pictures:
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