New owner - advice please!!

[Iochroma]

Hi Rach, and Welcome.

While there are many conflicting opinions to be found, but the main chorus sounds the same...
http://www.deerfernfarms.com/Tortoise_Care.htm
http://www.anapsid.org/torthatchlings.html
http://www.hermannihaven.com/#!care-and-maintenance/c1my5
http://www.chelonia.org/Articles/hermannstortoisecare.htm

If I were to offer some observations:
Glass fronts drive tortoises to distraction - perhaps you can put up a solid visual barrier 20 cm. high at least.
A couple of hiding places will be used and appreciated by tortoises; one should be humid with deep layers of moisture-retaining substrate.
The kind of closed vivarium you have is not ideal; small and stuffy. It would be wise to start planning for a new enclosure as soon as you can.

I would ask:
The red heat lamp is concerning; how warm is it under the lamp? How warm at the end away from the lamp? Is there a normal white light source in the vivarium? How far above the animal is the UVB light?
If the diet is going to come from supermarkets and petstores, can you occasionally go collect weeds to supplement the store-bought stuff? (Yes, you can find edible weeds, even in the Midlands, even in winter...)

I think if you settle on the tried and tested methods in the care sheets above, your new guy will thrive. Best wishes.

 

[tortdad]

I'm not criticising anybodies advice on here I'm just so confused.
So many sites say one thing then so many other sites say something else.

It just sounds like the people you've been talking to are following some old outdated advice which has no been proven wrong.

You see, for year and years all the tortoise breeders and vets believed that it was best to keep your tortoise dry. Our tortoises were pyramiding and we all thought it was diet and calcium related. After experimenting with several different breeds Over the past few decades the new techniques are proven. It is not diet that cause pyramiding, it's the lack of moisture we've been providing.

Everyone here is going to jump on you and tell you to change your set up because we all came here(just like you) with all the wrong stuff and our animals were suffering because of our lack of care. Can your and your friends tortoises survive in their current set ups??? Yes, just like you can survive in a jail cell. All we are trying to do is show you how to make your tortoise do more than just survive.

 

[HermanniChris]

Hi, welcome and congrats on your new tortoise. Couple of things though:

Pet stores? That's a no. A firm no. Why? Outdated, invalid information, money making schemes and they live by the cheap factor. Whatever is cheapest to get the animals to survive short term is what makes sense to them. They need to get animals in and then quickly out. Not saying the owner isn't a swell guy that you might enjoy a coffee, beer or tea with, but He may not be the kind of guy you wanna "talk tortoise" with. At least not if you plan on having your new friend for decades to come.

I know, kinda sounds harsh doesn't it? Well, it's only to get a point across.

People on here are tortoise people. We take the time to write care sheets, share info, take photos, share experience, admit mistakes and continue to learn while also teaching others. We learn from the animals. Some of us have been doing this our entire lives. We've changed with the times and the changes in care methods. We've grown, our success levels have doubled, tripled etc..and we have taken note of every little detail we've experienced.

There's a world of information out there, sadly most is inaccurate or, like some have already stated, it's outdated. Tortoises especially when young can be incredibly sensitive. Remember, they're close to the ground and spend all their lives on it. This means that every little thing about the ground can have an effect on them. Some of this outdated information we speak of is the use of certain substrates. This is crucial. Did the pet store owner stress to you just how important hydration and humidity is to a baby Hermann's tortoise? I hope so. Because if you don't pay attention that, you just might lose him/her.

I know you're going to get conflicting views on care. There's no way around it. But I promise you, if you stick around here, you'll not only learn more than you could have imagined, but you'll become confident as a tortoise keeper and suddenly, much of your worry will simply dissipate.

Listen to the advice you're being given and please, please, read the care sheet for Hermann's tortoises written by myself at the top of this forum which has already been offered to you. If you follow it, you will have success. And even more so, visit my site hermannihaven.com if you really want to dive into the world of Hermann's tortoises. Even though it's mainly geared to Western Hermann's, you can still learn a ton about general care and even natural history.

I'm not an expert, in fact there's no such thing in this hobby. But I can, and absolutely will try to steer you in the right direction. I worked in countless pet stores growing up. Most were great guys, they just simply didn't know enough for long term care.

You're in excellent hands here, and whether it's myself or somebody else, I guarantee you're gonna learn a lot and keep your tortoise nothing less then healthy. It's a lot of fun on here.

I'll leave you with this image for now, because it's happening right now:

 

[jaredherman]

Dont worry about other sites, all the info is right here. just listen to what the nice people are telling you.

 

[rach.sxo]

Sorry for such a late response.
Thank you all for your help and I will take your advice on board.
Thanks all