New Owner Tips (Hermann Tortoise)

[RobMilkz]

Hello,

I got my tortoise, Atlas, at a reptile shop along with his tortoise table, heat lamp, heat mad, soil substrate, water dish and vitamin powder containing calcium and vitamin D3. He is a 2017 Hatchling and came with a microchip. He is very active and loves to scratch at the corners, he paces up and down one side of the table and is eating a lot. I have been feeding him mostly curly kale with water cress, carrots and cucumber mixed in, it is also sprinkled with a vitamin power. I bathed him last night and he peed in the bath which contained urates, I emptied it as soon as it happened and gave him clean bath water, he was very active after the bath. But today he hasn't been very active, he didn't sleep in his indoor section during the night and he hasn't walked around as much, he has still had a little roam. He has been in and out of the indoor section sleeping. He has been eating a lot and been under the light for most of the day.

is there something I'm doing wrong? Tips are welcome

P.s. I say he but his gender is unknown

 

[JoesMum]

Hello and welcome from Kent, UK.

It can take weeks for a tort to settle into a new home. Everything, including you, is big and scary and potentially trying to him right now.

Photos of your enclosure and lighting will help us to help you.

I recommend you read the TFO care guides and compare them with the setup and care you provide. They are written by species experts working hard to correct the outdated information widely available on the internet and from pet stores and, sadly, from some breeders and vets too.

Beginner Mistakes
https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

Baby Testudo Care (Written about Russians but applies to Hermann's too)
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/b...or-other-herbivorous-tortoise-species.107734/

Your tort's diet should be a variety of weedy and leafy greens. Cucumber and lettuce contain few nutrients and little fibre. Your tort can't digest sugars properly, they cause digestive and kidney problems, so sweet foods like fruit, carrot, bell pepper and tomato should only be fed very sparingly and very occasionally if at all.

Write a list of greens that brow around you and those that you can buy and look them up on The Tortoise Table Plant Database for suitability to feed. It's a great online resource that tells why you can or can't feed something
https://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk

Few of us manage in the winter months without supplementing with a pelleted food softened with water

 

[RobMilkz]

This is my set up, he is sleeping where he usually sleeps or he sleeps it the other corner. I am getting more veg for him tomorrow but, I know he is supposed to eat weeds etc but they are hard to come across, I don't have a grassy garden and I don't want to pick them from somewhere incase they are covered in pesticides or other harmful stuff. So, I am left with store bought veg, I am planning to start growing weeds for him in summer.

 

[JoesMum]

Please read those links I posted.

Sorry, this going to sound bad, but it isn't your fault because you were given outdated care information. There are a few issues:

1. The substrate contains white bits. I know this is sold as suitable for torts, but it isn't. Why would you encourage the tort to eat the substrate by putting calcium pieces in it?! You want a plain earthy substrate with no additives including sand, vermiculite, calcium and fertilisers. Coco coir and fine grade orchid bark can be bought from Amazon, DIY stores or garden centres cheaply. Mix with water until of it is evenly damp right into the corners and to the bottom as this helps to raise humidity.

2. You cannot create the constant high humidity and warm ambient temperatures needed by a baby in an open table. You need to cover the table or build you own closed chamber. Some people use a small "plant greenhouse tent" to do this over a table.

3. No straw. It goes mouldy in the damp environment necessary for health

4. That reptile bowls isn't suitable for torts; they're a tipping hazard and hard for them to use. A terracotta plant saucer makes a great water bowl and a piece of flat rock or slate, or even the back of a wall tile, makes a great food plate that helps keep your tort's beak in trim by abrasion while it eats.

As for food, do what I suggested regarding looking up what you can get hold of on The Tortoise Table for suitability and use a pellet like Komodo softened in water to supplement until the weather improves

 

[tortoisekev]

Also the lamp should be facing directly downwards and not at an angle.

If you stick with that table (which I personally like) then you’ll need the expansion pack soon. My tort is 3.5years and likes/needs the space of the full table.

I have the same table as you (though I don’t have a cover). If you look at my posts from my profile you can see pictures to get some ideas. (Phone isn’t letting me post any in this reply!)

 

[tortoisekev]

Also (sorry!) but you shouldn’t use the heat pad in his house. They don’t need it and it can be dangerous. Better to have one hot end with the lamp, and one cooler end. They’ll move around or bury themselves to regulate their temperature.

My hot end is usually around 30C and the cold is usually 18-20C.