Joined
Jan 26, 2021
Messages
66
Location (City and/or State)
Manchester
Hi guys,

Relatively new Hermann’s owner - just a quick question for anybody who would like to offer advice.

I did and continue to do ALOT of research into how to best keep my little guy, I pretty much have everything like temp, enclosure, meals and daily routine down to a T.

But one think that I constantly see alot of contradicting opinions on is humidity - I’ve been advised ALOT that Hermann’s require low to moderate humidity in their enclosure, yet also advised that they do infact need high humidity to avoid pyramiding. I keep his enclosure moderate for the most part and offer more humid hides for him in 2 separate corners of the enclosure.

Can any fellow Hermann’s owners clear this up for me? I obviously want to avoid any sort of pyramiding or health issues. I attached a picture for you so you can have a look at my little guys size and shell etc.



Much appreciated for any response!



D87C6361-155E-4865-BDD8-A3E527EA9B7D.jpeg
 

TeamZissou

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 23, 2020
Messages
1,048
Location (City and/or State)
Albuquerque, NM
It looks like your tortoise is starting to pyramid. I would increase the humidity to 65-70% at least.

Have you read this thread?:

Here's image that I annotated of a Greek tortoise which was kept too dry:
9959EFC4-B35C-4ABF-8111-05FD2FA7CBC8.jpg
 
Joined
Jan 26, 2021
Messages
66
Location (City and/or State)
Manchester
It looks like your tortoise is starting to pyramid. I would increase the humidity to 65-70% at least.

Have you read this thread?:

Here's image that I annotated of a Greek tortoise which was kept too dry:
View attachment 316461

I have only had him a few days and his shell hasn’t changed much since then, so I can only assume this may be due to his precious habitat? His humidity is kept at around 60% minimum so I’ll make sure to churn his soil a little more frequently. Is there anything else I can do to prevent this?
 

TeamZissou

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 23, 2020
Messages
1,048
Location (City and/or State)
Albuquerque, NM
Yes the things you can do is keep him hydrated. Daily soaks for 30 minutes in warm water, humid hides, wetting the shell, a closed chamber. All this is detailed in the linked thread. You also want to avoid mercury vapor bulbs that dry out the shell excessively.

The growth looked quite smooth from the hatching scute until probably a couple of weeks ago when the humidity conditions changed a lot. This is evidenced by the deep ridges between scutes. The growth lines are more related to changes in humidity rather than anything else.

Read the thread in detail and come back with more questions. A lot of your questions will be answered in that thread. Compare your setup to what is recommended. If you have more questions, post some photos of your setup and we can help.
 
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