Newby, I'm Gill

[gill2307]

Hi, I'm Gill,

I live in Birmingham, UK and I currently own two, adult, Hermann tortoises, believed to be around ten years old due to their size. I've had them for nearly six years now. They are named Ernie and Mildred, although, I'm currently unsure as to whether their names match their sex, which is one of the reasons I've joined, hopefully answering the question I've been asking for a few years now! Mildred is extremely lively and Ernie likes to sleep, A LOT! When Mildred was small, she was bitten on her shell by my fiance's pet dog, who wanted to play with her. All she did was pick her up in her mouth, but sadly this mildly punctured either side of her shell. It was nothing major, and it has completely healed now, barely noticeable in fact, but we now joke that the reason she is so active, is due to her containing dog venom, and now she thinks she's a dog! Mildred is pictured below, and Ernie partly in the second picture.

Thanks!

 

[russian/sulcata/tortoise]

welcome to the forum! if you post some pics of the tortoises tails i can tell you the gender. also if you post a pic of the enclosure i an see if it needs any work.

 

[gill2307]

Thank you, I'll go take a couple now.
Looking at all of the websites, their tales are large and very similar, so I thought they were both males, also, both of their shells turn under at the ends, but then one laid eggs last year, which confused me!
Also, they both mount each other, almost taking it in turns! I really hope you can help!

 

[pam]

Welcome

 

[gill2307]

My torts below, and their enclosure...



Below is Mildred, the one we thought was a female... she is slightly larger than the other...

and this is Ernie...




Any help would be greatly appreciated, as I'm at a loss.

Gill x

 

[russian/sulcata/tortoise]

the substrate needs to be changed to something a bit more humid like cyrus mulch or shaved coconut fibers. also the enclosure is was to small and they need a water dish they can climb into fully.
im unsure about the genders. whats is there diet at the moment?

 

[gill2307]

A mixture really, cabbage, tomato, cucumber, dandelions when we can get some...

We've already upgraded to a larger enclosure, as they outgrew their vivarium. We have an outdoor enclosure too, which they use when the weather is nicer, and they are out often for walks around the house.

I can't seem to find anyone who knows what sex they are.

 

[russian/sulcata/tortoise]

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/sticky-hermanns-tortoise-care-sheet-updated.101410/ read this

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Gill, and welcome to the Forum!

I think the first picture shows a female and the other picture shows a male, however, I really can't see the second picture's tail very well to be sure.

Two tortoises seldom work out in one small habitat...and your habitat is VERY small for two adult tortoises. It's not even big enough for one adult Hermanni. I'm only guessing by what you've told us and what I'm seeing in the pictures, but my guess is that the female is dominant and the male is submissive. The submissive tortoise tries to stay out of the dominant tortoise's territory, and since he can't do that, he stays quiet.

 

[gill2307]

I would agree, Mildred is definitely the more active, dominant tortoise, but Ernie definitely holds his own in terms of the food department, and he does seem to be the one that tries to mate more often, by climbing on Mildred's back and squeaking, but Mildred is the one that bites his leg, which I thought was something a male did? This doesn't happen too often though.

Well, we moved the tortoises onto their tortoise table, when we moved house, as they outgrew their vivarium. We also learnt that a tortoise table would be better for them anyway. We started off with the vivarium, as it was what the pet shop suggested, but after speaking to other tortoise keepers, you learn far more, and that the pet shops aren't always right. However, since moving them, they've grown even more. Visitors have said that they have grown, whereas I haven't noticed as much, seeing them everyday. What ever we put them in, they outgrow.
We do also have an outdoor enclosure, which they love, but with the current weather, they haven't been out as much.

What is it that is different about their tales?

Thanks again, all of your help is very much appreciated.
x

 

[Tom]

Hi Gill. I'm glad you found us. Here are some intended-to-be constructive tips:
1. You enclosure is much too small. Go big man!
2. They should never be housed in pairs, and your particular pair is demonstrating outward obvious battle. They need to be separated.
3. Cabbage and tomato are not good items to feed. They should be eating mostly broadleaf weeds, or if those aren't available at certain times of year, then use an assortment of leafy greens from the store. Endive, escarole, rocket salad, arugula, radiccio, collard, turnip and mustard greens, cilantro, watercress, bok choy, chard, etc...
4. You definitely need to change that substrate.
5. It looks like you've got a spot bulb in there. That, coupled with the overly dry conditions, is contributing to the pyramiding you are getting.

I typed this up for russians, but the care is basically the same. Lots of tips in here:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/

This might help some too:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

 

[gill2307]

Thank you for those.
The grass pellets are the top layer, there is soil beneath and we do spray it daily. We think the pyramiding happened more when they were younger. We were told to give them calcium supplements, again, advice from a pet shop. Due to this, we had some extra scale growth on the one, then sort out more advice, due to this problem.
Where do you house your tortoise?

Thanks again

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hello Gil welcome to the TFO from AZ, USA . Tom is giving you some good advice .


Sent from my iPhone using TortForum

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Welcome!

 

[puffy137]

Hi Gill, the only advice I can give you is try not to over feed them , I know thats hard, but its good to underfeed rather than to let them stuff. And try to get them to exercise.

 

[tortadise]

Welcome