Tortoise wants to get out!

[Maggy]

I have a baby Hermanns tortoise and sometimes I will hand feed him and when I do this sometimes he will bypass the food and just crawl into the palm of my hand and sit there! Is this weird or just cute? I will take him out for a bath once a day and so I think he associates my hand with getting out of his enclosure because when I put him in the bath he just tries to run right out! I think he likes exploring or something because he always tries to climb into my hand to get out of the enclosure! And his enclosure isn't small either so it's not like he feels trapped I think he just likes running around! Any thoughts?

 

[TammyJ]

I have a baby Hermanns tortoise and sometimes I will hand feed him and when I do this sometimes he will bypass the food and just crawl into the palm of my hand and sit there! Is this weird or just cute? I will take him out for a bath once a day and so I think he associates my hand with getting out of his enclosure because when I put him in the bath he just tries to run right out! I think he likes exploring or something because he always tries to climb into my hand to get out of the enclosure! And his enclosure isn't small either so it's not like he feels trapped I think he just likes running around! Any thoughts?

The experts here will advise you on his care, and you can check the care sheets for Hermanns. You need to be sure that your enclosure has the correct temperatures and humidity level and that your substrate, and his diet, are correct. As far as I know, they do not "like" running around, but there has to be a reason for his behaviour. You will need to send photos of him and his enclosure too, that would be a help!

 

[Maggy]

This is his enclosure and what it looks likes when he crawls into my hand. He will just sit there until I take him out! Usually after about 10 minute of him roaming around my room he will come and sit right by my leg until I put him back in his enclosure. It's the weirdest thing! I recently redid his enclosure and posted a thread about it and I read a lot of care sheets and information so I know his temperatures and humidity are correct and I feed him dandelions and some crimson clovers I grow myself and then a spring mix I buy from the store so I don't think it has to do with his diet but I could be wrong?

 

[K4Awesome]

it could very well be a simple case of an adventurous tortoise! as my male Hermann is the same way, he tends to run around more than I have seen others do, and is always ready to see something new, I find that changing up the placement of things in his enclosure and switching between different decorations/ things to explore helps to keep him entertained along with taking him out to explore different rooms of the house, putting things for him to climb over seems to help to as he loves to climb (just make sure they can't hurt themselves while doing so as they really aren't that graceful) climbing and putting a little cat ball in his enclosure for him to push around are the two best ways I find to use up his high energy.

 

[Maggy]

Ok sweet! Thanks!

 

[teresaf]

Temps might be wrong. He may be too cold or hot. Tortoises don't have people emotions. He's not cuddling up.

Those button type thermometer/hygrometers are crappy. I attached a picture of mine. You don't want you're baby on the floor either. It's waaaaay to cold. Heat rises.

I love your enclosure. Moving stuff around may only cause him to be frightened. A lot of tortoises go off their food when big changes are made.

Bath water should be 95-100f. If you verify that then just let him move around. It's good for his digestion.

 

[Maggy]

Oh ok that's very helpful thank you!

 

[Franco F]

I had similar issues when my Hermann's arrived. Not only did he try to climb out of his enclosure often, but he was a pro at flipping himself over. With advice from my expert breeder, and some other small changes that I made, all the issues stopped. The temperature may certainly be one of the issues. I was told to lower the temperature slightly, and I did, and now my temps are hovering between 80-90 degrees. I was originally using a 75W bulb, which I noticed was setting the temperatures at an unhealthy high for a hatchling. I'm now using a 50W bulb. I also surrounded the enclosure with some small round stones so that the corners and walls of the enclosure were not steep enough for my tortoise to flip over when he was trying to escape. Lastly, I began soaking him inside the actual enclosure so that he doesn't get ideas from looking at what's beyond his home. I feel like that helped a bunch.

I hope this helps!

 

[Franco F]

I know it's fun too, but I would also limit the hand feeding. Many of the experts on here will advise not to do that too often

 

[Linhdan Nguyen]

I think it is so cute that he climbs on your hand, but yes, it may be the temperature. Hand feeding often is not advised because there get use to it and soon refuse to eat without being hand fed.
Though of course, I hand feed my tortoises sometimes. Lol. just so stinking cute !

 

[TiffytheTort]

It may be stressed since it can see out. Does it climb the walls a lot since it may be the case of seeing outside its enclosure. but it may be the case that it just loves your hand :3

 

[TammyJ]

It may be stressed since it can see out. Does it climb the walls a lot since it may be the case of seeing outside its enclosure.View attachment 208855 but it may be the case that it just loves your hand :3

It does not seem to me that he can possibly see outside of his enclosure....from the pictures posted.

 

[TiffytheTort]

Lol just an idea