During the day, tortoises require a hot basking temperature. This is achieved by using clear spot bulbs at one end of the vivarium or over a table. To accomplish the required basking temperature of 90 o F we use a basking bulb w in a 46" vivarium. Basking bulbs should be on for 12 hours per day and must be controlled by a dimming thermostat. The bulb is raised or lowered to achieve the correct temperatures.
At night tortoises require a drop in temperature and darkness. They can drop to room temperature, so all heating and lighting equipment should be turned off. Temperatures should be monitored daily using a thermometer. Hermann's tortoises actively bask in hot climates and so naturally receive a high dose of UVB from the sun. Their enclosure's UVB should reflect that. There are 2 different types of fluorescent tube, T8 and T5. T5 tubes are the new technology and produce more light and UVB than T8 tubes.
T5 UVB also travels much further from the tube. Tortoises require UVB in order to synthesise vitamin D3 inside their skin. The vitamin D3 helps the tortoise to absorb calcium which crucial for bone structure and growth. Over tables, combined heat and UVB flood bulbs mercury vapour may be used. Hermann's tortoises should always be kept on a dry substrate so not to increase the humidity inside their enclosure too much.
We keep our tortoises either on beech woodchips or ProRep's Tortoise Life substrate. Tortoise do not climb, but they do like to dig and burrow. So choose various pieces of natural wood or decoration to enable them to do this. Younger tortoises will appreciate a cave that they can take refuge in. The tortoise's enclosure can be decorated with artificial plants for a more natural look.
Desert plants look very effective. Trailing plants are very good at disguising electrical wires and equipment. A Hermann's tortoise's diet consists of vegetation. Good foods include dandelion, clover, honeysuckle, leafy salads, watercress, curly kale, brussel tops, spring greens, coriander, parsley, rocket, carrot, parsnip, courgette and bell peppers.
The bulk of the vegetation should be leafy greens. The diet should also include fibrous plants like grasses and weeds. Good weeds include plaintains, white nettle, corn poppy, chickweed, bindweeds, hawkbit, viola's, goats beard, nipplewort etc. For times when fresh food is not available, or for variety, there are pre-made tortoise dried foods available that most tortoises relish. The tortoise should be given a shallow bath times a week for 10 minutes.
This will enable them to take on fresh water and stimulate them to empty their waste. To provide tortoises with optimal nutrition and to keep them in the best of health, they will require diet supplementaion in the form of calcium , vitamins and minerals.
These are most commonly available as powders. Calcium should be provided daily and dusted directly onto the tortoise's food. Vitamins may be added daily for young tortoises, but adults will only require them every other day. If you keep a male and female together, they may breed. You do not need to do anything to encourage this, providing they are healthy and the conditions are good, it will usually happen naturally. You need to consider whether you want this to happen.
What will you do with the babies if you incubate the eggs? A gravid female should have access to a nesting box to lay her eggs. The box should be large enough that she can fully turn-around inside it.
We use a soil mix in there that is wet enough to clump but no more. We have found that Spider Life substrate is ideal. The eggs should be incubated in an incubator at 84 o F.
We incubate our eggs in open boxes on a dry substrate such as sand with water in the incubator to provide humidiy around the eggs. After approximately 60 days the eggs will start to hatch, the first babies to emerge will encourage the rest of the eggs to hatch. This is our 'How to hibernate your tortoise safely' video. If you decide you would like to hibernate your tortoise it is important to do it right.
It is a complete guide that will show you how we advise to safely hibernate tortoises at Northampton Reptile Centre. It is based on our tortoise experience accumulated over our 20 year history and our collaboration with exotic vet Jeremy Wright. This is the guide that makes hibernation easy. Of course, if you are still left with any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. Hermann's tortoises are among the most commonly kept pet tortoises for families and we can't recommend them highly enough.
Problems sometimes arise with some species that grow to be too large and demanding on their owners. Something like a Sulcata tortoise for example may start out very small, but will grow into a giant grazing machine before long, requiring a large amount of grassland to sustain itself. Native to the mediterranean coasts of southern Europe, this species is relatively hardy and does not reach a size greater than about 10 to 12 inches cm in length. So please read on before making a decision to buy.
Just as a salesperson needs to know their customer, or a performer needs to know their audience; as the owner of a pet, you need to know all about your animal if your relationship with them and understanding of their needs is to lead to a healthy and happy existence for them. There are two sub species; the eastern variety native to the region from the west cost of Italy to Spain, and the western variety, native to the region from the east coast of Italy to western Turkey.
Incidentally I believe my own tortoise to be of this subspecies, given the country of origin on their Article 10 certificate is Croatia. Fully grown females may reach 10 to 12 inches cm in length, while males tend to be smaller.
Likewise a fully grown female can reach a weight of around 8 pounds 3. Typically however, most specimens will not reach a size or weight as advanced as this. The exposed areas of skin on the head and legs are again an earthy green or yellow color.
There are usually scaly areas on the legs, probably to protect the limbs when burrowing. There is some debate about how well tortoises are able to hear, however they certainly possess good eyesight which enables them to track down food which is safe to eat. You will seldom hear a tortoise making any kind of sound vocally, however males may grunt and squeak during courting and mating with a female.
Along with their strong eyesight, tortoises also have a good sense of smell. Used in combination these two senses again allow a tortoise to track down food that is safe to consume.
I sometimes think it looks like hard work when I see my tortoise hauling himself about the place, almost as though the shell is weighing him down. Perhaps for this reason tortoise legs have evolved to be a strong as possible in order to shift around such a heavy payload.
The rear legs in particular resemble those of an elephant, so clearly there is some anatomical similarity among tortoises and other heavy animals. One of the trickiest things for the untrained eye to do is determine the sex of a tortoise.
Though they look unusual on the outside, tortoises feature the same basic internal systems as other vertebrates, including humans. This includes a digestive tract and a respiratory system much like our own.
There are of course subtle differences, such as a different musculature structure to facilitate the inhalation and exhalation of air; because unlike us, tortoises cannot flex and expand their rib cages to allow air to expand and fill their lungs. This, as you might imagine, is not as effective at circulating blood throughout the body, which goes a long way towards explaining why tortoises prefer to take life at a somewhat more leisurely pace than we do, and why they quickly tire after short periods of exertion.
Like other reptiles, birds, and some mammals, tortoises possess a cloaca; a multi-purpose orifice that serves as both the point of excretion of urine and solid waste material, as well as the reproductive opening. Females produce eggs in much the same way as birds and other reptiles, passing them through their cloaca when they are ready. Indeed, one of the key reasons behind hibernation is to slow down the growth process of the tortoise.
A lesser known process exhibited by tortoises is the continual shedding of their skin and shell scutes. Like other reptiles, tortoises are cold blooded animals, meaning their internal temperature is entirely dependent upon the temperature of their environment; unlike mammals who are able to self regulate their internal temperature unless ambient temperatures are dangerously high or low.
Both states serve their purpose, for example at warmer temperatures they are able to digest food more effectively, while a consistently low temperature provides the right conditions for hibernation. Tortoises can be described as many things; slow, lumbering, or funny. Their brains are very small around one percent of their total body mass. When placed into a shallow tray of water most Hermann's tortoises will instinctively lower their heads and drink copiously. Nonetheless, some keepers opt to provide a constant water source for their tortoises in the form of a wide, shallow, water dish.
There is nothing wrong with this practice so long as careful attention is paid to keeping the water and the dish itself very clean. Contaminated water is a common cause of disease in captive reptiles, and could potentially cause harm to a tortoise. Maintaining proper humidity for Hermann's tortoises should not be a primary concern. As discussed earlier, these animals are highly adaptable to a wide range of conditions.
With very few exceptions, the ambient humidity within your home or even outdoors will be appropriate for successfully maintaining these animals. Hermann's tortoises are primarily herbivores in the wild, and a similar diet should be provided in captivity.
The bulk of their diet should consist of a variety of dark, leafy, greens. Romaine lettuce, collard greens, carrot tops, kale, mustard greens, and beet greens are all excellent choices.
In addition to these staples, other veggies such as carrots, squash, and bell peppers can be offered to add variety. Use of a commerically available pelleted diet is recommended as a "base" for the diet, as a high quality diet will provide trace minerals and add variety to the diet with minimal effort.
Grasses and hays, such as those fed to horses and other livestock, can also be fed to Hermann's tortoises. The willingness with which these foods are accepted will vary from animal to animal, but should be offered nonetheless as a source of added fiber. This is especially important for young animals and for egg-laying females. Growing tortoises should be given calcium often, while older animals will require less frequent supplementation. A reptile multivitamin should be used as well.
Your tortoise may empty its bowels in the bath or water bowl which is normal as they also absorb water through the vent in their tails.
Drinking water should be refreshed as soon as possible and the bathing water changed. UVB allows the tortoise to synthesise vitamin D3 helping to prevent or reverse metabolic bone disease and ensure normal shell growth, promoting long health. UVA increases feeding, mating and other natural behaviours.
These are all fundamental to the normal development and health of basking reptiles such as tortoises. Both the heat and UV or single combination bulb should be switched on for approximately hours each day, this can be plugged into a timer and set appropriately. When your tortoise spends time outside during spring and summer, the sun provides the natural ultraviolet light required. Basking lamps should be kept at least 6 inches above the basking area, we recommend around 10 inches.
For non-hibernating tortoises, please see individual care sheets. If you are housing your tortoise inside, we recommend that you use an open top type enclosure like a tortoise table and not a closed in vivarium as this is harder to regulate the heated and cooler ends of the housing.
Humidity should be kept low to moderate as a higher humidity level can cause respiratory issues. We recommend using a coco coir substrate and use this ourselves. We use a mixture of fine and coarse coco coir and spray it down with warm water daily. Alternatively, you can use a sterilised top soil and play sand mix but ensure this doesn't become too dry in the heated enclosure and central heated house as this can cause issues with your tortoise' eyes and respiratory infections, especially on smaller hatchlings.
To encourage natural behaviour and provide enrichment you can have several areas of varying substrates for your tortoise to discover.
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