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Sorry I didn't see Chris's Post and defer to him as the expert.
A square box will keep him from climbing on it and the chance of him flipping will be minimal. And Torts can usually write themselves.
I give mine their bath outside their enclosure. so they have to sit in the water until I take them out. I just check the water that it doesn't get cold.
Remember he is getting use to a new home. It will take him awhile to get comfortable. And if it is too hot or too humid it will slow him and he may just sit.

Welcome Samantha.
I think everything's been said. Fixing the eclosure and correcting the diet is the way to go.
Don't worry, we've all been there, strugling to get it right. You'll find alot of help here.
Read through what's been posted on theis site for info & ideas.

Ok well i just have a couple more questions. I want to make sure im doing everything right.

1. So he doesnt need a light at night, wont he get cold?
2. Can i take him out of the tank for a while and let him walk around my bedroom or something, how long can i do that for?
3. How humid/hot is the tank supposed to be? I mean i have wood shaving in the bottom and they dry out. Should they be wet?
4. Should i be spraying the tank with water, how offten.
5. Is it normal for them to burry in the wood shaving or is that because theres not enough hinding places.
6. I put him in a bath and he let out white stuff and then pooped. then he got out. Is that normal. He also put his head in and made bubbles. Is that normal
7. How hard should his shell be?
8. I also think im going to go get a different tank like a rubbermaid or something. Would that be good? Would the rubbermaid burn?

Anyways thanks for all the help, sorry for all the question but i want to make sure that im doing it right. I really like him andi dont want anything bad to happen to him.

Here are some answers:

1. He does not need a light at night. Tortoises sleep at night and are diurnal not nocturnal. If the temperature in the room drops below 65F at night then leave the infra red heat lamp on as a heat source. Because it is not a bright light it will not do any harm.

2. Generally speaking tortoises do not like to be handled and should really only be picked up when cleaning the enclosure, inspecting health, bathing, medicating. If you want to take him and out and let him walk around that is ok but honestly this should be done outside while you supervise him grazing and exploring.

3. The tortoise should have a thermal gradient. The temperature of the air should roughly be 70-80F with a basking end at 90-95F. Humidty needs not to be too high and that's where soaking comes into play. By doing this you will be providing the tortoise with enough water. Mistings via spray bottle are great to do every other day and the tortoises seem to enjoy it. Do not drench the habitat.

4.Like I just said, yes, every other day is fine for a few minutes, keep up the soaks as well.

5. Yes that is very normal. Tortoises spend a lot fo their time burrowed in scrapes or tunnels they have created as shelters.

6. Yes that is all normal. Make sure he cannot get out of his bath if you cannot watch him 100% during it. The tortoise can easily fall if you are not watching. The white stuff is urates and is normal.

7. At this age the shell is still flexible and will not harden completely for quite some time. As long as it is not mushy you are fine. The animal needs time to grow and strengthen.

8. Like I said in the previous post, rubbermaids are perfect and work well as do mixing tubs. Much better than tanks. Just make sure the heat lamp is not resting on the plastic to avoid burning it.

*Hermann's tortoises are very resilient animals and adapt to a wide range of conditions so just keep up the good work, never be afraid of asking questions and read as much as you can.

Thank you so much, you guys are really helpin me out. So then is the light i have enough? Should i take the heat pad off all day or just at night? Oh and just to make sure i bought new food at the grocery store...Spring mix in a bag, parsley, carrots, and half a blueberry every other day. Is that a good diet? And the wood shaving are a good substrate and are ok dry?
Thanks again everyone
~Samantha

Samantha, sounds like your are off to a good start. Remember over time you will be tweaking your shelled babies enclosure as well as his lighting and food. We all do. I would not use a heat pad. Just the lights. I leave my (uvb) on for about 12 hrs.. A temp and humidity gauge will tell you what the temps are. This will help you determine if you need a night heat source or not. Make sure you put them at tort level. I wouldn't give him a blueberry every other day. Fruit tends to be hard on their digestive tracts. They don't digest sugar well and it caused diarrhea which could dehydrate and cause your baby to lose valuable nutrients. Variety of greens is one key to his diet. Next time you buy him food get something else, like on the list Anja listed in this post. Oh and as for wood shavings. Shaved Aspen is fine. Make sure it is NOT pine. Pine gives off a toxic fumes when heated.

Hi again Samantha

you are heading in the right direction and if you follow Chris's tips then you wil not wrong and thats a promise. An open container is best.

The heat pad is just not a good idea at all.

Try and find a store that sells dandellion greens - it is a great Hermann food - full of calcium.

Your tort will eat the blueberry but he doesn't need it and personally I offer fruit very very rarely.

I would advise against spraying into the tank because that water will be trapped in there and it might be far too humid. I enjoy giving mine a bath and do it every day for my little ones.

Once you get those things sorted out then you might want to think about your lighting. Most of us use combined heat and UV lamps. A Hermann needs large amounts of UV and if kept indoors needs an artificial source. But I'd suggest doing other things first because he won't suffer greatly from a lack of UV in the short term.

Here in the UK most keepers would be quite confident about letting night time temps go a lot lower than the 65F Chris mentions. If your tort is in the house he won't need any heat above what you might want for yourself at night.

The great thing is you obviously care about this animal and want to do whats best.

If you are going to the petstore for that thermometer, get some tortoise food supplement. Its got added calcium and D3 in it. The one I use is Neutrobal.

Again thanks for all the help. and i have been feeding reptocal by tetrafauna to the tortoises everyday on his food.
Anyways here is my idea for a cage for him...it would be about 3feet by 3feet and about 1foot tall.



Would this work? The green area is supposed to be like plants or something for him to hide in. Is there live plants i can put in there that he wont eat so that it looks nice? Or should i put plants he will eat? Thanks again for everything.
~Samantha

You can find a list of edible plants here, you just have to make sure they have not been treated with chemicals.

http://africantortoise.com/edible_plants.htm


The Reptocal is a good supplement so continue using that. Also when you go to the grocery store, ask to speak to the produce manager. You can ask him to order Dandelion greens for you. One bunch of dandelion greens per week will be a good staple along with the Spring Mix for your diet. If you have a Whole Foods store anywhere near you, you can buy organic Dandelion greens there, they usually have them in stock.

Samantha, that looks good to me. The only thing I do is put the uvb and heat lamp in the same area. That is my personal preference. I try and simulate what they would have in the wild. And in the wild the sun would be producing the heat. and a 3 ft x 3 ft should be big enough to last him for some time. I commend you on your efforts to make a good home for your shelled baby.

Puffer21 Wrote:Is there live plants i can put in there that he wont eat so that it looks nice? Or should i put plants he will eat? Thanks again for everything.
~Samantha

You can plant weeds he will eat, providing shelter, food & moisture at the same time.

I do this with dandelions, vetch, trefoil, and other common mediterranean weeds.

Here's a link to a post I made a while back on my enclosure. http://tortoiseforum.org/new-setup-good-...t-661.html

You can also use a rabbit cage. I think it was Anja who posted some pics on a good rabbit cage enclosure.

Yup here is an indoor rabbit cage used for a tortoise.







Here is a rubbermaid sweater box setup I had for a hatchling Leopard tort last year, but would work great for the hatchling Hermanns as well.

Thanks Anja, that was precisely it

TestudoGeek Wrote:Thanks Anja, that was precisely it

Anytime

Hey thanks for all the info. TestudoGeek how did you attach the two tubes? I would love to make a setup like that.