I made these diagrams a while ago using my own animals so here they are again for anyone who is confused when it comes to differentiating Hermann's tortoises.

TESTUDO HERMANNI BOETTGERI VS. TESTUDO HERMANNI HERMANNI

Many people find it quite difficult to differentiate the eastern and western subspecies of the Hermanns tortoise (Testudo hermanni). For years it was believed that the Western race (Testudo hermanni hermanni) was separated from the Eastern race (Testudo hermanni boettgeri) by characteristics like a divided suprecaudal shield or the jet black bands on the plastron. While these features can help, it is by no means limited to this as both subspecies can exhibit them. Today all over the world "breeders" and dealers offer hermanns tortoises for sale. Many are captive bred babies while others are imported wild caught animals which are loaded with parasites. Lately individuals offer "western hermanns tortoises" for sale and more than 9 times out 10 they are not the real thing. In the following diagrams I illustrate through photos of my own tortoises how to properly tell the difference between the 2 subspecies. Just because your tortoise has a lot of black on the plastron does not mean it's a western hermanns tortoise!!

Enjoy everyone!
Sincerely,
Chris Leone

This post was last modified: 09-18-2007 02:32 PM by josh.

Wow. Lots of info. I always thought the Eastern race was a more dull brown color and the black/yellow was Western.
Can you tell me what you htink with my 2? I would say most of the descriptions lean towards Western, but there are some Eastern similarities.
Right now, these are the best pics I have.

This post was last modified: 09-18-2007 02:30 PM by josh.

yours are 100% EASTERNS, testudo hermanni boettgeri. The westerns are a very sharp yellow/black, and are extremely rare. Hope this helps

Thanks.
Whereabouts would the Easterns be from? East Europe or Germany?

Easterns or "Boettger's" tortoises are found throughout Europe, primarily in Greece, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Romania, and several other areas. Westerns or "Italian" tortoises are completely restricted to Italy, France and a very tiny section of Spain.[/align]

Wow! Your differentiation page was better than anything I've seen
in currently printed turtle manuals. Thanks-jo

Thank you so so so much I really appreciate it.

Chris,
Wonderful explainations and visuals of the differences.
Thank you , Thank you

No problem at all, these tortoises are my life and I enjoy educating others about them as much as I can.

Thanks Chris for the diagram.....you rock!