new hermann tortoise

Meilu

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Hi Guys,
I've got my first baby western hermann tortoise yesterday and He pooped in the box not after sales man put it him in the box, we put it in the enclosure once got home then he straight went to hide and still no sign to come out. no eating, no drinking, what should i do. i did some research and said this would take a while but just a bit worried if i should do something. your comment would be highly appreciated. Many thanks
 

Gillian M

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Please post pics of your tort as well as his enclosure so as to enable the experts here to help you.

Read the care sheets, and please tell us what his diet is. Soak him in war water every day.

Yes, torts take time to get adapted to a new environment, so do not worry.

And a warm welcome to the forum.
 

Meilu

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Please post pics of your tort as well as his enclosure so as to enable the experts here to help you.

Read the care sheets, and please tell us what his diet is. Soak him in war water every day.

Yes, torts take time to get adapted to a new environment, so do not worry.

And a warm welcome to the forum.
please see my enclosure 😊😊he/her has been hiding on top left corner since yesterday afternoon. also prepared mixed food dry and fresh food as shop was feeding him pellet food.
 

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Gillian M

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please see my enclosure 😊😊he/her has been hiding on top left corner since yesterday afternoon. also prepared mixed food dry and fresh food as shop was feeding him pellet food.
Thanks the pics, though sorry to tell you one cannot see you tort clearly.

How about giving him a soak in warm water and posing clearer pics?

@Yvonne G
@Tom

please help asap. Thank you.

Let's see what the experts say.
 

Meilu

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please see my enclosure 😊😊he/her has been hiding on top left corner since yesterday afternoon. also prepared mixed food dry and fresh food as shop was feeding him pellet food.

Thanks the pics, though sorry to tell you one cannot see you tort clearly.

How about giving him a soak in warm water and posing clearer pics?

@Yvonne G
@Tom

please help asap. Thank you.

Let's see what the experts say.
 

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Meilu

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I did bath him yesterday straight after ww came back as he pooped in the box. should i give him another bath?
 

Gillian M

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I did bath him yesterday straight after ww came back as he pooped in the box. should i give him another bath?
Yes, I give my Greek tortoise a soak each and every day.

Btw, I had a similar issue with my tort recently. He wouldn't wake up till I woke him up, gave him a soak and fed him He's now better, thank God. He's munching away.

Please keep us informed and good luck.
 

Gillian M

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please check the above which could help you.
 

Meilu

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Yes, I give my Greek tortoise a soak each and every day.

Btw, I had a similar issue with my tort recently. He wouldn't wake up till I woke him up, gave him a soak and fed him He's now better, thank God. He's munching away.

Please keep us informed and good luck.
Thanks Gillian. I might give him another bath to see if this will make him feel better. Thanks
 

Tom

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Thanks Gillian. I might give him another bath to see if this will make him feel better. Thanks
Soak him daily for a while. Keep the water warm for the entire 30 minute soak.

There is too much calcium on the food and that will turn them off until they are used to it. Also, hermanni are not a grass eating species. You can certainly use grass to add fiber, but it might not be appealing to them if they are not used to it. A good strategy would be to feed whatever the tortoise was eating at the shop and gradually add new and better stuff as part of a mix.

What are your four temperatures? Warm side, cool side, basking area, and over night low?

In your picture I only see one lamp. There are four elements to heating and lighting:
  1. Basking bulb. I use 65 watt incandescent floods from the hardware store. Some people will need bigger, or smaller wattage bulbs. Let your thermometer be your guide. I run them on a timer for about 12 hours and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. I also like to use a flat rock of some sort directly under the bulb. You need to check the temp with a thermometer directly under the bulb and get it to around 95-100F (36-37C).
  2. Ambient heat maintenance. I use ceramic heating elements or radiant heat panels set on thermostats to maintain ambient above 80 degrees day and night for tropical species. In most cases you'd only need day heat for a temperate species like Testudo or DT, as long as your house stays above 60F (15-16C) at night.
  3. Ambient light. I use LEDs for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most bulbs at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. Strip or screw-in LED bulb types are both fine.
  4. UV. If you can get your tortoise outside for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. In colder climates, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. 5.0 bulbs make almost no UV. I like the 12% HO bulbs from Arcadia. You need a meter to check this: https://www.solarmeter.com/model65.html A good UV bulb only needs to run for 2-3 hours mid day. You need the basking bulb and the ambient lighting to be on at least 12 hours a day.
I suspect the tortoise is too cold and the enclosure is too dimly lit.

Here is the correct care info. Most care info on the internet and from pet shops is all wrong:

Questions are welcome.
 

Gillian M

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Thanks Gillian. I might give him another bath to see if this will make him feel better. Thanks
Let's hope he does. Please let me know results, till the experts show up and answer.

Good luck.
 

Gillian M

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Soak him daily for a while. Keep the water warm for the entire 30 minute soak.

There is too much calcium on the food and that will turn them off until they are used to it. Also, hermanni are not a grass eating species. You can certainly use grass to add fiber, but it might not be appealing to them if they are not used to it. A good strategy would be to feed whatever the tortoise was eating at the shop and gradually add new and better stuff as part of a mix.

What are your four temperatures? Warm side, cool side, basking area, and over night low?

In your picture I only see one lamp. There are four elements to heating and lighting:
  1. Basking bulb. I use 65 watt incandescent floods from the hardware store. Some people will need bigger, or smaller wattage bulbs. Let your thermometer be your guide. I run them on a timer for about 12 hours and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. I also like to use a flat rock of some sort directly under the bulb. You need to check the temp with a thermometer directly under the bulb and get it to around 95-100F (36-37C).
  2. Ambient heat maintenance. I use ceramic heating elements or radiant heat panels set on thermostats to maintain ambient above 80 degrees day and night for tropical species. In most cases you'd only need day heat for a temperate species like Testudo or DT, as long as your house stays above 60F (15-16C) at night.
  3. Ambient light. I use LEDs for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most bulbs at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. Strip or screw-in LED bulb types are both fine.
  4. UV. If you can get your tortoise outside for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. In colder climates, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. 5.0 bulbs make almost no UV. I like the 12% HO bulbs from Arcadia. You need a meter to check this: https://www.solarmeter.com/model65.html A good UV bulb only needs to run for 2-3 hours mid day. You need the basking bulb and the ambient lighting to be on at least 12 hours a day.
I suspect the tortoise is too cold and the enclosure is too dimly lit.

Here is the correct care info. Most care info on the internet and from pet shops is all wrong:

Questions are welcome.
Thanks very much your help, Tom.
 

Tom

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please check the above which could help you.
Hi Gillian. Most of the info given in that sheet is the typical wrong info. Its full of the usual mistakes.
 

Gillian M

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Hi Gillian. Most of the info given in that sheet is the typical wrong info. Its full of the usual mistakes.
Oh goodness. Thanks for telling me.
Appreciate it.
 
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Meilu

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Thanks Tom, brilliant advice. did what you suggested, soaked him in the warm water and then put him back to the hot spot, he went to a dark spot first but after one hr he was under the heat lamp, now he started exploring a little bit. but now definitely seems better. regarding the temperature, under the basking point it's around 35 degrees, cold end around 21 degrees. it will stay around 20 at the night. is that okay. today has been raining nearly all day here and a bit dark outside otherwise where his enclosure located should be quite bright. if needs to be we can fix a light to bright it up.
 

zolasmum

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Thanks Tom, brilliant advice. did what you suggested, soaked him in the warm water and then put him back to the hot spot, he went to a dark spot first but after one hr he was under the heat lamp, now he started exploring a little bit. but now definitely seems better. regarding the temperature, under the basking point it's around 35 degrees, cold end around 21 degrees. it will stay around 20 at the night. is that okay. today has been raining nearly all day here and a bit dark outside otherwise where his enclosure located should be quite bright. if needs to be we can fix a light to bright it up.
Hello, and welcome from Devon. I love the little house and ramp for your tortoise.Did you make it ? I have a Hermann's tortoise too - he is nearly 22 years old now. When we first had him, he didn't want to come out of his hide much, or eat, but he soon settled down. He became friendly very quickly. I expect yours will too.
Have you chosen a name for him/her yet?
Best wishes from Angie
 

Meilu

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Hello, and welcome from Devon. I love the little house and ramp for your tortoise.Did you make it ? I have a Hermann's tortoise too - he is nearly 22 years old now. When we first had him, he didn't want to come out of his hide much, or eat, but he soon settled down. He became friendly very quickly. I expect yours will too.
Have you chosen a name for him/her yet?
Best wishes from Angie
Thanks Angie. lol we call him Rocket, short name for Rock or Rocky. Although we don't know if is a he. we bought the house from pets shop and I make ramp myself. little thing today tried to climb to the top but we couldn't control ourselves not to watch him so he came back down. i will give him a bath again tomorrow and hopefully he is more active tomorrow. by the way, from your experience he is using his leg wiping his face in the bath, like we are washing our face, is this normal?
Many thanks
 

Meilu

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Thanks Angie. lol we call him Rocket, short name for Rock or Rocky. Although we don't know if is a he. we bought the house from pets shop and I make ramp myself. little thing today tried to climb to the top but we couldn't control ourselves not to watch him so he came back down. i will give him a bath again tomorrow and hopefully he is more active tomorrow. by the way, from your experience he is using his leg wiping his face in the bath, like we are washing our face, is this normal?
Many thanks
Wow, your tortoise is 22. I hope mine will also survive that long 💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻
 

zolasmum

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Wow, your tortoise is 22. I hope mine will also survive that long 💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻
Hopefully Rocket will survive many more years than that , and Zola will too. There are some Hermanns tortoises belonging to people on this forum which are 70 or 80 years old, or more. This forum has the most knowledgeable tortoise people you can find, like Tom, and they are always willing to offer help, so don't hesitate to ask when you need to. I am not an expert, but I can tell you that if Rocket is wiping his face in the bath, that is quite normal ! He might also poop and pee in the bath water, and also produce white stuff called urates, which looks like toothpaste. That is normal too.
Best wishes from Angie
 

Meilu

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Hopefully Rocket will survive many more years than that , and Zola will too. There are some Hermanns tortoises belonging to people on this forum which are 70 or 80 years old, or more. This forum has the most knowledgeable tortoise people you can find, like Tom, and they are always willing to offer help, so don't hesitate to ask when you need to. I am not an expert, but I can tell you that if Rocket is wiping his face in the bath, that is quite normal ! He might also poop and pee in the bath water, and also produce white stuff called urates, which looks like toothpaste. That is normal too.
Best wishes from Angie
Great! Thank Angie
 
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