Recent content by camerart

Hi, Photos to match the previous post. In one Tanya's tongue can be seen, if that's any guide to health. C Hi T, I don't leave a soak bowl, as she doesn't appear to like it. She doesn't mind too much when she's waking up after hibernation. Today she was sunbathing as usual, and I moved her...

Hi, Photos to match the previous post. In one Tanya's tongue can be seen, if that's any guide to health. C

Hi, This site has a strange 15Min edit time, so while I was uploading photos, it ran out. C

Hi T and T, I found her 3 years ago, merrily walking down the side of a main road about to cross a junction, with no chance! There were no lost tortoises anywhere near. I made 3x abodes for her 1/In the garden where she sleeps through the winter,and where she is in the photos. 2/Ontop of an...

Hi, My Herman's tortoise is acting differently since the heat wave, and I wonder if the heat made her sick. She's off her food, although not completely, and stays in her 'cave' most of the day. She does sunbath for some of the time, but not as much as usual. I saw some feces a couple of days...

Hi, Mine is also 'up'. She is outside on a soil mound surrounded by mouse proof stone, so cave like. It's 12° here today, so I can see that it's too warm. She is inside a stockade of bricks, but has stayed in her 'cave' which is dark. I don't think I can do much, and suppose she will dig...

Hi K, Your article was interesting, and I didn't know there had been tortoise tests, on those big ones. Yesterday, I was in the greenhouse with Tanya at my feet, a bit slow, as it's chilly. After a while she went to window looked out for a few minutes, then went in her box, and 2 minutes...

Hi, I have a Herman's tortoise, here's a photo, with her friend sunbathing, last year. (slow worm) All summer she lives in a greenhouse, with a 'cat flap' at the rear. This isn't a natural route, and I had to teach her. Late summer she went to her stone built cave, where she can dig down for...

Hi, another year gone by! Here she is waking up after sleeping outside last winter. I gave her a bath, she had a poo, and seems ok. C

Hi, After 4xmonths hibernation I took her out of her box, but left the night heater on (5DEG), as it got too cold at night. In her box, I used soil that she had dug herself into in the garden, and it was quite damp. She was a bit claggy, so I gave her baths in warm water, as many others do...

Hi, Now she's got a sunbathing friend. C

Hi, it's been a while since the 'spring' weather. As she had woken up, and it then went cool again, so I bought a 60W reflector light, but soon found out that when focused to give a temperature of about 30Deg, I needed a larger lamp, so bought a 150W bulb. Once she was 30 Deg, she started to...

Hi H, Something else has woken up today. Regarding re-hydration, the soil in her winter quarters was pretty clammy, and I think this may have kept her hydrated and weighing a bit more, but I'll try her in a bath tomorrow. Last time she jumped out. I don't think she's keen. C.

Hi H and T, I've read lots of advice around the subject of hibernation, as this is my first time. Bearing in mind that today the sun is out, but I woke up slowly, so I slid back the roof of her insulated box a gradually, and I could see her slowly come to life over 1/2 hour while I freshened...

Hi T and H, At the moment she is in an insulated box with a metal plate at the bottom, under which is a small heater, then all covered in soil and a tortoise. All of this is in a larger insulated box. The temperature of the heater is set to avoid going below 5Deg. If I turned that up a...