Adopting a Hermann's in Central Texas

[Tortoisegirltexas]

Hi,
My daughter and I are adopting an adult Hermann's tortoise from a person on Craigslist. I know this may not be the ideal source, but i think we can give it a better home than it was being provided. They were feeding it meal worms, which , if I understand all we have read, is probably not a good thing. We have been reading everything we can on their care and housing, but it is all so overwhelming. We are in Central Texas, near Austin. Are there any owners near by that can answer questions related to our climate and outdoor housing for Hermann's? We have 4 acres and plan on having a very large outdoor enclosure for him/her. We have lots of weeds and wildflowers and i would love to know what is safe for it to eat. I have read the list from the Tortoise Table, but I could only identify some of the plants on there as growing in our area.
I am so glad we found this forum and that everyone seems so helpful.

 

[Jeremiah briggs]

Hi. Welcome to the forum. On safe weeds you can take pictures of the weeds in your back yard and email them to the tortoise table. That's what I did and I got my answer back the next day with links to the plant on there database. Also when you build his enclosure you could just plant what you know if safe for him and pull the rest

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hi

 

[Stormy Bluu]

Welcome!

 

[Tortoisegirltexas]

Hi. Welcome to the forum. On safe weeds you can take pictures of the weeds in your back yard and email them to the tortoise table. That's what I did and I got my answer back the next day with links to the plant on there database. Also when you build his enclosure you could just plant what you know if safe for him and pull the rest

Thank you for that suggestion! I think I will contact my local master gardeners as well to identify everything I have growing. I have a very large fenced in garden area (raised beds so he can't get at the tomatoes and other nightshades) and I hope to have that available to him in future, as well, but I will need to identify everything that is growing in it.

 

[RosemaryDW]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[Stuart S.]

Hello and welcome!

 

[Yvonne G]

Welcome!

 

[tortdad]

Welcome from Houston

 

[HenleyT]

Hello and Welcome from New Mexico