General Hermann Tortoise Advice

[xenad]

Hi guys!

I'm new here and new to owning a tortoise in general.

My dad was given a Hermann Tortoise (at least this is what the guy said she is), by someone he works with, because the bloke didn't know enough about them, and couldn't be bothered to research its needs, but my dad hasn't got the space for one either because he already has a lot of reptiles, and big dogs.

He's asked me to take it because my house is quiet, I don't have dogs, and I also have the indoor and outdoor (during warm summer months only) space for her.

She's currently in a tiny open top enclosure that the guy had her in, and she's clearly not happy.. Rightfully so! She has the wrong lighting, no UV bulb.. It's just an awful environment for her.

So, I need all the advice!

1. What size should the indoor enclosure be?
2. What live plants are safe to put in the enclosure.
3. What is the appropriate day time, and night time temperature for a Hermann Tortoise.
4. What is the appropriate humidity level (What should it say on the Thermometer).
5. What vegetables are safe?
6. Can they eat fruit (this is probably the most mixed result I've had when researching!).
7. Would a terrainium be a suitable enclosure? It has a viewing window at the front, but also a window on the lid at the top, to allow natural sunlight/UV into the enclosure. (Pictured, but I would obviously get one bigger than this/make one if I can't find one).

I know to use T5 uvb tube bulb, and a flood bulb inside a ceramic reflector lamp, but what size, and what watt do the bulbs need to be?

Any other advice, please feel free to give it! I'm happy to learn 😊

 

[wellington]

Your tortoise needs a minimum of a 4x8 foot and outdoors larger if possible.
If the picture of the tortoise is the one you have, that is a Russian not a Hermanns.
A tube flourescent for uvb is needed unless you can get him outside several times a week.
An incandescent flood bulb for basking under temps of 95-100
And ceramic heat emitter(s) for added day heat that might be needed and for night heat if needed
Day temps should range from 75 cooler side to 80 warm side and then the basking area.
Night temps can get down into the 60's
Russians brumate in winter so if you don't want to do that, keep night temps no lower than 70 and brightly lit during the day.

 

[xenad]

Your tortoise needs a minimum of a 4x8 foot and outdoors larger if possible.
If the picture of the tortoise is the one you have, that is a Russian not a Hermanns.
A tube flourescent for uvb is needed unless you can get him outside several times a week.
An incandescent flood bulb for basking under temps of 95-100
And ceramic heat emitter(s) for added day heat that might be needed and for night heat if needed
Day temps should range from 75 cooler side to 80 warm side and then the basking area.
Night temps can get down into the 60's
Russians brumate in winter so if you don't want to do that, keep night temps no lower than 70 and brightly lit during the day.

Thank you for letting me know

The one in the photo, is the tortoise that was given to my dad, so I'm glad I posted on here now!

Would any of the requirements be different? The temperature, substrate etc?

 

[wellington]

Thank you for letting me know

The one in the photo, is the tortoise that was given to my dad, so I'm glad I posted on here now!

Would any of the requirements be different? The temperature, substrate etc?

No, the care is pretty much the same. The only difference is I believe the Hermanns need it a little warmer at night.
Also Russians are great escape artist and climbers. So an outdoor enclosure with a fencing on the bottom and top will insure they can't get out.
I laid a spare puppy play pen fencing on the ground and let the grass and weeds grow thru it. I don't use a top, but that's my area, if you need a top, a chicken wire or hardware cloth on the top can help with him getting out and others getting in
An easy enclosure would be 6-12 inch high by 8 to 12 feet long boards made into a rectangle. Then attach the fencing to the bottom. On the top make a lid out of 2x2 that can be hinged to the frame and attach fencing to the top of the 2x2's that would be the lid you could lift.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Hi guys!

I'm new here and new to owning a tortoise in general.

My dad was given a Hermann Tortoise (at least this is what the guy said she is), by someone he works with, because the bloke didn't know enough about them, and couldn't be bothered to research its needs, but my dad hasn't got the space for one either because he already has a lot of reptiles, and big dogs.

He's asked me to take it because my house is quiet, I don't have dogs, and I also have the indoor and outdoor (during warm summer months only) space for her.

She's currently in a tiny open top enclosure that the guy had her in, and she's clearly not happy.. Rightfully so! She has the wrong lighting, no UV bulb.. It's just an awful environment for her.

So, I need all the advice!

1. What size should the indoor enclosure be?
2. What live plants are safe to put in the enclosure.
3. What is the appropriate day time, and night time temperature for a Hermann Tortoise.
4. What is the appropriate humidity level (What should it say on the Thermometer).
5. What vegetables are safe?
6. Can they eat fruit (this is probably the most mixed result I've had when researching!).
7. Would a terrainium be a suitable enclosure? It has a viewing window at the front, but also a window on the lid at the top, to allow natural sunlight/UV into the enclosure. (Pictured, but I would obviously get one bigger than this/make one if I can't find one).

I know to use T5 uvb tube bulb, and a flood bulb inside a ceramic reflector lamp, but what size, and what watt do the bulbs need to be?

Any other advice, please feel free to give it! I'm happy to learn 😊

Aw yay I’m glad to see you posted your first thread! Hopefully my other thread was helpful in answering some of these questions but I’m happy going over them here too🥰

1. As an adult they need as close to an 8x4 foot space as humanly possible, the roaming room is absolutely vital, I know being from the uk myself, we’re in a climate that doesn’t allow us to have our torts out as often as we’d like, so the bigger you can go indoors, the better.
2. For live plants, spider plants are a great start! If going with any store brought plants, they need their roots washing and planting in safe soil, they’ll need a minimum of a 3 month quarantine. However if you’re interested in plants you can put straight in, I suggest checking out a site called ‘the tortoise hut’, their quality is really good! Only down side is it is more expensive, but I’m inpatient when it comes to plants lol.
3. As we’ve established, your new arrival is in fact a Russian(they have adorable personalities, you’ll love them!) temps are pretty similar other than the fact Russians can handle a little bit cooler at night. Though whilst young I’d still want a night time temp around 70f personally. During the day, directly under your basking bulb you want a 95-100f spot, then the rest of the enclosure ranging 75-80
4. It’s hard to tell for sure on the photo, but if yours is still on the younger side, they’ll benefit from some higher humidity around 80, as they get older it can drop to 50
5. For this I highly suggest checking out ‘the tortoise table’ you want to stick with leafy greens and weeds for these guys
6. No, no fruit. There’s so many folks who understandably want to give them a treat, but fact is they can’t digest it properly like fruit eating species, it can mess with their gut flora. You’re also running the risk of them becoming a picky eater.
7. As long as it’s big enough, to save constant upgrades I go as big as you can from the get go. Uv light doesn’t pass through glass so a t5 uv light will still be needed inside the enclosure, the Arcadia proT5 kit 12% is the best one to go for

For your floodlight you might need to experiment with a few different watts, but generally 75 seems to do the job for most, for the uv the 24w will do you. For the dome size, you want one that’s wide and not too deep, a 10 inch width is good to aim for!

You might find this thread useful to skim through too, hopefully it’ll help you with what kind of equipment to avoid as it can be so easily done when you’re a beginner, we’ve made our fair share of equipment errors going back

Common keeping errors

Hello everyone! I’d been a long time lurker on this site long before joining just under a year ago now, over that time I’ve seen these husbandry issues come up time and time again, sometimes with dire consequences☹️ I thought this thread might serve as a good visual guide for these common...

tortoiseforum.org

Hope this all helps! As always, any further questions, please ask away🥰