Help Me Choose My First Tortoise

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SWDK

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I'll have to look into the Eastern Hermanns. I do actually prefer the Hermanns coloration the best.
 

CactusVinnie

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SWDK, NO tortoise is suited for indoor life... and 8-9 months indoors? Maybe for a Redfoot or other tropical!!! All the 3 you mentioned can stay outdoors and even hibernate outdoors in your location- only it is way to humid for that. And more than that, they hibernate in habitat.
I would use that great "duplex" for a Bearded Dragon or something else :)! For a tortoise, outdoor, and winter in fridge or special hibernation enclosure. You seem to have the hand for building things.
For humidity, the hardiness decrease from Hermanni, Ibera to Horsfieldi. As fellows suggested above, I'd say Hermanni too.
 

SWDK

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CactusVinnie said:
SWDK, NO tortoise is suited for indoor life... and 8-9 months indoors? Maybe for a Redfoot or other tropical!!! All the 3 you mentioned can stay outdoors and even hibernate outdoors in your location- only it is way to humid for that. And more than that, they hibernate in habitat.
I would use that great "duplex" for a Bearded Dragon or something else :)! For a tortoise, outdoor, and winter in fridge or special hibernation enclosure. You seem to have the hand for building things.
For humidity, the hardiness decrease from Hermanni, Ibera to Horsfieldi. As fellows suggested above, I'd say Hermanni too.

I realize that no tortoise or any other creature is suited for a life indoors. I'm just trying to do the best with what I've got to work with. I can probably get it outside in some of the cooler months during spring and fall, but I'll have to heat the hide box. Keeping that in mind, would the tortoise even want to walk around in colder temps of just stay in its heated hide box? If it will just stay where the heat is then I see no benefit to subjecting the tortoise to unnaturally cooler temps when it won't be getting any natural sunlight. Please correct me if my noob way of thinking is flawed.
 

Edna

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GB keeps all three testudo species in NY. Some of them live outdoors year round, but of course they hibernate when the temps indicate that they should. People do keep the larger torts, such as sulcatas, outdoors with heated hide boxes as you mentioned, and report that the torts come out and graze in pretty cool temps. Those larger torts have body mass on their side, while a smaller tort would cool too quickly. Probably a heated outdoor hide box would not be an effective way to extend the outdoor time for a testudo.
Don't be discouraged. You can get a tortoise, house it indoors, and then figure out what kind of outdoor arrangement is going to work best for you and your tort.
 

SWDK

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Thanks! I have a large yard so I can built a nice sized outdoor habitat for it. It can live there full time during the months I get the correct temps. Heck, I can bring it inside at night during the months where it gets too cool at night and put it back outside during the day. Does that sound like a better plan?
 

GeoTerraTestudo

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SWDK said:
I realize that no tortoise or any other creature is suited for a life indoors. I'm just trying to do the best with what I've got to work with. I can probably get it outside in some of the cooler months during spring and fall, but I'll have to heat the hide box. Keeping that in mind, would the tortoise even want to walk around in colder temps of just stay in its heated hide box? If it will just stay where the heat is then I see no benefit to subjecting the tortoise to unnaturally cooler temps when it won't be getting any natural sunlight. Please correct me if my noob way of thinking is flawed.

Northern Testudo species (eastern Hermann, Ibera Greek, and Russian) are all active in spring and summer, and can aestivate when the weather gets too hot in late summer to autumn. Then, starting in autumn, they can brumate (hibernate) through the winter and into spring. If you want to let them brumate, you could let them do it outside, or inside in a refrigerator. Or you could overwinter them in an indoor enclosure.
 

SWDK

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GeoTerraTestudo said:
SWDK said:
I realize that no tortoise or any other creature is suited for a life indoors. I'm just trying to do the best with what I've got to work with. I can probably get it outside in some of the cooler months during spring and fall, but I'll have to heat the hide box. Keeping that in mind, would the tortoise even want to walk around in colder temps of just stay in its heated hide box? If it will just stay where the heat is then I see no benefit to subjecting the tortoise to unnaturally cooler temps when it won't be getting any natural sunlight. Please correct me if my noob way of thinking is flawed.

Northern Testudo species (eastern Hermann, Ibera Greek, and Russian) are all active in spring and summer, and can aestivate when the weather gets too hot in late summer to autumn. Then, starting in autumn, they can brumate (hibernate) through the winter and into spring. If you want to let them brumate, you could let them do it outside, or inside in a refrigerator. Or you could overwinter them in an indoor enclosure.

Thanks for the info!
 

Edna

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SWDK said:
Thanks! I have a large yard so I can built a nice sized outdoor habitat for it. It can live there full time during the months I get the correct temps. Heck, I can bring it inside at night during the months where it gets too cool at night and put it back outside during the day. Does that sound like a better plan?

I did the in-at-night all last summer and it was OK. Here, when it's too cold and night it's too cold during the day, too. The worst-case scenario I can think of would be a tort deciding it was time to hibernate and hiding really good, to the point where I couldn't find it. That wouldn't end well for the tortoise in my location.
 

SWDK

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Sounds good Edna. It gets quite cold here too during the winter months.
 

Jacqui

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SWDK said:
Thanks! I have a large yard so I can built a nice sized outdoor habitat for it. It can live there full time during the months I get the correct temps. Heck, I can bring it inside at night during the months where it gets too cool at night and put it back outside during the day. Does that sound like a better plan?

Many folks bring their's in every night, not just for temps but for safety also. Sounds like you could easily do this. Use the enclosure for times of too cool of temps and nights, and then have an outside enclosure for the rest of the time. Your also do not have to hibernate your tortoise, in fact the first year your probably not going to want to for safety/health of the tortoise. Still no problem because with a little work, that enclosure should work well.
 

SWDK

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Thanks jacqui! I have a nice level area thats already cleared out where I had an old 12'x12' shed. It's an area that gets good sunlight, but also has shaded areas from overhanging maple and beech trees.
 

Jacqui

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SWDK said:
Thanks jacqui! I have a nice level area thats already cleared out where I had an old 12'x12' shed. It's an area that gets good sunlight, but also has shaded areas from overhanging maple and beech trees.

Sounds like the start of a wonderful outside enclosure! :)
 

SWDK

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I'm excited already. It sounds like its going to be a fun venture for me in keeping a tortoise and building/maintaining the enclosures.
 

mctlong

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SWDK said:
I'm excited already. It sounds like its going to be a fun venture for me in keeping a tortoise and building/maintaining the enclosures.

:tort: This is going to be a very HAPPY tortoise! :tort:

The indoor enclosure is gorgeous! A 12' x 12' outdoor habitat is amazing for a tiny species like a Russian or Hermanns. Best of all, your enthusiasm for this new project is fantastic. Its clear that this little tort is going to be in very good hands! :)
 

yagyujubei

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In your location, it's just a little more challenging, that's all. I live just south of Cleveland, and have leopards. There are days in April that they can go out(at least for awhile) May, June, July, August, A lot of September.You just have to take the opportunity when it comes. Many people in the UK do a great luck with Hermans and Russians. Kind of their tortoise of choice there. So, good luck. I have found that a ramp with a 1 to 4 incline is about right. If you staple a shingle to it, there will be great traction. You could make it up to a landing, with a 180 degree turn, so it's not so long. Do as much reading as you can, when you decide on species.
 

SWDK

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I'm going to get an eastern Hermanns. Would it be better to get a 2012 hatchling or a 2011 yearling?
 

SWDK

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Thanks! With that out of the way, where do I acquire a 2011 yearling? Can anyone point me in the right direction as far as possible breeders or anyone selling yearlings?

I'm also going to the Hamburg, PA reptile show on August 4th. There are lots of tortoise breeders there. Should I wait and check for one there? Also, I have no clue what to look for in a healthy eastern Hermanns or any tortoise for that matter.
 

CourtneyAndCarl

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Yearlings are always the way to go, if you can. I got a Hermann's hatchling, being the newbie that I am, and I am constantly worrying over him (just look into the threads I post on here and it's pretty obvious, haha). Looking back, it would have been much better for me to get a yearling so I wouldn't have to be constanty fretting over my little baby's condition.

If you go to the For Sale section of this forum, you may be able to find some yearlings. I got my baby, Carl, at Arizona Tortoise Compound and they are a GREAT place. On their website it looks like they have three Hermann's yearlings for sale at $175, plus shipping, which is a pretty decent price for a yearling, I think. You can find cheaper if you look around online, but most of the online sellers are 3rd party brokers, and the health of your tortoise is really up in the air with those kinds of places. I always make sure to read the reviews of each place I look at and if there is even just one bad one, I turn the other way. For every one person who thought to post a review, there's hundreds more who didn't, the way I see it :)
 
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