Helpp, my hermanns tortoise

[jodiecooper2011]

Hi,

I have a hermanns tortoise called Toby iv had him for a month. He was hatched in 2023

He's eating, pooing, weeing being normal and active around his enclosure.

The past few days his right eye is closed I have tried to give him warm soaks but nothing is working. His skin seems dry and flaky

I was wondering what it could be

Thankyou

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Hello! Can you post a photo of him and his eyes close-up? Where do you keep him - inside or outside? If inside - what heating/lightning do you use?

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

Could you send a picture of the skin?

 

[jodiecooper2011]

Hello! Can you post a photo of him and his eyes close-up? Where do you keep him - inside or outside? If inside - what heating/lightning do you use?

Hi,

I will get a photo of him and his eye tomorrow.
He is kept indoors and he has a exo terra solar glo 3 in 1 Mercury vapour bulb - the reptile shop I got him from said the bulb is ok I just need to change it every 6 months

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Hi,

I will get a photo of him and his eye tomorrow.
He is kept indoors and he has a exo terra solar glo 3 in 1 Mercury vapour bulb - the reptile shop I got him from said the bulb is ok I just need to change it every 6 months

Okay, while we are waiting for the photos, a few more follow-up questions:
1. What kind of substrate do you use? If it's dry substrate with sand mixed-in - sand grains can cause eye irritation.
2. What wattage is the mercury vapour bulb and what distance from tortoise/substrate? When they are placed too low this can affect eyes too, but usually both eyes not one.

 

[jodiecooper2011]

Okay, while we are waiting for the photos, a few more follow-up questions:
1. What kind of substrate do you use? If it's dry substrate with sand mixed-in - sand grains can cause eye irritation.
2. What wattage is the mercury vapour bulb and what distance from tortoise/substrate? When they are placed too low this can affect eyes too, but usually both eyes not one.

It's one from pets at home it has a mixture of topsoil, sand and limestone I will attach a picture.

The wattage of the bulb is 125 wattage and the reptile place said to have it 12 inches from the substrate/tortoise.

There's always mixed views online and different people say different suggestions with lighting, substrate, etc Hopefully with help on here I can make everything perfect for him

 

[Tom]

It's one from pets at home it has a mixture of topsoil, sand and limestone I will attach a picture.

The wattage of the bulb is 125 wattage and the reptile place said to have it 12 inches from the substrate/tortoise.

There's always mixed views online and different people say different suggestions with lighting, substrate, etc Hopefully with help on here I can make everything perfect for him

You've been given the usual terrible pet shop advice and sold the wrong product for a tortoise. I know how frustrating this must be, but I hope we can help. Start here. This thread will explain a LOT. Questions are welcome and so are you.

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[jodiecooper2011]

Brilliant thankyou, so much information I will change a few things in his enclosure and hopefully he will get better. Could the substrate cause his eye to close

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

It's one from pets at home it has a mixture of topsoil, sand and limestone I will attach a picture.

The wattage of the bulb is 125 wattage and the reptile place said to have it 12 inches from the substrate/tortoise.

There's always mixed views online and different people say different suggestions with lighting, substrate, etc Hopefully with help on here I can make everything perfect for him

At 12 inches it gives too much UVB for a young Hermann's tortoise and basking area temperature is probably not enough, at the same time. At the basking area you need 95-100F and UV index 3-4. You can achieve these numbers when using a combination of flood type incandescent lamp (Arcadia Solar Basking Floodlight is preferred but ExoTerra Daylight Basking Spot or Flukers Basking Spot lamp will work too) and T5 fluorescent tube for UVB (Arcadia ProT5 Desert 12% or ZooMed Reptisun 10.0). You can get them from SwellReptile, for example.

The substrate can be the reason of irritated eye. Just plain coco coir or orchid bark are better options. Get sterile saline solution from a nearby pharmacy and gently flush the eye, this may help if substrate is the reason.

 

[jodiecooper2011]

At 12 inches it gives too much UVB for a young Hermann's tortoise and basking area temperature is probably not enough, at the same time. At the basking area you need 95-100F and UV index 3-4. You can achieve these numbers when using a combination of flood type incandescent lamp (Arcadia Solar Basking Floodlight is preferred but ExoTerra Daylight Basking Spot or Flukers Basking Spot lamp will work too) and T5 fluorescent tube for UVB (Arcadia ProT5 Desert 12% or ZooMed Reptisun 10.0). You can get them from SwellReptile, for example.

The substrate can be the reason of irritated eye. Just plain coco coir or orchid bark are better options. Get sterile saline solution from a nearby pharmacy and gently flush the eye, this may help if substrate is the reason.

Thankyou, is this ok to use as I'm going to change his enclosure so ordering everything straight away

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Thankyou, is this ok to use as I'm going to change his enclosure so ordering everything straight away

Yes, it looks fine. If you want, you may double-check the whole shopping basket before placing an order.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Hello and welcome! Some great advice already! Perhaps you’ll find this thread below useful to look through, I go over set up, maintaining humidity, correct levels, care and a bit about diet🙂

Housing young Russian/Herman

Hello there! In this thread, I’m going to include some information on an effective way to tackle a starter set up/a way you can build a bigger size once your baby is an adult. I know it looks a lot to go over, I like to make sure all bases are covered, I’m happy to break down any information...

tortoiseforum.org

You might find this one useful to give a quick look through too, clears some things up equipment wise n such😊

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

 

[jodiecooper2011]

Hey,

I'm going to order better stuff for my little toby, does all this seem ok . I am going to order a plug in timer from amazon. I wanted to double check everything is ok before I order it

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Hey,

I'm going to order better stuff for my little toby, does all this seem ok . I am going to order a plug in timer from amazon. I wanted to double check everything is ok before I order it

That all looks fine to me!😊id get yourself two of the plug in timers, one for your basking&any ambient lighting on 12hrs, then one for your Arcadia UV which only needs to be on roughly 4 hours from noon🙂

You may see lots of information that says to have 12hours uv, don’t let it throw you, it did me too at first lol, it’s simply an old rule that has stuck with a lot of keepers, it stems from the thought that once the basking light, ie the ‘sun’ comes on, that uv must coexist the same amount of time, fact is the uv rays only peak for a few hours a day, no tortoise in the wild is blasted with 12hours worth, therefore it’s not necessary to do so in captivity, save your bulb life👍

 

[jodiecooper2011]

Brilliant thankyou for your help, I am going to order a terracotta saucer. The ones on amazon are plastic. Will that be ok or a different one

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Brilliant thankyou for your help, I am going to order a terracotta saucer. The ones on amazon are plastic. Will that be ok or a different one

No problem!
I wouldn’t use plastic no, we recommend clay terracotta because it provides traction in the event your tortoise accidentally flips in it, the plastic would be too smooth, you can find terracotta saucers in most garden sections for pretty cheap though if you can’t find one online🙂

 

[jodiecooper2011]

No problem!
I wouldn’t use plastic no, we recommend clay terracotta because it provides traction in the event your tortoise accidentally flips in it, the plastic would be too smooth, you can find terracotta saucers in most garden sections for pretty cheap though if you can’t find one online🙂

Ok brilliant ill get one at the weekend for him
Thankyou