What would be the min size for an adult hermans? What would be the min size for a juvie? What age would I need to upgrade? Would I still need to stick to these sizes if I gave my tortoise alot of free roam.
Hermans table sizes
- Thread starter tryme
- Start date
- Status
I'm not a big fan of having tortoises in the house. I realize there are times when its not possible to have them outside, but it is MY OPINION that you shouldn't have a tortoise unless he can spend a great deal of time outside.
I'm especially NOT a fan of allowing a tortoise to roam around the house. There are just too many things to get him into trouble...dust, hair, small pieces of "stuff." Also its too cold on the floor. If your house is 70 degrees then its colder than 70 on the floor. Your body has a built in thermostat that keeps you at 98.6 degrees. That means you digest your food at 98.6 degrees. That's almost 100 degrees!! Your tortoise requires a body temperature of at least 80 degrees to digest his food. He can't heat himself up to 80 degrees on a cold floor.
An adult Hermann's tortoise can temporarily be housed in something about 4'x8'. An old used book case without the shelves serves this purpose quite well. Line it with plastic and add your substrate and "furniture." In my opinion, anything smaller than that is cruel confinement for an adult tortoise.
Yvonne
I'm especially NOT a fan of allowing a tortoise to roam around the house. There are just too many things to get him into trouble...dust, hair, small pieces of "stuff." Also its too cold on the floor. If your house is 70 degrees then its colder than 70 on the floor. Your body has a built in thermostat that keeps you at 98.6 degrees. That means you digest your food at 98.6 degrees. That's almost 100 degrees!! Your tortoise requires a body temperature of at least 80 degrees to digest his food. He can't heat himself up to 80 degrees on a cold floor.
An adult Hermann's tortoise can temporarily be housed in something about 4'x8'. An old used book case without the shelves serves this purpose quite well. Line it with plastic and add your substrate and "furniture." In my opinion, anything smaller than that is cruel confinement for an adult tortoise.
Yvonne
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2007
- Messages
- 206
Hi, I've got three juveniles in a 4' X 3' table. The smallest is about 3" and the others are about 4". (The Western subspecies is smaller).
These juveniles will start to go outside in April on sunny days and by May they will be outside most of the time. Outdoors they have a lot of secure space.
Each year when I am able to let them out, it amazes me how active they become exploring every part of the enclosure. They soon have a mental map of the area and know where water, food plants, shelter and warmth is easily found.
My belief is that even with lots of effort being made by us keepers its mainly just an existence being indoors. But when this is necessary, the more space the better.
These juveniles will start to go outside in April on sunny days and by May they will be outside most of the time. Outdoors they have a lot of secure space.
Each year when I am able to let them out, it amazes me how active they become exploring every part of the enclosure. They soon have a mental map of the area and know where water, food plants, shelter and warmth is easily found.
My belief is that even with lots of effort being made by us keepers its mainly just an existence being indoors. But when this is necessary, the more space the better.
Hello Tryme,
My Hermann is about 3-4 years old and live and the dimension of his enclosure is 2 1/2'*7'. Next year, when he will be bigger, we will make it bigger, probably 4 1/2 or 5'*7' and we will make it bigger when my Hermann is going to get more bigger
. As Orzic said, the bigger the better .
My Hermann is about 3-4 years old and live and the dimension of his enclosure is 2 1/2'*7'. Next year, when he will be bigger, we will make it bigger, probably 4 1/2 or 5'*7' and we will make it bigger when my Hermann is going to get more bigger
. As Orzic said, the bigger the better .- Status
