Hi there people. Western Hermann wants to say hello.

Bmatic

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Hi there and thanks from London for this excellent resource, (I use no other since found). My family are the still inexperienced owners of a roughly 1 year old Western Hermann. His (short) name is Oogy which gets shortened even further to Oog on occasions, or lengthened to Oogy Boogie. I should know his shell length really, but at a guess he's around 4 inches; I will double check. He is our kid's tortoise, and the kid is diligent enough to potentially do a pretty good job. Still, I spend more time fussing over the tortoise and his enclosure every day than I do with the kid. (He's deep in studying for exams upcoming next Spring).

The picture here shows him after a warm bath, stretching his legs on the artificial lawn just to dry off, but these are rare short excursions under close guard maybe once a month. Apart from those treat outings, he has spent entirety of his time either indoors, or in an outdoor box, which is quite generous sized as a first box, but nothing special. We did benefit from plenty of good weather though. Majority of the time, and most days were spent on an indoor starter table which we are about to replace with a bigger model. He lives in my son's bedroom where it is centrally heated and never gets that cool even at night. We've watched things like surface temps closely and night time to check he has a basking zone, cooler areas etc. But there are always questions (mostly about correct lighting at this point, and a more general one about shell shape/ markings) but as this is the Introduction sub-forum, questions can wait.

So far we've had what I would call a modestly successful first 6-7 months of caring for the little fella, but not with any certainty we are doing it right, rather the fact he's always been quite active, burrows down a little quite happily, responds quickly and heartily to food, takes regular No 2's which appear consistent and not runny etc, enjoys baths and so on, and has shown no grounds for concern at all, but I am aware we are moving into our first winter, so for us the focus is more on improving the indoor enclosure which is in progress.
Thanks in advance for help on any questions elsewhere i may ask, and hope you all have a nice day. My name is Burn. Oog.jpgOog.jpg
 

Herman_WA

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Nov 13, 2020
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Washington
Hi there and thanks from London for this excellent resource, (I use no other since found). My family are the still inexperienced owners of a roughly 1 year old Western Hermann. His (short) name is Oogy which gets shortened even further to Oog on occasions, or lengthened to Oogy Boogie. I should know his shell length really, but at a guess he's around 4 inches; I will double check. He is our kid's tortoise, and the kid is diligent enough to potentially do a pretty good job. Still, I spend more time fussing over the tortoise and his enclosure every day than I do with the kid. (He's deep in studying for exams upcoming next Spring).

The picture here shows him after a warm bath, stretching his legs on the artificial lawn just to dry off, but these are rare short excursions under close guard maybe once a month. Apart from those treat outings, he has spent entirety of his time either indoors, or in an outdoor box, which is quite generous sized as a first box, but nothing special. We did benefit from plenty of good weather though. Majority of the time, and most days were spent on an indoor starter table which we are about to replace with a bigger model. He lives in my son's bedroom where it is centrally heated and never gets that cool even at night. We've watched things like surface temps closely and night time to check he has a basking zone, cooler areas etc. But there are always questions (mostly about correct lighting at this point, and a more general one about shell shape/ markings) but as this is the Introduction sub-forum, questions can wait.

So far we've had what I would call a modestly successful first 6-7 months of caring for the little fella, but not with any certainty we are doing it right, rather the fact he's always been quite active, burrows down a little quite happily, responds quickly and heartily to food, takes regular No 2's which appear consistent and not runny etc, enjoys baths and so on, and has shown no grounds for concern at all, but I am aware we are moving into our first winter, so for us the focus is more on improving the indoor enclosure which is in progress.
Thanks in advance for help on any questions elsewhere i may ask, and hope you all have a nice day. My name is Burn. View attachment 311174View attachment 311174
He is just adorable! Welcome to the forum!
 

Bmatic

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Thanks, Herman WA. Feels great passing the milestone of receiving a first reply. I hung around for 20 minutes acting like I wasn't bothered if anyone replied within a certain time period, and can now go and drink cocoa.
His (short) name is Oogy
Not meaning to over complicate this but he was named Ugwe originally - some purists here still insist on that spelling - but nicknames have taken over. I call him Oog mostly.
 

Herman_WA

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Thanks, Herman WA. Feels great passing the milestone of receiving a first reply. I hung around for 20 minutes acting like I wasn't bothered if anyone replied within a certain time period, and can now go and drink cocoa.

Not meaning to over complicate this but he was named Ugwe originally - some purists here still insist on that spelling - but nicknames have taken over. I call him Oog mostly.
Ha! Thats a very cute name! :D
 

KarenSoCal

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Hello, and welcome to the forum! Oogy is certainly a handsome fellow!

In case you haven't read it yet here is a care sheet for Hermann's.

 

Ink

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So cute!
 

zolasmum

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Hello and welcome from a former Londoner -now living in Devon- I am the proud mum of a 20year old Hermann called Zola -I wish there had been somewhere like this forum when we first got him, but there was very little information anywhere - still, he has survived, and is well and happy. I am sure Oogway will do well - he looks lovely.
Best wishes from Angie
p.s. is his name from Kung Fu Panda?
 

Bmatic

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p.s. is his name from Kung Fu Panda?

Yes. After a naming process that dragged back and forth for weeks & involved some long debates, Joe who had the naming rights got irritated with everyone discussing it and claimed "I said Ugwe all along but none of you were listening". edit to add: his full long name which i still hadn't mentioned yet (despite 3-4 posts about that subject) is Master Ugwe and I'm now told the e has an accent above it, no idea if this is faithful to the movie character.
Zola, nice name btw, [& iconic footballer speaking for myself]

PS: thanks for any other replies here by others!
 

zolasmum

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Hello again - You probably know this already, but in case you don't, a Chinese family told us that oogway - or ookway- is actually their word for tortoise, and it also means "long life"!
 

Bmatic

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Joined
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Messages
33
Location (City and/or State)
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Hello again - You probably know this already, but in case you don't, a Chinese family told us that oogway - or ookway- is actually their word for tortoise, and it also means "long life"!
Hi again, no I didn't know that :) I'm guessing Joe knows and didn't get around to mention it.

I measured him today and he is more like just under 3.5 inches, still a pup.

Of course it could turn out Oogy is a lady.
 

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