It has been decided!

[droogievesch]

A Hermann's tortoise (which I call my "Hermy toy-tal") will be the newest addition to our family. Those of you who have read my other posts know this wasn't the easiest decision to come to, but he's glad he's getting a tortoise, and I'm glad we're not going to be surrendering a sulcata in five years.

So I read the care sheet posted here, but I can't seem to find any information on the correct temperatures (cool area, warm area, basking).

My experience with reptiles include ball pythons and numerous gecko species. I also worked for a large scale reptile breeder (produced thousands of animals for wholesale) and one thing that was always stressed across species was quarantining new animals. I really haven't seen anything regarding quarantining new tortoises, nor have I found any information on "hospital/quarantine enclosures". Do I give my new tort a month quarantine to make sure it's healthy, or do I just put it into it's permanent enclosure?

Many people talk about getting weeds outside, but I know that's not an option because I worry about chemicals. Is there a certain blend of seeds recommended? I have found a couple different websites selling seed mixes, but I don't know enough to determine if one is better than another.

Mazuri tortoise food: yay or nay? I've seen some people say pellets shouldn't be fed and it should be grass/weeds only and some people say Mazuri is good (but not to go with other brands).

Enclosure wise, bigger is better-right? I've owned some animals (certain species of tarantula come to mind) where they will continually "pace" their enclosure and literally walk themselves to death/sickness. Will tortoises get "lost" or spend too much energy walking a large enclosure? I haven't seen any "rule of thumb" about enclosure size maximums.

Can somebody PM me with reputable people to buy from, or even people to avoid. It has been more than three years since I've been in the hobby and kingsnake classifieds no longer have the reputation they once did. I used Fauna back for my balls, but I don't know if they're good for tortoises or not. Ideally, I'd like somebody in the Midwest (I live in Wisconsin so the closer to me the better!) only because I like dealing in person and also because they know climate here well enough to know tips/tricks.

If these have been addressed in depth previously, please feel free just to copy/paste the link (or even a good website). I try not to read "everything I can on the internet" because anything can go on the internet and I've gotten more BAD advice from searching than I did good advice (live and learn, right?).

 

[6speedtitaniumr/t]

Ok, First off welcome,

I'm Glad you are here and asking the right questions before making a purchase. That being said i'll try to help you as best i can.

1. As far as i have read the temp needs to be gradient 95-100 degrees under basking lamp- 85-80 mid and 70-75 cool side.

2. Quarantine period as far as i understand only applies to new additions if you already have tortoises that will be living in the same enclosure.

3. my understanding of seed mixes is just choose one, some of us even buy wild bird seed and plant that.

4. Mazuri is great, just use it as part of a well rounded/varied diet.

5. As far as enclosure maximums, I haven't heard of any maximum people just say as large as you can make it. As long as you have lots of hides and varied terrain your tort should be happy.

6. I don't know of any breeders located near you, But i recommend reading through the for sale section as there are several member breeders that have or soon will have baby Hermanns for sale. I just bought my baby Django from Member Termite farmer. He is located in Florida but was a pleasure to deal with. Just check his add in the for sale- sold section for his contact info. He should have some more babies close to ready.

Hope this helps,
you can pm me if you have any further questions you think i might be able to help you with.

Later, Ryan

 

[droogievesch]

Ok, First off welcome,

I'm Glad you are here and asking the right questions before making a purchase. That being said i'll try to help you as best i can.

1. As far as i have read the temp needs to be gradient 95-100 degrees under basking lamp- 85-80 mid and 70-75 cool side.

2. Quarantine period as far as i understand only applies to new additions if you already have tortoises that will be living in the same enclosure.

3. my understanding of seed mixes is just choose one, some of us even buy wild bird seed and plant that.

4. Mazuri is great, just use it as part of a well rounded/varied diet.

5. As far as enclosure maximums, I haven't heard of any maximum people just say as large as you can make it. As long as you have lots of hides and varied terrain your tort should be happy.

6. I don't know of any breeders located near you, But i recommend reading through the for sale section as there are several member breeders that have or soon will have baby Hermanns for sale. I just bought my baby Django from Member Termite farmer. He is located in Florida but was a pleasure to deal with. Just check his add in the for sale- sold section for his contact info. He should have some more babies close to ready.

Hope this helps,
you can pm me if you have any further questions you think i might be able to help you with.

Later, Ryan

Thanks! So for the most part I can keep the cool side at room temperature (usually 72 degrees). We have plans for an amazing tortoise enclosure, but it's going to take quite some time to build. I think I'll just get a super basic enclosure (for my peace of mind-make sure it's eating/pooping/moving around). I've seen quite a few in the enclosure section made out of Rubbermaid containers.

Otherwise, we have an old rabbit hutch (http://www.hayneedle.com/sale/warepremiumplushutch.cfm) I am thinking of using that as a temporary outdoor enclosure (it has a completely enclosed area like a "house" and there is a cover to protect against any birds). There are some modifications that will need to take place of course, but I think it will be okay for the remainder of this summer.

I will definitely just buy some seed and get it started. I've been keeping my eyes on the classifieds here, and will continue to do so. I'd ultimately like to send photos of my set-up to the breeder.

 

[6speedtitaniumr/t]

Ok, First off welcome,

I'm Glad you are here and asking the right questions before making a purchase. That being said i'll try to help you as best i can.

1. As far as i have read the temp needs to be gradient 95-100 degrees under basking lamp- 85-80 mid and 70-75 cool side.

2. Quarantine period as far as i understand only applies to new additions if you already have tortoises that will be living in the same enclosure.

3. my understanding of seed mixes is just choose one, some of us even buy wild bird seed and plant that.

4. Mazuri is great, just use it as part of a well rounded/varied diet.

5. As far as enclosure maximums, I haven't heard of any maximum people just say as large as you can make it. As long as you have lots of hides and varied terrain your tort should be happy.

6. I don't know of any breeders located near you, But i recommend reading through the for sale section as there are several member breeders that have or soon will have baby Hermanns for sale. I just bought my baby Django from Member Termite farmer. He is located in Florida but was a pleasure to deal with. Just check his add in the for sale- sold section for his contact info. He should have some more babies close to ready.

Hope this helps,
you can pm me if you have any further questions you think i might be able to help you with.

Later, Ryan

Thanks! So for the most part I can keep the cool side at room temperature (usually 72 degrees). We have plans for an amazing tortoise enclosure, but it's going to take quite some time to build. I think I'll just get a super basic enclosure (for my peace of mind-make sure it's eating/pooping/moving around). I've seen quite a few in the enclosure section made out of Rubbermaid containers.

Otherwise, we have an old rabbit hutch (http://www.hayneedle.com/sale/warepremiumplushutch.cfm) I am thinking of using that as a temporary outdoor enclosure (it has a completely enclosed area like a "house" and there is a cover to protect against any birds). There are some modifications that will need to take place of course, but I think it will be okay for the remainder of this summer.

I will definitely just buy some seed and get it started. I've been keeping my eyes on the classifieds here, and will continue to do so. I'd ultimately like to send photos of my set-up to the breeder.

I went simple, until i can finish my tortoise table as well. I went with a cement mixing tub from lowes and outfitted it similarly to this example with cypress mulch as my substrate for moisture retention.

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Hermann-s-Hatchling-Indoor-Enclosure#axzz1u1Z2dCpX

I then broke down and bought a tortoise house by zoomed for a temp outdoor enclosure as he needed some protected outside time and we have lots of predators in our area including large aggressive Blackbirds skunks, raccoons, Humans, and the occasional Coyote and Rattlesnakes.

Depending on the size of the tortoise a large rubbermaid would work nicely until you can Upgrade to a table setup.

My Django is only 2 inches, so he should be fine until i build him a bigger table.


good luck, Ryan

 

[droogievesch]

Ok, First off welcome,

I'm Glad you are here and asking the right questions before making a purchase. That being said i'll try to help you as best i can.

1. As far as i have read the temp needs to be gradient 95-100 degrees under basking lamp- 85-80 mid and 70-75 cool side.

2. Quarantine period as far as i understand only applies to new additions if you already have tortoises that will be living in the same enclosure.

3. my understanding of seed mixes is just choose one, some of us even buy wild bird seed and plant that.

4. Mazuri is great, just use it as part of a well rounded/varied diet.

5. As far as enclosure maximums, I haven't heard of any maximum people just say as large as you can make it. As long as you have lots of hides and varied terrain your tort should be happy.

6. I don't know of any breeders located near you, But i recommend reading through the for sale section as there are several member breeders that have or soon will have baby Hermanns for sale. I just bought my baby Django from Member Termite farmer. He is located in Florida but was a pleasure to deal with. Just check his add in the for sale- sold section for his contact info. He should have some more babies close to ready.

Hope this helps,
you can pm me if you have any further questions you think i might be able to help you with.

Later, Ryan

Thanks! So for the most part I can keep the cool side at room temperature (usually 72 degrees). We have plans for an amazing tortoise enclosure, but it's going to take quite some time to build. I think I'll just get a super basic enclosure (for my peace of mind-make sure it's eating/pooping/moving around). I've seen quite a few in the enclosure section made out of Rubbermaid containers.

Otherwise, we have an old rabbit hutch (http://www.hayneedle.com/sale/warepremiumplushutch.cfm) I am thinking of using that as a temporary outdoor enclosure (it has a completely enclosed area like a "house" and there is a cover to protect against any birds). There are some modifications that will need to take place of course, but I think it will be okay for the remainder of this summer.

I will definitely just buy some seed and get it started. I've been keeping my eyes on the classifieds here, and will continue to do so. I'd ultimately like to send photos of my set-up to the breeder.

I went simple, until i can finish my tortoise table as well. I went with a cement mixing tub from lowes and outfitted it similarly to this example with cypress mulch as my substrate for moisture retention.

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Hermann-s-Hatchling-Indoor-Enclosure#axzz1u1Z2dCpX

I then broke down and bought a tortoise house by zoomed for a temp outdoor enclosure as he needed some protected outside time and we have lots of predators in our area including large aggressive Blackbirds skunks, raccoons, Humans, and the occasional Coyote and Rattlesnakes.

Depending on the size of the tortoise a large rubbermaid would work nicely until you can Upgrade to a table setup.

My Django is only 2 inches, so he should be fine until i build him a bigger table.


good luck, Ryan

Thanks a bunch! We are on vacation right now visiting friends, but when we get home we may spend some time browsing different stores. We can easily build a simple enclosure. I plan on planting food ASAP and letting it grow for a couple weeks before actually buying one.