New Hermann's hatchling

eternalnewb

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Hi everyone,
This past week I became the proud owner of my third tort and he is my first Hermann's hatchling, my other Hermann's lil'Tort was around 2 years old when I adopted him this past spring. It's been five years since I've had a hatchling (my Russian, Torty) so I may be coming to the forum with questions. I know its too early to determine sex, so I'm just calling him a he and we'll see what he is later on.
I had always planned on getting a third tortoise eventually and when I saw this little guy at PetSmart it just felt right. I waited a week and really thought about it before going back and getting him on Wednesday. I have a few questions, both times I went to see him his food dish was filled with chopped up fruit, I think it was apples. When I got him the girl working in reptiles said that he only eats fruit and doesn't like veggies. It has always been my understanding that fruit should be given very sparingly if ever, would there be any damage from only having fruit for the last month?
I thought it would be difficult to transition to proper food, but I offered him endive, radicchio, and some other greens and some mazuri and he started eating everything, he tried everything I offered him and has been eating quite a bit the last few days.
I do have a question about his shell, I'm not sure about the terminology but is the fourth vertebral scute down the back of his shell normal? It just seemed a little small, but I'm not that familiar with Hermann's hatchlings so that may be normal.
I'll attach some pictures, one of his shell and the others because he's a pretty cute little guy. I thought maybe he would like roses, but so far my Russian is the only tort that does.

Thanks so much :)
 

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JoesMum

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This little guy needs weedy leafy greens and very little, preferably no, fruit.

He's going to have to learn not to be fussy and you will have to be tough and wean him onto healthy food.

They can go a long time without food, but not water. Daily 30 minute soaks are essential when he refuses to eat. A little guy like that needs daily soaks in any case.

That scute looks unusual to me too, but I wouldn't have thought it would be an issue.

The substrate looks a bit dry.

Have you seen this thread on the care of baby Testudo?
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread...or-other-herbivorous-tortoise-species.107734/
 

wellington

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I second the above. You can just about always not listen to what a pet store tells you. 99.9% of the time it will be wrong and/or bad info.
The scute is abnormal. Will have to see how he grows to know if it's going to be a problem. I doubt it though.
 

eternalnewb

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Thanks for the reply, I've never fed my torts fruit and was worried when the pet store said that was all they had been feeding him for the last month. I'm lucky that he seems to love the greens I have given him so thankfully he doesn't seem to be picky.
The substrate is moist underneath but I did spray it down when he was soaking :) It's coco coir, I usually use a peat moss mix and I'm finding the coco coir dries out really fast.

This little guy needs weedy leafy greens and very little, preferably no, fruit.

He's going to have to learn not to be fussy and you will have to be tough and wean him onto healthy food.

They can go a long time without food, but not water. Daily 30 minute soaks are essential when he refuses to eat. A little guy like that needs daily soaks in any case.

That scute looks unusual to me too, but I wouldn't have thought it would be an issue.

The substrate looks a bit dry.

Have you seen this thread on the care of baby Testudo?
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread...or-other-herbivorous-tortoise-species.107734/
 

eternalnewb

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Yeah, the pet store didn't seem very knowledgable about tortoises, which didnt really surprise me at all. Thanks, I thought the acute looked strange, I've seen spit scutes before but not one like this. I guess I'll have to see how it is as he grows.

I second the above. You can just about always not listen to what a pet store tells you. 99.9% of the time it will be wrong and/or bad info.
The scute is abnormal. Will have to see how he grows to know if it's going to be a problem. I doubt it though.
 

GBtortoises

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Irregular and extra scutes on tortoises are usually a result of higher end incubation temperatures. For most Testudo species this can happen when temperatures are at 88 degrees and up. The higher the temperature the more likely that more babies within a clutch will have scute anomalies. Irregular and extra scutes can and do also occur at lower incubation temperatures but are much less common. There is some believe that scute irregularities are hereditary although there is very little proof of this at all. Wild caught tortoises have also been known to have extra scutes and irregularities although not nearly as common as in captive born babies. The bottom line is that it is purely cosmetic and poses not concern to the tortoises health whatsoever.
 

eternalnewb

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Irregular and extra scutes on tortoises are usually a result of higher end incubation temperatures. For most Testudo species this can happen when temperatures are at 88 degrees and up. The higher the temperature the more likely that more babies within a clutch will have scute anomalies. Irregular and extra scutes can and do also occur at lower incubation temperatures but are much less common. There is some believe that scute irregularities are hereditary although there is very little proof of this at all. Wild caught tortoises have also been known to have extra scutes and irregularities although not nearly as common as in captive born babies. The bottom line is that it is purely cosmetic and poses not concern to the tortoises health whatsoever.

Thanks so much for the info, I'm glad to hear that it is only cosmetic as he seems healthy otherwise.
 
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