New owners asking for feedback

[Humbug & Maz]

I was checking out a new group on FB tonight but I left it just 2 hours after I joined it as the admin recommended Wickes' top soil for tortoises Never again will I look at any groups on FB! The concerning thing is that this group was created by the people who supply my "tortoise friendly" plants and who I asked my question in another thread about their tortoise friendly substrate! ?

 

[ZenHerper]

OK great thanks, so what would you suggest for giving them a bit of exercise outside their enclosure? Living in the UK in October doesn't really allow us to take him outside as it's a bit too chilly for him I believe, and I've read that letting him walk around the floor is also a no no?

How about knocking up a mini tortoise treadmill from technical lego? I need every excuse possible for me to be able to mess with lego....... ???

Floors are cold and torts pick up all sorts of dangerous stuff...shiny!

Staples, thread, hair, coins, other flotsam.

Torts are often also stepped on, smashed in doors, and kicked downstairs.

The best condition is to have a set up with good square footage. For now, while s/he is small and humidity is very important, the cabinet will work well. You will need to gradually scale up to around 8x12 as s/he gains their full size. In less-than-temperate climates, that is your only way to provide the right territorial and environmental parameters.

@JoesMum keeps an exclusively-outdoor Greek tort in the UK...but this would be for an older pet that can manage the drier season and that you've got an established relationship to:

Outdoor Accommodation in a Colder (UK) Climate

Background We live in the UK and have had our Greek, Joe, a male Testudo Graeca Graeca (TGG), since 1970. He is full grown, weighing in at around 3.2kg (7lb) and measures just over 26cm (10”) Straight Carapace Length (SCL) He would have been wild caught, so was not a baby when he joined the...

www.tortoiseforum.org

 

[PhilLindsAku]

Welcome! You have taken on a lovely tortoise that is caving, drinking and eating etc.... Enjoy your new charge. I use orchid bark as substrate, as your in the UK have a look for supplies from swell.co.uk.
Feel free to ask questions.

Yes thanks, we've already had a couple of items from swell.co.uk

It was a bit of a surprise when he first started burying himself a few days ago and we couldn't find him in his new enclosure! His previous keepers only gave him about 1cm of topsoil so there was no way for him to do it but it's so lovely to see.

 

[PhilLindsAku]

I was checking out a new group on FB tonight but I left it just 2 hours after I joined it as the admin recommended Wickes' top soil for tortoises Never again will I look at any groups on FB! The concerning thing is that this group was created by the people who supply my "tortoise friendly" plants and who I asked my question in another thread about their tortoise friendly substrate! ?

Yell me about it, I can't believe the amount of contradictory information about them out there. This is why we've decided to only use this forum as our 'oracle'. We just don't trust anywhere else.

 

[Humbug & Maz]

Yell me about it, I can't believe the amount of contradictory information about them out there. This is why we've decided to only use this forum as our 'oracle'. We just don't trust anywhere else.

Me too Phil! I think we can find all we need on this forum! These torts are so special and we just want to do our best for them

 

[PhilLindsAku]

Floors are cold and torts pick up all sorts of dangerous stuff...shiny!

Staples, thread, hair, coins, other flotsam.

Torts are often also stepped on, smashed in doors, and kicked downstairs.

The best condition is to have a set up with good square footage. For now, while s/he is small and humidity is very important, the cabinet will work well. You will need to gradually scale up to around 8x12 as s/he gains their full size. In less-than-temperate climates, that is your only way to provide the right territorial and environmental parameters.

@JoesMum keeps an exclusively-outdoor Greek tort in the UK...but this would be for an older pet that can manage the drier season and that you've got an established relationship to:

Outdoor Accommodation in a Colder (UK) Climate

Background We live in the UK and have had our Greek, Joe, a male Testudo Graeca Graeca (TGG), since 1970. He is full grown, weighing in at around 3.2kg (7lb) and measures just over 26cm (10”) Straight Carapace Length (SCL) He would have been wild caught, so was not a baby when he joined the...

www.tortoiseforum.org

OK thanks for the heads up.
I'm already planning his next enclosure which will probably be a bookcase conversion of some sorts, but hopefully this cabinet should last him a year or two. Once we get into spring/summer next year we've got a patch of land in the garden we've earmarked for his outdoor space too, so that link is very useful cheers. ?

 

[PhilLindsAku]

Me too Phil! I think we can find all we need on this forum! These torts are so special and we just want to do our best for them

Indeed, if we decide to be custodians of these amazing animals, or any animal to be fair, then we feel its our duty to provide them the best possible care. And it's bloody good fun too!?

 

[zolasmum]

Indeed, if we decide to be custodians of these amazing animals, or any animal to be fair, then we feel its our duty to provide them the best possible care. And it's bloody good fun too!?

I think you are absolutely right - I'm afraid when we took on Zola, we were fairly ignorant, and there wasn't much info 20 years ago on line. However, we read what we could, and contacted the Tortoise Trust, who helped a lot. The guy in the pet shop had tortoises, and knew a fair bit, too. So we muddled along, trying to follow Zola's lead about what he wanted. I so wish this forum had been available then - you are lucky ! I just am grateful he turned out so happy and healthy despite our ignorance. ( When we first took him to the vet, just to introduce him, the whole staff came round, including big burly farm vets - all cooing over him because they hadn't seen a baby tortoise ever before!) So not
much help there ! Best wishes from Angie
p. s. I think you will find that lots of hermann keep more pattern, but we love Zola's shell, especially when it almost glows in sunlight.

 

[Jan A]

OK great thanks, so what would you suggest for giving them a bit of exercise outside their enclosure? Living in the UK in October doesn't really allow us to take him outside as it's a bit too chilly for him I believe, and I've read that letting him walk around the floor is also a no no?

How about knocking up a mini tortoise treadmill from technical lego? I need every excuse possible for me to be able to mess with lego....... ???

When torts get restless during their soaks, the soak becomes their treadmill. Sometimes it also helps them poop when they're churning away. Now a Lego treadmill for torts would be novel.

 

[PhilLindsAku]

When torts get restless during their soaks, the soak becomes their treadmill. Sometimes it also helps them poop when they're churning away. Now a Lego treadmill for torts would be novel.

Right OK that makes me feel a bit better then, as he is fine for about 5mins just sitting there, and then he's just trying to climb the walls out. It makes me feel really bad as I feel I'm stressing out with it, but if it's fairly normal, wi not cause him major stress and could be classed as his exercise then happy days.

 

[PhilLindsAku]

Would anyone be able to advise what the White patches are on the back of his shell are please?

 

[Chip's mom]

I think you are absolutely right - I'm afraid when we took on Zola, we were fairly ignorant, and there wasn't much info 20 years ago on line. However, we read what we could, and contacted the Tortoise Trust, who helped a lot. The guy in the pet shop had tortoises, and knew a fair bit, too. So we muddled along, trying to follow Zola's lead about what he wanted. I so wish this forum had been available then - you are lucky ! I just am grateful he turned out so happy and healthy despite our ignorance. ( When we first took him to the vet, just to introduce him, the whole staff came round, including big burly farm vets - all cooing over him because they hadn't seen a baby tortoise ever before!) So not
much help there ! Best wishes from Angie
p. s. I think you will find that lots of hermann keep more pattern, but we love Zola's shell, especially when it almost glows in sunlight.

Hello everyone,

Two weeks ago my wife and I became surprise keepers of a two year old Eastern Hermann's tortoise we've named Aku. We had never had any intention of owning a tortoise but he was desperately in need of a good home as his previous keepers had lost interest in him and he was becoming neglected. We instantly fell in love with the little guy and, after reading alot of information from this site and others, we've been trying to get his setup right and we'd love to hear all your expert opinions on if we have interpreted the instructions correctly. Please forgive my long first post but we've all been through alot over the last two weeks!

When we had him he was living in a small open tortoise table with a thin layer of dry topsoil and an MVB, small dish of water a food tray. After having him here for a few days it was obvious it was waaaayyyyy too small for him as all he wanted to do was escape and was impossible to keep in humidity and heat, and probably the reason has appears to have started pyramiding.

So, we decided to go all in to try and rescue the little guy and give him an enclosure he deserved. We went to Ikea and bought a sliding glass door cabinet which I then modified to take his substrate as we felt a closed cabinet was the best way to go.

Little Aku, according to his certificate, was hatched in November 2019. I weighed him today and he is 144g and his carapace is approx 85mm long. Would you say this is OK for his age?

His enclosure is 1.5m x 1m, now fitted with a 75w flood basking bulb, 100w CHE, a Pro T5 Uvb light with forest bulb as its only mounted 12" from his substrate of moose coco coir (20%), orchid bark(20%) and top soil mix (60%). His light timers are set as:
Basking : 06:00 to 20:00
UV : 09:30 to 19:00

He has a humid hide on the warm side, and another hide on the cool side, along with a flower pot to hide in. His four temperatures/Humidity (at shell height) are:
Basking = 35°C
Warm side = 26°C
Cool Side = 22°C
Night = 18°C (from 20:00 to 06:30)
Humidity = 60-80%
All of these fluctuate by a degree or two but are controlled with thermostats, a CHE and regular daily mistings from a spray bottle.

He is fed on weeds from the garden (using tortoise-table lists) everyday along with a few pieces of komodo tortoise food that we put his calcium (twice weekly) , D3 (twice weekly) and multi vitamin powder (once weekly) on. When we first had him he passed quite alot of white pastey urates, but we soak him daily and now hasn't passed any for approx 1 week. He has only popped about four times that we've seen which we are a bit worried about.

He seems to wake up OK and eat, bask for a bit then sleep. My wife feeds him in the day and I soak him for 20mins when I get home from work, when he then eats a bit and burys himself in his soil for the night.

He doesn't seem particularly active (not sure what active is for a tortoise though!) but seems very alert when just had a soak, eating or investigating new stuff in his enclosure.

We would just love some feedback from you guys on what we have done and what we need to change. As I said we've totally fallen in love with the little guy and want to give him the best shot at a long, happy and healthy life.

Cheers
Phil and Lindsey

Wow good for you for giving him a great life! We have a rescue Hermann's (which sadly we bought from an awful "breeder" Tortoise Town) and we know nothing about him except that he arrived badly pyramided, so hearing you help this little guy makes me so happy.

The enclosure looks amazing, I would just be careful of any small rocks or objects. We take ours out on walks in the garden (heavily supervised!) and he always tries to eat little rocks which is frightening, we literally cannot take our eyes off him. We use orchid bark which seems to work well and he loves going on a basking platform to get extra warm (one of those log houses).

I suspect he will become more and more active as he gets comfortable. Ours is particularly active in the warm weather. His favorite treats are cucumber and radicchio. We once took him on a walk on the beach and he absolutely loved it and walked for an hour, so they seem to have quite a bit of energy. He was not active for the first few months, I think he did not have a good life previously. Over time his curious, gentle, persistent and both energetic and tranquil personality has come out, and I bet you'll see some great developments in the coming months!

Congratulations on your new companion and great job!!

 

[PhilLindsAku]

Wow good for you for giving him a great life! We have a rescue Hermann's (which sadly we bought from an awful "breeder" Tortoise Town) and we know nothing about him except that he arrived badly pyramided, so hearing you help this little guy makes me so happy.

The enclosure looks amazing, I would just be careful of any small rocks or objects. We take ours out on walks in the garden (heavily supervised!) and he always tries to eat little rocks which is frightening, we literally cannot take our eyes off him. We use orchid bark which seems to work well and he loves going on a basking platform to get extra warm (one of those log houses).

I suspect he will become more and more active as he gets comfortable. Ours is particularly active in the warm weather. His favorite treats are cucumber and radicchio. We once took him on a walk on the beach and he absolutely loved it and walked for an hour, so they seem to have quite a bit of energy. He was not active for the first few months, I think he did not have a good life previously. Over time his curious, gentle, persistent and both energetic and tranquil personality has come out, and I bet you'll see some great developments in the coming months!

Congratulations on your new companion and great job!!

Hi and thanks for the advice and kind words, today my wife removed all of the stones smaller than his head so we should hopefully have solved that potential issue.
Yes he's started to show alot more character the last couple of days as my wife has been taking videos of him investigating where using a small paint brush to clean up his enclosure, he seems awfully interested in it! I'm surprised how quick the little can move too when he wants too, he really can cover some ground quickly......for a tortoise.

 

[TaylorTortoise]

I also use a small piece of slate for feeding which I was told helps the beak and nails from getting over grown ?

That looks like possibly peppermint in the cage. Is that safe?

 

[TaylorTortoise]

Hello everyone,

Two weeks ago my wife and I became surprise keepers of a two year old Eastern Hermann's tortoise we've named Aku. We had never had any intention of owning a tortoise but he was desperately in need of a good home as his previous keepers had lost interest in him and he was becoming neglected. We instantly fell in love with the little guy and, after reading alot of information from this site and others, we've been trying to get his setup right and we'd love to hear all your expert opinions on if we have interpreted the instructions correctly. Please forgive my long first post but we've all been through alot over the last two weeks!

When we had him he was living in a small open tortoise table with a thin layer of dry topsoil and an MVB, small dish of water a food tray. After having him here for a few days it was obvious it was waaaayyyyy too small for him as all he wanted to do was escape and was impossible to keep in humidity and heat, and probably the reason has appears to have started pyramiding.

So, we decided to go all in to try and rescue the little guy and give him an enclosure he deserved. We went to Ikea and bought a sliding glass door cabinet which I then modified to take his substrate as we felt a closed cabinet was the best way to go.

Little Aku, according to his certificate, was hatched in November 2019. I weighed him today and he is 144g and his carapace is approx 85mm long. Would you say this is OK for his age?

His enclosure is 1.5m x 1m, now fitted with a 75w flood basking bulb, 100w CHE, a Pro T5 Uvb light with forest bulb as its only mounted 12" from his substrate of moose coco coir (20%), orchid bark(20%) and top soil mix (60%). His light timers are set as:
Basking : 06:00 to 20:00
UV : 09:30 to 19:00

He has a humid hide on the warm side, and another hide on the cool side, along with a flower pot to hide in. His four temperatures/Humidity (at shell height) are:
Basking = 35°C
Warm side = 26°C
Cool Side = 22°C
Night = 18°C (from 20:00 to 06:30)
Humidity = 60-80%
All of these fluctuate by a degree or two but are controlled with thermostats, a CHE and regular daily mistings from a spray bottle.

He is fed on weeds from the garden (using tortoise-table lists) everyday along with a few pieces of komodo tortoise food that we put his calcium (twice weekly) , D3 (twice weekly) and multi vitamin powder (once weekly) on. When we first had him he passed quite alot of white pastey urates, but we soak him daily and now hasn't passed any for approx 1 week. He has only popped about four times that we've seen which we are a bit worried about.

He seems to wake up OK and eat, bask for a bit then sleep. My wife feeds him in the day and I soak him for 20mins when I get home from work, when he then eats a bit and burys himself in his soil for the night.

He doesn't seem particularly active (not sure what active is for a tortoise though!) but seems very alert when just had a soak, eating or investigating new stuff in his enclosure.

We would just love some feedback from you guys on what we have done and what we need to change. As I said we've totally fallen in love with the little guy and want to give him the best shot at a long, happy and healthy life.

Cheers
Phil and Lindsey

What did you use to make the top? Looks like possible windows?

 

[Humbug & Maz]

That looks like possibly peppermint in the cage. Is that safe?

I have no idea what you mean as there is no peppermint! I only use tortoise friendly plants.

 

[TaylorTortoise]

In the corner, looks like peppermint! ?

 

[TaylorTortoise]

I have no idea what you mean as there is no peppermint! I only use tortoise friendly plants.

Anyways. I think your display is sweet. And I hope we see more pictures to come of your lovely new friend.

 

[PhilLindsAku]

What did you use to make the top? Looks like possible windows?

Hi, it's a complete ikea cabinet with sliding glass doors. The only modification I had to make was to re-enforce the back with a piece of marine plywood so it could take the weight of the substrate. We then lined it with a shower curtain and we were done. It seems to work great, wished it could of been a bit deeper though.

 

[Humbug & Maz]

In the corner, looks like peppermint! ?

Oh I see what you mean - yes it does look a bit like mint but it is a pilea moon valley plant