Not hibernating our hatchling Herman

[Lisanne Allen]

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I totally agree with @leigti
Only a closed chamber is suitable for young tortoises. Humidity and warmth are the most important things to raise a young tort healthy.
Search for a breeder that starts his babies in a humid closed chamber.
And yes, stay on the forum and read all you can get about tortoises and how to keep them healthy.

I am sorry too that you little baby passed away and I wish you much luck for the next one. When you`ll follow the advices here the next baby should thrive and grow well.
These are my little Hermann tortoises. Not hibernating and growing very well.

They are so cute! Love the little guys! Would you mind posting a photo of your enclosure so I can see?

 

[Bee62]

They are so cute! Love the little guys! Would you mind posting a photo of your enclosure so I can see?

Thank you.
Gladly ! Here it is.
It is made of wood and the glas in the front are to open.

 

[Bee62]

For you, Lisanne

 

[Bee62]

I got him from the Midwest reptile show. He must be a ‘dry’ breeder since his exact instructions were to soak him every few days for 15minutes or so. He didn’t even tell me how old the little guys was. We went to the show in may decided on a pet, went home and researched then went back in August to bring the little guy home. We had no idea how little he was until I joined the forum. He also instructed us to only give him Romain, dandelion greens, and red leaf lettuce for the next few months since they are the easiest to digest, when I mention calcium and mazuri (I had already purchased) he said NO WAY, not for at least 6months. He only lived 2 . I am having a really hard time finding older torts of the breed. They seem to all be hatchlings, or prepay and wait until they are old enough to find homes. The next show is November 5th and I planned to go back and go to him first and tell him his poor baby didn’t make it but purchase from another source, there were multiple there, my son just liked the tort he picked the best!
A couple questions, was the substrate coconut coir and only coconut coir? We used topsoil and Pete moss. Could I just cover the tortoise table we built (photo attached)? I sprayed down his entire enclosure 3 or 4 times a day to make sure it stayed moist and the sweet little thing would drink from a medicine dropper, so I would give him a drink multiple times a day in addition to the soak. What did you feed so young? At first he was a piggie! It wasn’t until about 3 weeks ago he stopped eating and it took a ton of effort to get him to take a bite. My temps match the care sheet instructions and his light is on from 7:30am to about 8-8:30 pm.
I would like to note the cuttle bone and food pellets were only in the photo because this was taken after he got ill and I was trying anything to make him eat. That’s also why there are dry dandelion green. Normally he ate them all and I would replenish a couple times a day for him.

Hello Lisanne.
1. A little baby tort must be soaked every day and it must have accsess to water in a flat flower coaster every day too.
2. It can eat all things that big tortoises can eat. Look here to find many plants that are save to feed. Feed fresh greens, not dry ones.
http://thetortoisetable.org.uk/
3. A baby must have calcium. They need it so much for their growth. Little crushed cuttle bone pieces or cooked and crushed egg shells must be available every time
4. Every tortoise which is kept indoors needs a good UVB bulb 12 h/ day
5. You can cover your tortoise table easily with acrylic glass.

I hate it to say, but when he ates in the beginning like a piggie and then suddenly stopped, it may be that you kept him to dry and that had damaged his kidneys.
I am really sorry to say that, but it might be possible. Little baby torts dehydrate quick.
The breeder had given you the wrong advices, that`s a fact. Unfortunately. It was at last not your fault.

 

[THBfriend]

Only a closed chamber is suitable for young tortoises.

Absolutely not true. I raise my hatchlings in an open top terrarium for the first six months, then they hibernate (yes, even the very young ones), and then they're moved to the garden enclosure. They turn out fine. And I don't even soak them, I just make sure that the substrate doesn't dry too much and that there's always fresh water in their dishes.

These are my little Hermann tortoises. Not hibernating and growing very well.

Not bad, but I don't think those wood chips are a great substrate for these tortoises, I prefer soil. Also, is that a compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) you're using for UVB? I'm surprised that nobody here has chided you yet for "killing your tortoises' eyes".

 

[JoesMum]

Absolutely not true. I raise my hatchlings in an open top terrarium for the first six months, then they hibernate (yes, even the very young ones), and then they're moved to the garden enclosure. They turn out fine. And I don't even soak them, I just make sure that the substrate doesn't dry too much and that there's always fresh water in their dishes.


Not bad, but I don't think those wood chips are a great substrate for these tortoises, I prefer soil. Also, is that a compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) you're using for UVB? I'm surprised that nobody here has chided you yet for "killing your tortoises' eyes".

There is absolutely no need to be so aggressive in your response.

Many have found @Tom ‘s closed chamber rearing as advocated on his care sheet to be the most reliable for raising healthy, smooth Sulcatas. You think otherwise.

And yes, this user has been warned about CFL. She is entitled to continue if she chooses.

 

[WithLisa]

They turn out fine.

Beautiful torts in a beautiful enclosure! I always feel bad seeing all those small, plain and dark indoor enclosures without any plants.

 

[Bee62]

Beautiful torts in a beautiful enclosure! I always feel bad seeing all those small, plain and dark indoor enclosures without any plants.

Thank you for your kind words.

 

[Bee62]

Absolutely not true. I raise my hatchlings in an open top terrarium for the first six months, then they hibernate (yes, even the very young ones), and then they're moved to the garden enclosure. They turn out fine. And I don't even soak them, I just make sure that the substrate doesn't dry too much and that there's always fresh water in their dishes.


Not bad, but I don't think those wood chips are a great substrate for these tortoises, I prefer soil. Also, is that a compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) you're using for UVB? I'm surprised that nobody here has chided you yet for "killing your tortoises' eyes".

In an open enclosure you can not control humidity and warmth as well as in a closed enclosure. That`s a fact.
When someone is experienced with tortoises it might work in an open enclosure too, but it is a bad advice given to a beginner to use an open enclosure as well. Too many tortoise babies die because of being kept to dry and too cold in an open enclosure.
The wood chips is "Forest bark", orchid bark, and I use it for all my tortoises. It keeps humidity well and it is easy to clean. My torts have places with some soil too. Sometimes I give them grasbuckles with garden soil in their enclosure. The seem to like all grounds I offer them.
I am using these bulbs for a long time with no problems with the eyes of my torts. Mayby in Germany we have other coil bulbs ? I don`t know.