Question about Hermann's

[koreyleigh]

So I have been poking around this forum and joined this afternoon!

I see that the vast majority of tortoise keepers recommend Russians/Greeks/Hermann's as a first time tortoise for a number of reasons. Of these 3 I am partial to the Hermann's and have a question I can't seem to find via Google-searching...

What are the pros/cons of West v. East? What do you have, how do you feel about keeping them, and perhaps most importantly would you make the same choices now? I am attending my first reptile show next week in Melville, NY and hope to see a few for myself and talk to the breeders/handlers too.

Thanks everyone!

 

[egyptiandan]

Welcome to the forum

There is no difference in the care of those 2 subspecies. The only difference is eventual adult size, with Western Hermanns being smaller as adults. You will though be hard pressed to find breeders selling Western Hermanns and when you do they will be more expensive than Easterns. The most common ones will be Eastern and Dalmation (T.h.hercegovinensis) Hermanns. Dalmation Hermanns don't get much bigger than Western Hermanns, so are a good choice if you don't have a lot of room.

Have fun at the show.

Danny

 

[Ozric]

Hi, I keep Westerns and of course I think they are the best! I found myself with a Western early on and just decided to stick with them. They are much harder to find so when I wanted more of them this made it more difficult.

The Westerns are smaller in general. Some people think this is good because it means the enclosure is relatively bigger for the tortoise.

The Western is very much an endangered tortoise which might not be that far away from being almost unknown in the wild. Apart from viable populations on the Sardinia and Corsica islands there is only one place in mainland France where this tortoise still exists.

Hermanns vary a lot and each animal is unique but the Westerns have generally brighter colours and stronger contrasts than Easterns. Also the females lay less eggs. Western hermanns usually have a lot of black and yellow on their shell and the easterns are a bit more washed out looking.

Although I had a real struggle finding more Westerns I feel for me it was really worth it and I wouldn't want it any other way. The easterns are also lovely animals with beautiful patterns and lots of character.