What kind of Hermann's?

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biochemnerd808

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Today I picked up a little tort that was advertised as a "tahitian" tortoise. I searched Google high and low, and could only find pictures of pens, glasses, giant galapagos at the tahitian zoo, and a sea turtle.

After comparing him with pics of Hermann's torts, I am pretty sure he is a little Hermann's. I was wondering if anyone on here could tell me what kind he is, more specifically? He is captive bred, the previous owner got him as a 1-year-old, he is now 7 years old. He is a little over 5.5 inches, and weighs 475g. Is this a healthy weight? For my Russian torts this would be on the light side...

Here are some pics. Boo still has a ring in his shell from the old owner's chain system... will carefully take that out on Monday.

Boo soaking.JPGBoo top back view.JPGBoo bottom.JPG
 
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tortadise

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Hey hey that is a greek. It looked like a hermann on your other thread. I too am curious whats with the ring?
 

biochemnerd808

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Are you sure it's a Greek?! Huh, interesting. I just did a Google image search, and that looks right. :)

Re the ring: The previous owner (whom I got it from today) drilled a hole into Boo's shell, and put that horrible ring in. In the summer they used to tether him by a chain in their yard. The ring is strong enough metal that I couldn't bend it apart, and the ring is small enough that none of my tools worked to cut it. I'm borrowing a tool from my friend on Monday to cut it off.


Tortuga_terrestre said:
Its a Greek; Whats the deal with that ring attached to his shell???
 

tortadise

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Definitely a greek. Sorry I miss ID it in the first go round. Thats just...wow really? Some people. Some klein dykes should snip that ring right in 2 no problem.
 

biochemnerd808

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Thank you for the ID! :) Ha. A little greek tort. Fun.

How does the care vary from the care of Russian torts? I have 3 RTs, and am familiar with their needs and care.

tortadise said:
Definitely a greek. Sorry I miss ID it in the first go round. Thats just...wow really? Some people. Some klein dykes should snip that ring right in 2 no problem.
 

Terry Allan Hall

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It used to be the custom, I think back around the early part of the 20th Century, to drill a small hole in the rear of a tortoise's shell and attach a light chain, so as to stake it out to get some sun...most places, I thought, made the practice illegal and prosecutable as cruelty quite some time ago.
 

biochemnerd808

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Ok, thanks all! I've moseyed over to the Greek tortoises on this site, and have gotten lots of useful input!

Now we just need to convince Boo from coming out of his shell long enough to trim his poor overgrown beak...

Terry Allan Hall said:
It used to be the custom, I think back around the early part of the 20th Century, to drill a small hole in the rear of a tortoise's shell and attach a light chain, so as to stake it out to get some sun...most places, I thought, made the practice illegal and prosecutable as cruelty quite some time ago.
 

Terry Allan Hall

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biochemnerd808 said:
Ok, thanks all! I've moseyed over to the Greek tortoises on this site, and have gotten lots of useful input!

Now we just need to convince Boo from coming out of his shell long enough to trim his poor overgrown beak...

Terry Allan Hall said:
It used to be the custom, I think back around the early part of the 20th Century, to drill a small hole in the rear of a tortoise's shell and attach a light chain, so as to stake it out to get some sun...most places, I thought, made the practice illegal and prosecutable as cruelty quite some time ago.

When my daughter adopted her other female Ornate Box turtle, Pantega, she had a severely overgrown beak, and I had to use some surgical cutters to trim it down to where she could eat again...hate to think how unpleasent the procedure likely was, but she got serious over some chopped vegetables right afterwards.

We keep a split beef leg bone in the Boxies' enclosure, for them to gnaw on/keep their bills worn down, but for a Hermann's or other European tort, a cuttle bone is a better idea, as Boxies are much more omnivorous.
 

biochemnerd808

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Yep, I keep a cuttlebone in each of my torts' enclosures. Earlier this year, I was able to trick one of my rescued torts into shedding his beak piece (the part that was overgrown) by giving him a whole hard unripe apple (my torts don't get fruit, so this was a treat). In trying to chow down, he got his beak stuck, and it brocke with a nice clean break in the right place. I just had to file down the 3 little tips a little.

There are no unripe apples this time of year, but I was thinking, a piece of winter squash with a hard rind might do the trick.

Terry Allan Hall said:
biochemnerd808 said:
Ok, thanks all! I've moseyed over to the Greek tortoises on this site, and have gotten lots of useful input!

Now we just need to convince Boo from coming out of his shell long enough to trim his poor overgrown beak...

Terry Allan Hall said:
It used to be the custom, I think back around the early part of the 20th Century, to drill a small hole in the rear of a tortoise's shell and attach a light chain, so as to stake it out to get some sun...most places, I thought, made the practice illegal and prosecutable as cruelty quite some time ago.

When my daughter adopted her other female Ornate Box turtle, Pantega, she had a severely overgrown beak, and I had to use some surgical cutters to trim it down to where she could eat again...hate to think how unpleasent the procedure likely was, but she got serious over some chopped vegetables right afterwards.

We keep a split beef leg bone in the Boxies' enclosure, for them to gnaw on/keep their bills worn down, but for a Hermann's or other European tort, a cuttle bone is a better idea, as Boxies are much more omnivorous.
 

Terry Allan Hall

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biochemnerd808 said:
Yep, I keep a cuttlebone in each of my torts' enclosures. Earlier this year, I was able to trick one of my rescued torts into shedding his beak piece (the part that was overgrown) by giving him a whole hard unripe apple (my torts don't get fruit, so this was a treat). In trying to chow down, he got his beak stuck, and it brocke with a nice clean break in the right place. I just had to file down the 3 little tips a little.

There are no unripe apples this time of year, but I was thinking, a piece of winter squash with a hard rind might do the trick.

Good idea! :cool:
 
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