Hello,

On Saturday I bought my first two Hermanns tortoises from a breeder.  I have been reading up on all things Tortoise for a fair few months now and hope I have done everything right but one of them is sleeping a lot and I am worried.

They are 1 years old and they live in a tortoise table with a mercury vapour lamp UV/heat.  The temperature under the basking lamp is around 30-33 degrees centigrade and the temperature in the hide is approximate 22 degrees centigrade.  They have a food bowl and a bathing dish inside the table, some pebbles to clamber over and a couple of hides as well as a built in one.  The substrate is half soil/half sand.

Is it normal for one of them to sleep a lot?  where the other one is quite active?  I am worried that at night it might be too cold for them as they often feel quite cold in the mornings?  I have been given them a bath in the mornings but as yet I have not seen any of the acidic white substance I keep reading about but they  have been to toilet a couple of times in the hide?  Is there something I am doing wrong or could do better?

Many thanks

Carly

I should add they have a cuttle fish bone which they seem to love and also I am giving them nutrobol and calci dust as supplements!!

I would be really grateful for any help anyone can offer.

Thanks

Carly

 Carly

Sounds like you have everything just right, you have obviously been reading loads.
 Keep the baths up and maybe on the one that is quiet and hasn't passed urates yet give 2 a day. It may be that S/he is taking a while to settle in their new surroundings, but if they loose weight and after a week they haven't perked up, then maybe a visit to  a torty vet. Hope this helps until someone else can give you some advice
Jane, Keya & Molly

Hi Carly,

Sounds like your doing everything right. Its quite normal for some tortoises to be a little timid at first, they dont like change. Ive found that having a bold one around can encourage a less outgoing tortoise so bear with it. Ive got a couple of one year old Hermanns and they are very different characters. Also young tortoises spend a lot of time holed up, it natural for them to avoid detection, that and growing is quite tiring.

However, if the behaviour continues theres no harm in a vet checkup.

Keep up the good work, Hermanns are very cool tortoises.

Hi

Thanks for your messages sorry it's taken me so long to reply I have only just noticed them!! she (I hope) seems to be picking up a bit now so feeling happier with her :-) I was wondering they seem to be eating the cuttle fish bone a lot and I am sprinkling their food with nutrabol can they OD on calcium? Also I am slightly concerned I might be feeding them too much? Any advice greatly appreciated!!

Carly

Hi Carly,

Too much calcium can cause calcification, usually caused by sprinking too much on their food. Whilst cuttlefish bone is not as easily digested as limestone flour, it is self-regulating (ie they only eat what they need) so it shouldn't be a problem. Best to ensure their UVB source is sufficient/not too old so they can efficiently use the calcium. They can of course overdose on oral vitamin D3 (Nutrobal) - this should be given at a raet of 1 pinch/kilo of tortoise

HTH
Darren

Hi Carly

Regarding how much food to feed, I read somewhere enough weeds/flowers to cover their shell??  But saying that my Horsfield eats way more than that.  I assume as long as you are feeding them the right food they should be able to graze as much as they like, Trevor eats loads of weeds and flowers and he is still tiny, but his weight is increasing very slowly. I bathed Trevor in Reptiboost and that seemed to help him recover from a quiet spell.  I am new to all this too though.

It sounds like they are being very well looked after-well done

Kerry