hermann’s tortoise

The Hermanns Tortoise

This is a golden-brown tortoise and has two dark stripes on the plastron (underneath). The carapace (domed shell) has scutes (scales) that extend over the rear legs flaring out a little. The males are often smaller than the females and have thicker tails.  On average the female can grow to 10 inches in length with the males only about 5 inches.

Where is the Hermanns Tortoises natural habitat?

They originate from Europe, all the way through France through to Italy, Greece and Turkey and they like to live in Mediterranean forests and arid grasslands. Unfortunately much of its natural habitat has been lost due to urbanization in recent decades.

Captivity

This is a hardy and resilient tortoise but it does require an dry and sunny preferably, outdoor enclosure. It is however more tolerant than the Russian tortoise to dampness but it will not thrive in a damp enclosure or environment. They do hibernate in the winter and care must be taken to ensure they are healthy before they try to hibernate. If they are at all unwell and do hibernate they could die during the process.

Feeding the Hermann’s Tortoise

The Hermann enjoys fleshy vegetables and a varied herbivorous diet. They have also been known to eat small insects including snails and slugs which they have caught in their own enclosure.

Breeding the Hermann

The male Hermann is not so agressive and are not as rough on the females. Their eggs are laid in clutches of 3-5 whigh should be incubated in a specially designed incubator. It is vital that the correct temperature is constant and this should be 91 degrees and 8-0 % humidity. They should then hatch about 60-70 days later.

They can make excellent pets providing you have a well built and suitable enclosure. They enjoy plants and like to hide under them rather than burrow into the earth, therefore you will need to provide lots of hiding places within your enclosure.Be sure to check the correct type of plants to place in the enclosure as many natural vegetation can be poisonous to this species.

If you want to know more about how to care for this tortoise go to www.tortoisetips.com/learn2om/learn2