Tortoise feeding pics :)

tallus

Hi folks. Just a few photo's of my Hermanns tortoises feeding this morning. Quality not 100% as I used my phone to take the photos.

Rancid

Great pics and lovely little torts, the size difference is indeed amazing too.
Good to see you've them on a healthy diet of dandelions, they appreciate good food, don't they!

tallus

Thanks They overly appreciate the food !! Greedy brats they are ! I have to be careful, they only came out of hibernation last monday 5th and they have huge appetites.

Rancid

Healthy appetites, that's a good sign.
Plenty of dandies around this year too, I've even some nice sow thistles in the garden already and lots of other weeds. My old Hermanns will be showing her face pretty soon to devour them all.

tallus

I hope all goes well with her.

Shane190

How big would one of them grow?

tallus

Ever seen the Diet coke ad with the Tortoise?
I think the norm is about 8 inches for the shell. Mine are nowhere near that now, they look larger becuase I took the photo's in marco mode close up. Will take some with a coin or something similar for scale next time i feed them.
The tort1 photo looks scale, I mean it's an accurate representation of their size.

Rancid

tallus wrote:

I hope all goes well with her.

Thanks, I hope so too. She'll be in her indoor pen most of the time until the weather is warmer and then in the garden June - Sept.
Setting some more TLady's seeds today, my YBS has a fondness for them too.
I need plenty of weeds with 2 beaks to feed! :rolleyes:

tallus

I know the feeling on the two beak thing

Shane190

how often do you feed them?

Rancid

I feed my Hermanns twice a day but she always has access to food and helps herself the rest of the time. When she's in the garden she potters around grazing as she goes. My garden is tort-heaven, nearly nothing but weeds and flowers that are suitable for her, and she's been known to chase a few slugs too, and eat them. :rolleyes:
I feed my slider 5 days a week on Reptomin and she gets leaves and weeds as much as she wants every day.

Jimkel

Great pics of lovely healthy lookin Torts! It's good to see animals like this kept well. a few Questions Tallus: how long can this particular species live??
Are you in Ireland, can they roam in the back garden in our climate?
Are birds and other animals a danger?

Cheers, I'm really interested in Chelonians!

tallus

I'm in Tallaght Dub 24, yes they can go outside but I have an outside tabletop. It's predator proof, but I rarely keep them out overnight. Here's a photo from last year, I have changed the substrate in the outdoor tabletop to gravel from the hemp seen in that photo.
Also uploaded a partial shot of the indoor tabletop. I changed the substrate this year, I'm using towels instead of the mix of sand and compost, easier to keep clean, no dust for me or the torts. I prefer to have them on the towels for the moment, they can still hide underneath them if they have to and they have a hide also.
*edit* Not sure how long they can live to. I'm gathering that they live well over 100 years.

Shane190

can you buy tabletops like that or do you have to make them yourself?

tallus

Both of mine started life as wooden workbenches. I bought the indoor one in woodies for €50 a few years back and put wood around the sides of it. Simple as that really. The outdoor one is similar to a degree, the actual area teh torts are in is a plant propogator of some sort, I just cut holes in the lid and put wire mesh on it.
If I find a better photo of the indoor setup I'll post it here.

Shane190

Yeah, if you find one please do. Would you have to build a larger tabletop as they grow bigger??

tallus

Shane190 wrote:

Yeah, if you find one please do. Would you have to build a larger tabletop as they grow bigger??

This is the only pic I can find at the moment. Not from a great vantage point either. It's at least 2 years old.

Shane190

Thanks. Ok so if I was to get a tortoise tomorrow what exactly would i need for it?

tallus

UVB light, Basking light. Accomodation, vitamin supplement, In that old picture, I used a mix of silca play sand and john innes potting compost #2, 2 parts compost to one part sand. Hides for the critters, thermometer, a safe source of food, none of the supermarket stuff, dandelions/plantain/sowthistle and others are free. Just make sure if you do have a place to pick them that it hasn't been sprayed with insecticide.
You would have to have the setup in place for a few days before getting the tort, as you would need to make sure that the temperature settings are correct. IE: between 23-30C up the hot end of the tabletop, and lower agan down the opposite end. The cool end of my tortoise table is around 20c. It would drop a bit at night, but that's not a problem as temperature drop at night is a natural phenomenon. Where those temperatures would make good starting points, each species has different needs and you would be well advised to first pick a species that you wish to purchase and *then* research it.
That way you can start in the correct manner.
I dont know what kind of knowledge you have on thermoregulation and reptiles. It might be worth your while going to the Tortoise trust site and checking out a few things first.
The have detailed articles on the captive care and husbandry of most of the most popular chelonians. Correct diet and access to natural sunlight are very very important.
Bear in mind that the majority of mediterranean tortoises hibernate in the wild and those conditions should be immitated in captivity.
There's a tunisian tortoise that doesn't need hibernation.
*edit* I'm sure if I have left anything out some of our regulars will point you in the right direction.

Shane190

Thanks for the info. I have been doing a bit of research already about Hermanns but it gets quite confusing:(:( Do you let your torts roam around your house/room when you are not there?

tallus

No, it's not recommended that you do it. They are from a warmer climate than ours.

Shane190

How much did yours cost? my local pet shop recently got 5 or 6 of them in and they are 200 euro each. Thats a little out of my price range at the minute:(:(

tallus

mine were €315 each a few years back and I got discount because i bought two. They were a year old at the time.

Shane190

That was expensive. I presume that the ones in my local shop are quite young so.

Nala

they are gorgeous. your phone has a class camera!!!!

tallus

Thanks Nala It's a Sony Ericsson W810i

tortoise17

hi tallus, your tortoises are lovely!!!
i must post a pic of phoebe, how do i do that?, (step by step advise please:D )

i only feed phoebe about 5 times a week, and hes fully grown.
my horsfield id about 3-4 and i feed him about 4 times a week.

i love hermanns, i was ment to get some this year, but looks doubtful with the new horsfield, and im trying to find a few female testudo graeca graecas for my male!!

tallus

Best of luck with the search dude. I had mine on a sand/soil mix last year but this year I'm using towels as per the Tlady. I found when coming up to hibernation time that my pair were eating dried food that they found in the substrate. Dont want that happening again.
The towels are much cleaner too, and I dont get a build up of crap, also easier to monitor when they are passing anything with the towels. They have a hide and can dig in under the towel too if they have to.
Nice photo of your tunisian tort. Love that small size.

Rancid

I can definitely see the advantages of using towels as a substrate for small torts in tort-tables, especially in comparison to sand/soil which is, imo, way too dusty.

My adult Hermanns has more than half the floor space in the spare bedroom for her time indoors and has about one third covered in hemp chippings 4 inches deep, the rest is half towel/half small stones with her basking slab in the middle.
She always has access to a deep tub of sandy soil in case she needs to dig, but for general substrate I favour the hemp.