The Tortoise Table

Herman’s owners, due to household changes, have thought long and hard and come to the decision that Herman would be better in a nice new home that will give this lovely lady a place to call her own with lots of space. She is 14 years old, and her owners know that her needs come first and foremost, s...

Please remember that the policies of Facebook and The Tortoise Table do NOT allow money to change hands when rehoming a tortoise. COVID-19 - it is essential that government guidelines are followed. Troy is just over 5 years old with no known health issues. His owner knows he needs the best there is ...

Hi
In case you're still interested, we now have a Hermann's for rehoming and the notice about it is here: http://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/site ... =22&t=2093

Nina

Yes, I agree you could switch, but really you ought to be able to lower that bulb enough to get the temperature up, or you could get another mercury vapour bulb at, say, 150W. I use the UBV strip lights similar to the one Lin has shown you, and they are good, but it means you have to have one light ...

Hi Amber, Great to hear from you. It does sound as if Sheldon is going into hibernation mode -- and that is happening to lots of tortoises (especially Horsfields) now. I'm not sure how great it is for him to bury himself in the ash in your fireplace (in case he inhaled some of it), but it doesn't se...

Hi Sam, I completely agree with Lin. There is nothing wrong with the Tortoise Life substrate. I have heard some people criticise any substrate that contains sand, on the grounds that it can be ingested and cause blockage, but there is no evidence to support this. If you look at the sort of substrate...

Hi Lucre, Lovely to hear from you! No vacation this year from me, but I've enjoyed long walks in the area around where I live and have discovered lots of little places that I never knew existed. It sounds as if your new tortoise family is doing well, and I'm so glad that you welcomed them into your ...

Sounds like you've got it sorted! No problems with the thermometer, and I think he will be very happy with the playsand/topsoil mixture. As I said, most use it 50/50, but mine seem to like it more like 60/40 or 70/30 (more soil than sand) and you either spray it lightly every day or so, or you can j...

Hi Niamh, and thanks for posting here. First of all, congratulations on getting a nice big tortoise table for Terrence -- it's a good size and should last him for quite some time -- and he will love the climbing thing! You've laid it out really nicely too, and there are just a few things that I woul...

Hi Niamh, Oh my goodness, isn't Terrence a gorgeous little Horsfield, and thanks so much for the photos!. Actually you probably won't know if he is a Terrence or a Theresa for a little while, because it's very difficult to sex tortoises until they are about 5 or 6 years old. Did you find the care sh...

Sounds perfect then. Did you also see the link to the care sheet in Lin’s post? I hope it will be useful. Tortoises can be really stubborn about giving up their favourite foods. They do like pellets because the manufacturers put flavours in that attract them, but most pellets are far too high in pro...

You’ve made the viv as nice as possible, but they are really very bad environments for torts (good for snakes and lizards but not for tortoises), so converting it is a good idea. I have a couple of photos of converted vivs but my computer is on the blink, and I’m on my iPad and don’t have access to ...

Hi DaVinci, and welcome to The Tortoise Table. I must say, you’ve built Leo a really lovely outdoor enclosure — lots of room, lots of interesting things to walk over and around. If he had a secure, dry area with heat and UVB lamps to provide a temperature of around 30C directly under them, and aroun...

Hi Cheryl, My goodness you’re making excellent progress! Isn’t it wonderful what difference the proper substrate can make. Can’t wait to see pictures! You are right not to hibernate him this year, but just be warned that many tortoises have a strong hibernation instinct, and they sense when the days...

Excellent news, and thanks for the update!

Nina

Hi Cheryl, Yes, I agree that this table will be fine for him until you can get a bigger one. The conservatory sounds fine for him, as long as it doesn’t get too hot (but with the dark, cold weather we’ve been having that extra light will be most welcome!). What wattage is your lamp? That is great th...

And just to add also about a cold house, unless the temperature in the room drops below about 13C or 14C at night, there should be no problem. If it does drop lower you can get a ceramic heat emitter on a thermostat that comes on when the temps drop too low. Otherwise you just get a higher wattage b...

Hi Cheryl, Welcome to The Tortoise Table, and congratulations on getting Dumbledore (great name by the way)! I can understand that you feel overwhelmed, but I’m really encouraged because you have all the right concerns and have pinpointed the potential problems. First of all, here’s a link to a care...

In addition to Lin’s good advice you might find the information on this page helpful ( and click on the links to indoor and outdoor enclosures).
https://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/tor ... 0kKgcp4Wf0

Nina

Hi Beeccaa, I'm glad to hear that she's receiving treatment, and hopefully her eye will open soon. Did the vet tell you that while she is on the antibiotics it's a good idea to keep the heat on in her enclosure 24 hours a day (the antibiotics are more effective if the tortoise's body temperature doe...

I agree completely with Lin.

Nina

Hi and thanks for contacting us. It's good that you are asking these questions before you before you buy your Hermanns tortoise, rather than afterwards. It's not ideal to take a tortoise on a long journey, as it's a bit stressful for them, but it's not impossible either. The important thing would be...

Thanks so much for the good news! Tortoises are amazing escape artists and it's just brilliant that the neighbour found him (definitely relief all round)!

Nina

Hi Beeccaa, It's really hard to say what has caused her eye to close, so forgive me if I ask a lot of questions. It's possible that a bit of grit got into it, in which case bathing with the warm water might help. You could also try 'hypromellose', which is sold in chemists and is usually called 'art...

You can send any photos to contact@thetortoisetable.org.uk and we will put them on the Facebook page for you.

Nina