Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was wondering if the Hermanns Tortoises were a good one to start out with I have heard russians are good but I prefer the look of Hermanns and I just wanted to make sure that it would be able to be kept indoors most of the year and that it didn't need a ton of humidity. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I've got both & prefer the hermanns over the Russian.
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I have a young western hermanns. I keep him indoors and he seems to be doing fine. I do provide a humid hide, which he does use. I also soak him daily in the winter because the air is so dry with the heat running. Even though they are small they are very active and still need a decent amount of space.

I'm hearing alot about these humid hides what are they exatly and where could I get one? Well when I get one it will only be about 2" so should I just build a inclosure? Also what do you use for substrate I hear alot of people use a sand/soil mix? What's your guys opionino for a hermanns?

A humid hide is a hide area where the humidity is higher than the rest of the cage, usually 100% humidity or close to it. Very simple to make, just get either a clay pot or a rubbermaid container with a big enough hole cut into the side. Put in some peat moss or what ever (can be dirt, paper towel, moss, a natural sponge) and mist it daily to every other day. The humid hide should be kept on the warm end of the enclosure.

You can start a 2" baby in a 36"X18" enclosure. You can build a "tortoise table" or purchase a large rubbermaid type container or a waterland tub.

I keep my little guy on timothy hay. Several people keep them on dirt and soil mixes. I don't have any problems with the hay, you just need to be cautious of getting it wet or it will mold. I like the hay though because he will also eat it.

Just a note on cage size, if you get an eastern hermanni you may need a slightly larger enclosure for an adult as they can get a bit bigger than western hermanni.

Here are some links that may help you out:
http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/articles.html
http://www.chelonia.org/Articles/hermannstortoisecare.htm
http://www.tortoise.org/archives/herman.html
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/cheloniauk/care.htm
http://russiantortoise.org/tortoise_table.htm

>>>>>I'm hearing alot about these humid hides what are they exatly and where could I get one? Well when I get one it will only be about 2" so should I just build a inclosure? Also what do you use for substrate I hear alot of people use a sand/soil mix? What's your guys opionino for a hermanns?

Thank you so much for all your help.