Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Bruno, the Hermann's hatchling I got in December, passed away yesterday. I found him in the afternoon.

He was never quite right, from the day I got him. Although he did have good days, he never consistently displayed the enthusiastic eating and activity levels you would expect from a healthy Hermann's. There was intermittent lethargy, lack of appetite, and diarrhea, along with times when he displayed none of these signs. The last vet check he had was about 2 weeks ago, and since he was clear of worms, we were expecting that he would pick up (although he didn't seem to have a heavy worm load anyway). I had intended to bring him back for another check because he did improve for a few days, but the last day or so was back to the lethargy, lack of appetite, etc.

I believe I was sold a tortoise that was either sick with some kind of systemic infection, or congenitally ill in some way--although the odd thing is, he never lost weight, which gave me false hope. Of course, it's much too late to make any claims against the breeder, but I learned a good lesson. The next tortoise I get will be older, and I definitely want to see it before I buy, so I can give it a health check.

On the plus side, Moxie is doing just great after being cleared of hookworms, so I'm very happy about that.
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Sohni
Northern California

0.1 Baja de L.A. Rosy Boa
0.1 Okeetee Corn Snake
1.1 Rubber Boas
1.0 Leopard Gecko
0.0.2 Hermann's Tortoises
plus my kids' herps:
0.0.1 California King Snake
1.0 Mexican Rosy Boa
0.1 Leopard Gecko

So sorry to hear about this...
I guess, that it is often very difficult to judge the health status of a hatchling, even with being experienced with checking out the possible warning signs.
Especially if you do not know the breeder and his success rate of producing longterm healthy hatchlings.
I was very lucky getting my redfoot hatchlings from a very experienced breeder, but I can see from many posts on this and other forums, that many people have bad experiences with hatchlings, that simply fail to thrive (and I do not mean to point at the breeder in all these cases,- lack of experience from the new keeper is often the problem too, but in your case the experience is obviously there).
Hope you will find a nice older little Herman eventually!
Gaby

It is always hard to lose a pet even if you knew all along something was wrong. At least he had a warm, safe ,loving home for his brief time here on earth.
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Stacey

You got me all misty.

Thanks, Stacey, I appreciate your kindness. Several people (breeders) have since told me that sometimes babies just don't thrive, for whatever reason. My next Hermann's will be older, for sure, although finding a local breeder may be tricky. Do you happen to know anyone who breeds Hermann's in No. Calif? I'm willing to drive a couple hours if need be--and no hurry, I wouldn't want to pick up another one until it's warm enough to be outside at least part of the day.
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Sohni
Northern California

0.1 Baja de L.A. Rosy Boa
0.1 Okeetee Corn Snake
1.1 Rubber Boas
1.0 Leopard Gecko
0.0.2 Hermann's Tortoises
plus my kids' herps:
0.0.1 California King Snake
1.0 Mexican Rosy Boa
0.1 Leopard Gecko

Try contacting Jeanie Vaughn at Turtle Dreams in Santa Barbara or the Santa Barbara CTTC. I'll bet they could fix you up. Also, if you can find a contact for a Gary Wilfong. I believe he is a breeder in the SFO area.
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Ed
Tortoise_Keepers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

Thanks, Ed. Gary Wilfong apparently runs the Bay Area Turtle & Tortoise Rescue in Castro Valley, which I guess isn't more than a couple hours from here. I'll also call Al Wolf, who runs the Sonoma County Reptile Rescue; he might know of someone. I'd be willing to adopt, too, but I've never seen a Hermann's available for adoption.
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Sohni
Northern California

0.1 Baja de L.A. Rosy Boa
0.1 Okeetee Corn Snake
1.1 Rubber Boas
1.0 Leopard Gecko
0.0.2 Hermann's Tortoises
plus my kids' herps:
0.0.1 California King Snake
1.0 Mexican Rosy Boa
0.1 Leopard Gecko

i'm very sorry to hear that... at least you did everything you could for the little guy, and i'm sure his life, though short, was a good one because of your care.

if you ever *did* decide to try a hatchling again, might i suggest abbott's turtle farm? they sell hermann's... my redfoot came from there after seeing glowing reviews of the abbotts on a couple of webpages. just a thought.
abbott's

Thanks for your reply. Abbotts has a good reputation, but I do think that my next tortoise will be a local buy--which will be difficult, because there aren't any breeders around here that I know of. I'll have to do some searching, I guess.
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Sohni
Northern California

0.1 Baja de L.A. Rosy Boa
0.1 Okeetee Corn Snake
1.1 Rubber Boas
1.0 Leopard Gecko
0.0.2 Hermann's Tortoises
plus my kids' herps:
0.0.1 California King Snake
1.0 Mexican Rosy Boa
0.1 Leopard Gecko

And it seemed like he was getting better, too. That's sad. I know you did everything you could for Bruno. More than a lot of people would have, that's for sure. It just goes to show you that hatchlings can be very delicate. Even with the best of care, some will just not make it. In the wild under natural conditions with just the right food and invironment, they often die for mysterious reasons. It's natures way, I guess. Add to that the fact that you really don't know happened in his life before you got him. He could have been dropped, been put with other tortoises that may have had who-knows-what diseases, been chilled too many times, who knows. Hatchlings are somewhat of a gamble. I hope you can find one you like maybe a little older, or maybe try another hatchling and hope for the best.

I'll give all my tortoises an extra big hug tomorrow for Bruno.

Well, like I said, I've learned a good lesson from it. Even though I knew hatchlings could be delicate, I figured that since I was willing to make sure he got proper housing, vet care, etc., that things would work out. Now I know otherwise. It's a bummer, though...I really did think he was getting better.
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Sohni
Northern California

0.1 Baja de L.A. Rosy Boa
0.1 Okeetee Corn Snake
1.1 Rubber Boas
1.0 Leopard Gecko
0.0.2 Hermann's Tortoises
plus my kids' herps:
0.0.1 California King Snake
1.0 Mexican Rosy Boa
0.1 Leopard Gecko