Reptile & Amphibian Forums

How often do they need to be soaked in water and also what should they eat every day. Should I feed them tortoise food as well? If so whats a good brand.Thanks.

On little guys I recommend soaking every day, make sure there is a waterbowl present and provide a moist hide. I believe one of the primary killers of the little guys is dehydration.
On the feeding, I suggest dark leafy greens every day with Mazuri tortoise diet once or twice a week.
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Ed
Tortoise_Keepers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

They seem to really enjoy soaking--I still soak mine every day (usually), and he'll stay in the water for up to 30 minutes if I let him and he doesn't poop in it (he's almost a year old). On the Mazuri, I would caution you that Hermann's will gain weight very rapidly on it, so if you are going to use it, watch the weight gain and don't overdo it (not just my experience, other keepers have told me the same thing). I just give itas an occasional treat and to give meds, but then my area seems to abound in weeds, so I have more food around than I need.
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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

The majority of the people that I've spoken to that actually use the Mazuri tortoise diet don't seem to have this poblem or they don't view it as a problem. Maybe it's because most people feed it once or twice a week in addition to a regular green diet.
This leads us to the old argument that rapid growth is bad... (and most normal people don't want to go there)
Personally, I don't think normal, accelerated growth is bad. (yes, you can have 'normal' accelerated growth).
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Ed
Tortoise_Keepers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

I'm not going to say whether rapid "normal" growth is a positive or negative--there are plenty of people with more experience than I have who would argue either side--but I do think it's important to have a heads up and then he can choose whether he wants to use Mazuri or not. I don't use it on a regular basis because I have access to a wide variety of natural food, and I'm not looking for rapid growth. If I was interested in breeding at this point, I might be.
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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 soak my Hermans everyday for ten minutes if possible. Or at least every other day. I've heard you should stay away from any unnatural foods like tort food from a pet store but some people do use it. They do better on green leafy vegis and weeds. I feed mine grass, dandelion, rose petals and leaves, clovers, romaine lettuce and mix a little bit of carrots, cucumber, kale, and other vegis in it. I just tear everything up into small peices so they can eat it easier and sprinkle calcium and vitamins lightly on the food. About once a week I give them a small treat like tomato, strawberry, melon, grape or other kind of fruit. Too much fruit is not good for them.
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Becki

1 Husband
4 kids
2 Hermans
1 Dog
4 Finches
1 Betta