Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello,

I've been looking into Hermanns for quite some time, but still have a few questions. I have found a habitat that looks pretty simple to build, and good for a hermanns, but I was wondering if a hatchling would be "scared" by the large space? I'm going to grow weeds and grasses in the little boxes, and rather than feeding the tortoise daily I was planning on peroidically rotating them as the Hermanns "mows down" the plants, is this feasible? Can I house a Male and Female together indefinitaly? (not rotating for breeding purposes) Can two males be housed together? Can two females be housed together? Thanks.
-Drew

"...but I was wondering if a hatchling would be "scared" by the large space?"

I don't think that would be a problem. You might find that a hatchling wont make use of all the available space, but it wont hurt to house a tiny tortoise in a large enclosure.

"I'm going to grow weeds and grasses in the little boxes, and rather than feeding the tortoise daily I was planning on periodically rotating them as the Hermanns "mows down" the plants, is this feasible?"

This might work if your light set-up is correct. I've always found it easier to collect weeds from the yard & keep them in the fridge until needed.

Two females should be fine together but the males tend to get rather aggressive once they become sexually mature. I don't know about a pair. From what I've heard, the male might not leave the female alone.

I have a 4 1/2 year old male & a yearling that I hope will turn out to be female. They need to be 3 or 4 years old before you can tell what sex they are. Hermanns really are awesome creatures with great personalities.
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