How to Keep a Hermann's Tortoise? Care Methods and Precautions

The Hermann's tortoise is a common pet tortoise, widely loved by beginners for its robust constitution and lively, cheerful temperament. So how do you keep one?

How to keep a Hermann's tortoise?

1. Preparation

The Hermann's tortoise can be kept in a tortoise enclosure or an indoor pen, but the space must be large enough to allow the tortoise to move around daily. You also need to prepare coconut coir, bark and red soil as bedding, and a sun lamp as a light source when there is no sunlight.

2. Feeding

Feed the Hermann's tortoise once every two days, mainly with vegetables, various grasses, grass powder, and tortoise food. But supplement with various vitamins, minerals and calcium powder once a week. When supplementing vitamins, try to use oral vitamins and avoid administering them by injection.

3. Watering

A tortoise gets water in its body in three ways: one is through environmental humidity, which ensures moisture in the air, and the tortoise takes in some water while breathing the air; another is through food, which refers to the vegetables mentioned earlier; the third is by placing a water dish inside the enclosure so the tortoise can drink by itself when thirsty.

4. Environment

The temperature needed by the Hermann's tortoise should not be too high either; it should not exceed 34°C at most. When the basking spot temperature is 35°C, a heater must be used with temperature control. In addition, since the Hermann's tortoise needs to defecate 2-3 times almost every week, it should be bathed frequently.

Because the Hermann's tortoise is quite active and fairly aggressive, it is not suitable for being kept together with other tortoise species.