Afternoon,

I currently have 9 Hermans - and wanted to ask about substrate.

I have tried loads of things and im currently using a 50/50 with compost and play-pit sand.

This is fine to start off with but im finding that 1. its very dusty and its getting everywhere and 2. its not long before it starts to smell........

I never had this problem with Hemp - but dont like using it because it can damage their eyes - tried newspapers etc........

So im looking for some good suggestions please.

Michelle xx

Hi Michelle,

I use a topsoil/playsand mixture, and after experimenting a bit use 70%e topsoil to 30% playsand (but lots of people do use 50/50 or 60/40). I spray it to keep it from getting dusty, and in the area under the basking lamp (where a spray would evaporate quickly), I actually pour water on it once or twice a week and mix it up thoroughly so that it is barely damp (not wet or even very damp, but just barely damp). I'm not sure why yours smells. Do you spot clean as much as you can? I'm sure someone with more experience than I will come on with some better suggestions.

Nina

Hi Michelle

A strange question I know but what ages and how big are your hermanns tortoises?

Helen

Hi,

My Hermans are of various ages - two sets of two together are approx 4/5 - and i have a 6yr old Spur on his own - also 2 5mth old Hermans (but not sure they smell yet).

I spot-clean them every day - so im not sure why they smell .......

Michele

I'm not much good at maths but I can't count 9 hermanns.  I get 6 and 1 Spur .

They should all be OK on soil/sand mixture with daily spot cleaning and fully refreshing the substrate at least every 3 weeks.  Wetting/dampening as Nina has described is the way to go to keep the dust down.

Do you mean that you keep the 2 sets of 2 in the same enclosure or do you have an enclosure for each set?  I don't know what your set ups are like, but could it be that your hermanns are adult and the enclosure/s is/are too small.  If they wee then unless you change the substrate as regularly as I suggest or maybe sooner than that then there is a good chance you will get an odour as when they wee they do copious amounts.

The other thing I just need to check is that the smell is actually coming from the substrate and not from the tortoises themselves - just trying to rule out tortoise problems here.

Helen

Hi Helen,

(I have two adult hermans hibernating in the attic - which makes 9 xx)

I have now started spraying the substrate with water and I must admit its now less dusty and smells less.

The spur has a massive table to himself - the others are paired up at the moment - with reasonable size tables - they seem to have plenty of room. I also bathe them each week - I wlll keep going with the current substrate and just see what happens.

I will post a picture shortly of the table lay-out for you to see, then you can maybe give me some more tips - but the torts seem happy and alert in themselves.

Michelle xx

Hi Michelle,

I'm glad the spraying has done some good, and am looking forward to seeing your photos of the table lay-out (it's always good to see these as I've had some great ideas that I've nicked from other people's set-ups {g}!).

I was really interested to hear that you're hibernating some torts in the attic. I remember that people used to do that years ago, but that many had to stop when they got central heating because the residual heat made the attics a bit too warm and torts were using up body fat and waking up early. I did speak to someone once who had put lots of insulation on the attic floor so the heat from the house couldn't get through, and she also checked temps every other day (and I think she lived in a colder part of the country -- can't remember). How do you set up the hibernating area in the attic? Does it work well for you?

Cheers,
Nina

Morning,

Am desperate to up-load some pics but not having much luck - keeps time-outing on me - any clues .......

Michelle

have you read the instructions for photo uploading?  If you haven't you'll find them on the left hand side of the gallery Michelle.

If you've read them and still haven't been able to load the pictures click on my name tpgadmin at the top of this mail and send me your email address or phone number and I'll help you get them loaded up.

Helen

Hi Michelle

I've got them uploaded your pictures for you now.  They are in the album 'Michelles tortoises'.  The problems you were experiencing was because although you had made the pictures smaller they weren't small enough.  I used VSO resizer for Windows Vista to reduce them to a size of about 300 x 200 and uploaded them 1 at a time.

I'm just off to have a proper look at them now   

Helen

Hi ,