Help please Horsfield
 

Hi I have recently (a week ago) bought my first tortoise
I have been doing research for ages and think i have a good idea of all
the different weeds it should and should not eat ect
I would just like if possible help to age her/him and also if someone
knows the sex ?
She /he was bought from a local pet shop and was in a 2ft vivarium at the time
i have now housed her in a indoor rabbit cage and she also has an outside
run ive made for sunny days (which she loves)
the pet shop seemed a big vague with the age of her (i just call her a her!)
they said they thought maybe 2 years old but werent sure
shes as big as my hand (i have a medium hand) and said she was too young to sex. they were very helpful but didnt seem to know very much and were very vague so i hope someone can help
Also to me she looks like her shell has pyramiding? am i right or is this how they are ? and if it is ,can it be corrected with the proper diet?
and is she definatly a horsfield?
sorry for all these questions.
thanks
karen

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oops i dont think the pictures worked ARghhh!

You have a Hermanns!

Tail looks a bit unusual but I would quess male?

Worked now :D

Well first off your tortoise is a Hermanns tortoise and not a Horsfields, so you should have gotten an a10 certificate with her and she should have been chipped. Time to go back to the shop to get the a10 from them.

She is a female :D but has a bit of an infection going on with her cloaca. A vet visit is in order to get that cleared up.

Danny

OMGoodness ! i was told she was a horsfield by the shop keeper
my feelings were right then that they werent realy sure about her

Thankyouuu !

She is beautiful, but as Alley cat wait she is a Hermanns...

Ah Dan you posted as I was typing! I thought the tail looked odd!

Thankyou ! i had a feeling the people in the shop were a bit odd

I shall be going back this afternoon to ask for the certificate ..grrrrrr!
(could only happen to me)

i shall book her into the vets too and have her checked over and her
infection sorted out

thanks so much

realy appreciate the help

karen x

Hi

I took willow today to the local vets and he had a good look at her tail and said it isnt infected but is actually a bit deformed ,maybe due to trauma at some point .
He said she was fit and healthy apart from that

I also rang the pet shop where i bought her from and asked about the certificate as she is a
Hermann and not a horsfield as specified. They said i could bring her back for a refund
and that they bought her from a breeder as a horsfield !! GRRRRR
I cant take her back now as were all attatched to her and love her and i dont think
it would be nice for her to go back into the 2 ft vivarium she was in

so not sure what to do now about the certificate and or who to contact about what to do ?

the vet suggested to contact the tortoise trust about it.

any suggestions would be appreciated

karen xx

As has been said you have a Herman, she looks lovely but is pyramiding a bit, it may ease out a bit as she grows if you now get the husbandry right, good hydration and a humid hide, for diet have a look at the tortoise table site, nutrobal 2 or 3 times a week and calcium powder every day , the right temps and uv. Those are the basics. Good luck.

You don't need to have a certificate to own her, but you would need the certificate to breed from her or to sell her in the future. (although you would be able to give her someone free as a gift even without the certificate). In fact, what the shop did was illegal because they can't sell Hermann's tortoise without the certificate. I don't believe that they obtained her from a breeder, because the tortoise's shell started pyramiding. I would think that whoever breeds tortoises knows how to look after them so I wouldn't expect a tortoise from a breeder to have pyramiding.