Hello from a pair of new owners.

Treacle · 02-02-2007, 07:07 PM

Hi Folks,

My name is Nick and I bought my wife (this is her account by the way) a Hermann tortoise for her birthday and he arrived on Monday. Having read on here I am now very worried about Victor and his well being. I bought him form an online dealer after talking to him many times and building up confidence that I was buying from an ethical person. It is only now having found this forum that I have read about torts from Slovinia (Where his cert says he's from) dieing of respitory problems. He seems OK at the moment but just to be sure we have booked him into a vet's who deal with Torts tomorrow morning to ge thim checked out and make sure he's fit and healthy. I di da fair amount of research before I got him, although it now seems I should have found this site earlier, and we have him on a tort table with a heat lamp and a UV strip lamp. We have got all the right supplements and we've been bathing him.

He has bright eyes and no runny nose which I gather is all a good sign, he does however seem to yawn and alful lot and sometimes seems to be gulping for no reason. Is this reason for concern? He poo's in his bath and there is the white stuff in his urine although I haven't checked the consistancy of it as I only found out about that today. I'll be checking that from now on. WHen he's up, he's very active and potters about but he does seem to sleep a fair amount in his hide on the tort table. My only other concerns are that he's back legs seem to go a little funny at times and he does seem to have a kind of white powder on his legs occasionally. I think I may be worrying about nothing but having read a few horror stories on here I'm a bit concerned. My wife and I have completely fallen for this charming little fellow and your thoughts and reassurances would be gratefully recieved.

Oh yes and one final thing, what's the deal with bathing? How deep should the water be? How long should we let him stay in the water?

Here are a couple of pics of the little chap with "Mummy" he he.

Nick and Lizzie (Treacle)

yam yam · 02-02-2007, 07:17 PM

hello and welcome to this great site you have come to the right place for advice
you done the right thing getting him to the vet hope its good news

as for bathing its warm water up to his bottom of his shell for about 20 mins
as for his back legs i cant answer that but i am sure someone will soon
he looks really great good luck with your new baby

Fallen Angel · 02-02-2007, 07:21 PM

Hi and welcome please take a poo sample to the vets with you as its highly likely your tort has worms as its an import.

Im affraid i cant help other than that sorry.

Can i just ask are they tortoise earings your wife is wearing?

Nicky xxx

P.S Have you joined the tortoise protection group they would like to hear from you im sure the link is on here somewhere xxx

Treacle · 02-02-2007, 07:28 PM

Hiya, and thanks for all the advice.

I wondered if anyone would spot my tortoise earing!

I've rescued a poo sample from his bath and I'll take it with me tomorrow; fingers crossed it's nothing serious.

We'll keep you posted.

Lizzie

niamherrity · 02-02-2007, 07:38 PM

Hi and welcome,I know how you feel my tort came from a breeder in germany who sold them to the pet shop ,thats what i was told anyway it's 6 weeks and i'm still waiting for my paper's i will be reporting them soon if i don't get them in the next week or so.You did better than me i had mine in a viv till i found this site,thanks to that bloody petshop

Glad to see yours is in a table the only thing i would suggest to you is the chipping's you are using are not good for tort's.I use a mix of sand and soil it's much more natural for them.Best of luck with your little guy he is lovely

x

Rob · 02-02-2007, 07:42 PM

Best of luck with your new tortoise. I'm glad you have booked to see a specialist vet - in my limited experience, gulping isn't a good sign, but I'm no expert. Good to get him/her checked out, especially being an import.

What a beautiful tortoise, he/she looks very happy with that lettuce leaf!

ChristyJade · 02-02-2007, 07:51 PM

Hello, I believe you are on my facebook group!

Nice to see you on here...By gulping do you mean nodding his head abit? Because that is normal...The white stuff is urates that come out when he pee's! Its perfectly normal...Your tort is lovely

Treacle · 02-02-2007, 07:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by niamherrity

Glad to see yours is in a table the only thing i would suggest to you is the chipping's you are using are not good for tort's.I use a mix of sand and soil it's much more natural for them.Best of luck with your little guy he is lovely

x

Yeah we realised that quite quickly and have some Hemp and some gravel stuff (Lizzie knows what it's called!) on order from this forums ebay shop. We might try and get some other substrate to get us through the weekend.

Nick

Treacle · 02-02-2007, 07:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChristyJade

Hello, I believe you are on my facebook group!

Nice to see you on here...By gulping do you mean nodding his head abit? Your tort is lovely...well your wifes tort! hehe

Yeah I am!

He's sort of swallowing with his mouth shut if that makes any sense? Other than that he seems fit and healhty, we've jjust had him out on the carpet and he's been charging around! I never ealised Torts could move that fast!

Nick

ChristyJade · 02-02-2007, 07:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Treacle

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChristyJade

Hello, I believe you are on my facebook group!

Nice to see you on here...By gulping do you mean nodding his head abit? Your tort is lovely...well your wifes tort! hehe

Yeah I am!

He's sort of swallowing with his mouth shut if that makes any sense? Other than that he seems fit and healhty, we've jjust had him out on the carpet and he's been charging around! I never ealised Torts could move that fast!

Nick

haha...yeah I think i know what you mean, moves his legs aswell, in and out abit? Its perfectly normal

02-02-2007, 07:07 PM	#1
Treacle Member Egg Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Amasingstoke, Hampshire Posts: 72	Hello from a pair of new owners. Hi Folks, My name is Nick and I bought my wife (this is her account by the way) a Hermann tortoise for her birthday and he arrived on Monday. Having read on here I am now very worried about Victor and his well being. I bought him form an online dealer after talking to him many times and building up confidence that I was buying from an ethical person. It is only now having found this forum that I have read about torts from Slovinia (Where his cert says he's from) dieing of respitory problems. He seems OK at the moment but just to be sure we have booked him into a vet's who deal with Torts tomorrow morning to ge thim checked out and make sure he's fit and healthy. I di da fair amount of research before I got him, although it now seems I should have found this site earlier, and we have him on a tort table with a heat lamp and a UV strip lamp. We have got all the right supplements and we've been bathing him. He has bright eyes and no runny nose which I gather is all a good sign, he does however seem to yawn and alful lot and sometimes seems to be gulping for no reason. Is this reason for concern? He poo's in his bath and there is the white stuff in his urine although I haven't checked the consistancy of it as I only found out about that today. I'll be checking that from now on. WHen he's up, he's very active and potters about but he does seem to sleep a fair amount in his hide on the tort table. My only other concerns are that he's back legs seem to go a little funny at times and he does seem to have a kind of white powder on his legs occasionally. I think I may be worrying about nothing but having read a few horror stories on here I'm a bit concerned. My wife and I have completely fallen for this charming little fellow and your thoughts and reassurances would be gratefully recieved. Oh yes and one final thing, what's the deal with bathing? How deep should the water be? How long should we let him stay in the water? Here are a couple of pics of the little chap with "Mummy" he he. Nick and Lizzie (Treacle)

02-02-2007, 07:17 PM	#2
yam yam Senior Member Sub Adult Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: ESSEX UK Posts: 1,501	hello and welcome to this great site you have come to the right place for advice you done the right thing getting him to the vet hope its good news as for bathing its warm water up to his bottom of his shell for about 20 mins as for his back legs i cant answer that but i am sure someone will soon he looks really great good luck with your new baby __________________ lorna 0.0.1 Testudo hermanni

02-02-2007, 07:21 PM	#3
Fallen Angel Senior Member Sub Adult Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: East Sussex Posts: 1,645	Hi and welcome please take a poo sample to the vets with you as its highly likely your tort has worms as its an import. Im affraid i cant help other than that sorry. Can i just ask are they tortoise earings your wife is wearing? Nicky xxx P.S Have you joined the tortoise protection group they would like to hear from you im sure the link is on here somewhere xxx __________________ 1.3.0 ibera 1.1.0 hingebacks

02-02-2007, 07:51 PM	#7
ChristyJade Member Hatched Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Birmingham Posts: 436	Hello, I believe you are on my facebook group! Nice to see you on here...By gulping do you mean nodding his head abit? Because that is normal...The white stuff is urates that come out when he pee's! Its perfectly normal...Your tort is lovely __________________ Big Boy Now! My sewing blog: http://sewwwhat.wordpress.com/

02-02-2007, 07:28 PM	#4
Treacle Member Egg Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Amasingstoke, Hampshire Posts: 72	Hiya, and thanks for all the advice. I wondered if anyone would spot my tortoise earing! I've rescued a poo sample from his bath and I'll take it with me tomorrow; fingers crossed it's nothing serious. We'll keep you posted. Lizzie

02-02-2007, 07:38 PM	#5
niamherrity Senior Member Adult Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: klidare/ireland Posts: 2,827	Hi and welcome,I know how you feel my tort came from a breeder in germany who sold them to the pet shop ,thats what i was told anyway it's 6 weeks and i'm still waiting for my paper's i will be reporting them soon if i don't get them in the next week or so.You did better than me i had mine in a viv till i found this site,thanks to that bloody petshop Glad to see yours is in a table the only thing i would suggest to you is the chipping's you are using are not good for tort's.I use a mix of sand and soil it's much more natural for them.Best of luck with your little guy he is lovely x

02-02-2007, 07:42 PM	#6
Rob Junior Member Egg Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: South London Posts: 37	Best of luck with your new tortoise. I'm glad you have booked to see a specialist vet - in my limited experience, gulping isn't a good sign, but I'm no expert. Good to get him/her checked out, especially being an import. What a beautiful tortoise, he/she looks very happy with that lettuce leaf!

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