Information

GENERAL INFORMATION

INTRODUCTION

The tortoise is a living fossil having survived since the dawn of the age of reptiles, 200 million years ago. Collection for exportation and habitat destruction have dramatically reduced populations in their native countries around the Mediterranean like France, Spain, Italy, the former Yugoslavia, Turkey, Greece and northern Africa. In Britain, with wet summers and cold damp winters, they are outside their distribution range, but if basic guidelines are followed, a captive tortoise can have as long and happy a life as possible.

TORTOISES AND THE LAW

In 1984 it was agreed with the EEC Council to treat three species of Mediterranean tortoise (the Spur-thighed, Hermann's and Marginated Tortoise from Greece) according to Appendix 1 of the Convention for International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). The Egyptian Tortoise (Testudo kleinmanni) was added to Appendix I in 1994. This meant that these four species were protected and commercial trade strictly prohibited. For the sale, exchange or barter of these protected tortoises by private individuals a licence is required, obtainable from the Department of the Environment, food and rural affairs (D.E.F.R.A) in Bristol. Since Solvienia joined the E.E.C Hermanns tortoises have been imported into the UK sometimes via Germany in alarming numbers They have legal documentation and are sold as captive bred . The tortoise trust belives that the vast majority of these impoted tortoises are ilegaly taken from the wild. The tortoise trust and The tortoise protection group is currently in the process of lobbying MP's the law to stop this It is illegal to sell or buy a Hermanns tortoise without a certificate

WHY CHOOSE A HERMANNS TORTOISE?

The Hermanns tortoise is the one tortoise that is very addaptible to the UK climate. Horsefields are not very happy in wet or damp conditions where as the Hermanns tortoise is ok, infact Hermanns tortoises like a bit rain. My Hermanns tortoises if indoors will actualy come outside if it is raining they like it that much. If the weather does get a bit cold the Hermanns tortoise will just tuck it's self away until the warm weather returns. All tortoises require special care. The Hermanns tortoises care is the simplest and is recomened by many tortoise ethuisast as a good tortoise for the beginer. Hermanns are quite pretty when compeared to other tortoises and they grow to a nice size

WHY BUY A TORTOISE FROM A BREEDER?

Testudo species are inhabitants of plains, deserts, and woodland edges from southern Europe to Pakistan and Morocco to Israel. They are adapted to cool or cold winters, very hot summers, and long periods between rains. This has made them among the hardest tortoises to maintain in captivity because each species tends to have strange requirements. The Egyptian tortoise, for instance is a species of deserts and shrubby desert edges, and it is unable to adapt to humidity higher than 40 or 50%; it is active during the winter in its Libyian Negev, Israel, range, disappearing into cover during the hot summers.

Hermanns tortoise is truly a species of the Mediterranean, occurring along the northern coast from southern France to turkey plus the Balkans and central Mediterranean islands.

Keeping Testudos

If you live in a humid cool climate, the Testudo species probably are not for you. They have trouble adapting to such conditions, and the Egyptian tortoise may never adapt. Young specimens of all the species are especially sensitive to short, cool summers and require very strict winter brumation periods to survive year to year and grow at normal rates. They need large amounts of edible calcium carbonate, perhaps as much as half their body weight in their food on a regular basis. They are not social animals, and some of the species have highly developed hierarchies in which one male (sometimes a female) dominates any other animals and prevents them from feeding, basking, or mating .

If you must try a Mediterranean tortoise, stick with a captive-bred Hermann's (the most adaptable to humidity) or spur-thighed (the most common species) tortoise. The tortoise gets about 3,000 hours of sunlight per year in nature, and it seems to be necessary to duplicate this as closely as possible. This means 10 hours of hot light per day for 300 days,followed by about 60 days of brumation at 39oF (4oC). In actuality, the tortoises prefer day lengths of 12-14 hours per day from April through September, with a gradual reduction of hours through October. The basking temperature should be 95oF (35oC) or so, and a warm basking area should be available around the clock during the active period. To be active, most Mediterranean tortoises must have a cool temperature of over 86oF (30oC), so during the day the air temperature should not be allowed to drop significantly from this level.

If you want to copy any information on these pages please contact

contact@hermann-tortoise.co.uk