Hi all and thanks for taking some time to read and help in advance!

I went to a garden center at the weekend to purchase some supplies for my Marine fish and they have a reptile house shop. I took my little girl to have a look and they have a fantastic range of animals all healthy looking and laid out well. Having wanted one for some time (since I was about 7!) I decided to buy a tortoise. They were some 3 year old very small Hermanns Tortoises. I also bvrought an indoor housing. It is a largeish 2' by 4' enclosure with an open top which has a wire lid of it (we have a cat at home). The substrate appears to be small wood chips and it came with a 60w bulb and a UV bulb.

Here come the questions!

The advice I have is to keep the 60w bulb (positioned at one end) on all the time and turn the UV bulb off overnight - is this suitable?

Is the substrate good? I found a site that sells bags of hemp - should I use this instead and how often should I clean it all out? The tortoise digs, but can't cover itself completely at the moment.

I have a certficate that identifies the tortoise as captive bred in the UK, but originating in Slovenia....I looked around and read that this is not ideal but I am not sure why? There were four tortoises on sale in the same enclosure and they looked healthy - this one in particular was moving around a lot and eating.

I have no stimuli in the box at the moment. I was going to buy a sheltered housing bit for the tortoise to retreat into when it wants some alone time. Should I get anything else for him? Should I pop some cuttlefish bone in there?

The tortoise (my little girl has named it Ellie....although I am not sure if it is a girl!) has been at home for two days now, has eaten some lettuce, cucumber and tomato sprinkled with Nutribal and spends time relaxing and walking around. I am planning on looking into the whole weed thing today.

Thanks for your help!

Sam

How could it be bred in the UK but originate in Slovenia? It can't be born in two different countries!

I don't have the license with me at the moment but from memory it says something along the lines of captive bred by someone in Bristol on it. I assumed the Slovenia reference was were the breeders tortoises came from, but with most things in life there is every chance I am wrong! It didn't occur to me to look into tortoises more beforehand as the shop is very nice looking - the animals all look healthy and are well so it didn't occur to me that the source of hte animals could be suspect, but I still am not sure on why Slovenia is not preferred. I saw some pictures related to how the animals are transported which were not nice or something I would want to support - even unknowingly. Is this why tortoises from thsi region should be avoided?

It's widely suspected that so-called "captive bred" tortoises from Slovenia are actually wild caught, it takes many years to establish a captive breeding program of the size needed to supply the numbers they do, and this is something that doesn't appear to exist in Slovenia. Animal welfare doesn't appear to be taken quite as seriously in Slovenia as it is here, and as in many other countries a blind eye is often turned by the authorities to illegal activities such as this.
The problem with wild-caught torts, other than the obvious ones of taking wild animals from their natural habitat, and the often awful shipping conditions, is that they often arrive heavily parasitized and sick. At the very least they usually need worming, and a check over by a reputable herp specialist vet would probably be good idea too.

Do not worry re origins...you have your tort now...so it is pointless to get into the whole debate....
However please have it checked for worms...a stool sample to the vets..any vet doesnt need to be a specialist for a worm check...also ask for a course of treatment for protozoa...may not be carrying but it can do no harm. Then months down the line you wont be worrying what is wrong if it is off colour...as you have eliminated the danger of protozoa.
Food...weeds or manufactured diet...do the research and decide for yourself.....lettuce etc is not much good although I do feed a little cucumber for hydration from time to time.
Heat and UV on for 12-14 hours per day.
Substrata...many choices I find sand/soil to be the best with a little hemp if you wish.
Cuttlefish ...yes and calcium carbonate in a dish.
Bath as often as possible....I do littlies once a day.
Stimulii...log roll bridges...pebbles...rocks....slate.....
Enjoy and do not worry too much!!!
What is the weight in grams and the SCL?

Wow! Thanks for the information. Once I can find a stool sample I will certainly get it checked and ask for the Prot course. I have ordered a few things to hopefully make his home nicer while he is indoors - including a soil/sand substrate mix from petzoo.co.uk. I have also ordered some seed to grow suitable weeds/flowers. I will weigh the fella and measure teh SCL as soon as I get home.

With the substrate should I refresh it often? How long is suitable for it to stay in there?

Thanks Again,

Sam

Substrate...spot clean..every day.
Why buy from petzoo? Only asking as it is very cheap to buy a big bag of sterilised topsoil from band q and also playsand....dont think they will be cheaper than £3 for a large bag...I can fill three small tables from a bag of each(underbed store size)
I only do a full clean when I turf the littlies out for the summer as they will not come back in then...just spot clean and rake it over every week and mist it every day to keep the dust down.
Wonderful wildflower seeds from Wild Flower Shop - wild flowers, wildflowers, wild flower, native plants, wild flower seeds, grow wild, wildflower seeds, native flowers, native plant, wild flower seed, native garden, wildflower seed mix, wild bulbs, wildflowershop, native seed, mea
The best value weed mixes from Weed seed supply, weed seeds, wildflower seed, wildflowers, wild flowers, landscaping, agrochemical trials and research - Herbiseed

The name on the certificate should be the name of the shop. If the name/address is a location that you did not buy the animal from, it is illegal. A shop is meant to send the CITES paperwork off and update it to their own name before they sell it. Only the person named in the top left box can legally sell that tortoise.

The name/address is merely the last owner of the tortoise. It is not the breeder. If you decided to sell the tortoise in the future, to do so legally, you would need to update that name/address in your name. This is free to do and just a simple form you send off and they send you the updated one. There is no real way of tracing the actual breeder, other than the country they were in.

__________________

Thanks for the info everyone. I will definitely opt for the bandq approach as a money saving initiative next time!! The wildflowershop has a nice soudning tortoise seed collection I think I will get.

Cheers,

Sam

I would leave out the lettuce and tomato myself, and just feed weeds. If you can't find many weeds at the moment buy a bag of Crispy Florette from the supermarket and add a bit of that to the weeds. But remember torts don't need too much food