Hi everyone,
We picked up a young Hermann at the weekend as the new family pet - Approx 16 months old I think.....

We have a ceramic heat bulb at one end of the table, and also a UV bulb on one side.
I realise there may be a settling in period involved, but roughly how much time should they spend under the heat each day ?

So far, ours has pottered around the enclosure, but doesn't seem that fussed about staying under the heat - The most she will sit there for is about 10 mins, and then will wander back off to the hide at the cooler end, and go back to sleep !!

Whilst wandering around yesterday, she did eat a few dandelion leaves and stalks, and some T-Rex food. And then went back to sleep !!

Is this normal behaviour, not really wanting the heat? The background temp in the house has been 20 - 21 C over the last few days.

Should we be encouraging her to spend more time in the main enclosure each day by perhaps blocking the hide off for a bit, to ensure proper heat and UV exposure, or should we just let her get on with it ???
She had had a bath today, and has pooed !

I am planning on changing the material in the table to a topsoil / sand mix over the next few days, as we were advised to buy pellet type stuff to use, but after trawling thro this forum, this seems like naff advice !!
She seem to want to bury, so the soil/sand should help this.....

Any advice and comments would be appreciated !
Cheers,
Jay

congrats on the new tort!!they are an endless ource of pleasure and worry! you could try getting one of those flexi desk lamps that takes normal spotlights and using tha as a basking lamp instead of the ceramic. they all tend to assosciate light=heat! so by putting an adjustable spotlamp in there, she will think its the sun and be more inclined to bask. the ceramic can still be used for bachground heat if your house gets a little chilly. Or to heat a small outdoor dog kenel for him in the summer when the garden is there favourite place to be!

yes as bruce said you need to get a light as a heat source as they associate heat with light eg the sun.You need to put it at the same end as the u.v.

to the forum.

What temperature is your basking area? This should be measured directly under the heater at a point where the top of your torts shell would be. The ideal temp is around 32 degs. The cool end of your table should be around 20 degs. Are you using digital thermometers to measure this as some of the small plastic ones like the exo-terra can be quite out on their readings.

My hermann tends to bask in the morning after she's woken up, have something to eat, bask a little longer then dig down and sleep for most of the afternoon... away from the heat. She'll then bask for a little while after her bath in the evening before going to bed.

Sand/soil is a good substrate, just make sure you spray it lightly each evening so it doesn't become dusty and dry as this can irritate their eyes. Another good substrate is hemp.

I wouldn't advise blocking off any area of her table... tortoises need to have different microclimates (different temp areas) for them to warm up and cool down.

I look forward to seeing pics of your new hermann

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Thanks for the replies folks - since my original post, young "Tumble" seems to have sussed that the ceramic bulb is heat, and is spending much more time under it.

She seems to like burying down underneath it and sleeping there for good chunks of time....
Should I leave this ceramic bulb now, or still change it to a light bulb ??

Eating dands & T-rex daily too - weed seeds arrived in the post today, and will be planted for a future food source....

Anything else I should know for immediate use ???
I will measure the temp and post later, along with some photos when I take some !!

Thanks again,
Jason

Have a look through this thread, it gives links to some useful sites for feeding and general husbandry:

MED TORTOISES... useful links

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Thanks for the link - good stuff !

Tina - Shall I stick with the ceramic bulb for the heat now, as she seems to have sussed thats what its for ??

Cheers

Quite a few people do seem to use ceramics with no problems, I suppose if your table is in a room with lots of natural light your tort will react to that rather than the artificial light of a bulb. If she's basking and your temps are okay I don't see any reasons why you shouldn't stick with it.

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I have a ceramic heater on one of my torts and a bulb on the other. I have to say I find the ceramic heater better than the bulb.

Why have you got a ceramic heater and a basking light? They do need a cool area too. I only used a ceramic heater for my Leo's to make sure there cool area was warm enough, as of course they need more heat than the Hermanns.