Hello! I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice? I have a friend who has 2 female Hermanns (bought from a UK breeder), aged almost 1 year, she wanted a male and we found one at our local rep shop (aged approx 2) so he is currently on hold secured by a small deposit until the end of the month (£20 paid of total price £150). She had intended to put them in together but following advice, she is now preparing another viv so they can be kept separate incase the male hassles the females. My concern is that we have been told by the shop (who have been fantastic with everything else we have bought from there) that her new boy came from Croatia...having read certain posts on here since hearing that i'm now a bit concerned that we should have looked elsewhere but I don't think I can talk her out of having him...should I try harder? Also is there a need to quarantine him? Sorry I know I probably sounds really stupid, I don't have torts myself!

There will be others like Tinkerbruce and Tina who will advise you on imported tortoises as I know nothing about them but I can say that a recommended period of quarentine is 6 months - the lenght of quarentine has always been debated but there should be a time that they are kept separated.

First of all at two years old your friend can't be absolutely sure that she'll be getting a male... it's a few years too young to be guaranteed.

Quarantine is an absolute essential... for at least 6 months though some people, especially when introducing an import to a group, would quarantine for up to 18 months. A lot of imports have heavy parasite loads so it would be advisable, if your friend does buy it, to have a poo sample checked straight away by a reputable vet who specialises in tortoises.

Has your friend spoken to the breeder of her original two to see if she has any older male tortoises available? Also, does she realise that in a few years, when they reach sexual maturity that she may well have to keep the male and females separately if he pesters them too much? Does she have a large enough outdoor area to do this? Why go to the expense of buying a viv when she can set up an adequate quarantine area for a two year old in something like an underbed storage box?

Sorry... lots of questions! Maybe she should join RFUK herself

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No that's great, thank you! I will pass on all of this info to her - re the new viv she has built one herself (most impressive lol) but will mention the storage box option as she still needs to sort the heating/lighting etc. I think she knows now that she will probably have to keep them separate and she has plenty of space so that shouldn't be a problem. I think i'm going to suggest she speaks to the original breeder though. Just so I know what i'm talking about, what exactly is it that's bad about the imports? Is it the risk of parasites or the cruelty aspect..or both? Would you advise her not to buy him?

There's nothing 'bad' about legal imports... I just wanted your friend to be aware that they can sometimes have parasites so it's best to have them checked - some good rep shops do treat for parasites though before they're sold on.

I'd always go for one from a breeder and always use a table but that's my personal opinion based on the conclusions I've reached after research. It doesn't mean I'd condemn someone who bought an import or used a viv (as long as it's well ventilated and has good temp gradients) though

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That's great, thanks Tina. I will discuss it with her, she's very careful about making sure they're healthy and happy so I know she'll take it all on board! He seems to be a happy little guy although much smaller than the 2 she already has. Apparently there's a good vet nearby so will hook her up with them I think!

If he's much smaller than her almost 1 year olds then I would very much doubt he's 2 years old which makes it even more unlikely that anyone can say it's a male. It really does sound too small and young to sex reliably. Unless of course her 1 year olds have grown too quickly. Most of the imports are captive farmed so will have been in a wild environment so their growth will be slow (as it should be).

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Hmm...ok I don't really know, is it possible her girls could be growing too quickly? Is this bad?

its not unusual in imported torts for any random certificate to be paired up with any random tort! my first hermanns was bought as 2002 hatchling in 2004. its only now i KNOW that they were just hatched babies. they had NO growth rings and weighed 40g. the breeders/importers dont care about matching up this years stock with this years certificates, just that they HAVE a certificate. and if it was two years old, there is a chance it is so small as it has a parasite burden and the nasties inside it are robbing it of nutrients instead of letting it grow.

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that doesn't sound good at all...oh dear. I'm really not sure if I will be able to talk her out of this, she's got quite attached to him already but I will perhaps give it a try...