Introduction for the tortoise

Hermanns Tortoises do not require as much space as some tortoises may need, many pet stores and reptile dealers will advise you to use either a glass aquarium or a "wooden" vivarium, however do not believe them, these enclosures are extremely bad for all tortoises. They do not provide enough air circulation, and they stress the tortoise and it is unhealthy if the tortoise is stressed.
The best enclosure for a Hermanns Tortoise is one of the following:
Indoor rabbit cage
Rubbermaid tub
Large storage tub
Converted otterman
the enclosures above are all suitable for adults and baby hermanns tortoises, they provide lots of air and less stress. If your not keen on any of them, then you can build your own custom enclosure which acts as whats called "tortoise table", it is really just a large wooden box with no lid. If you do choose the Tortoise Table, you best line the bottom so it does not rot with water, or moist bedding.

The bedding for a tortoises cage should be light, dust free and chemcial free including fertilizers, and toxins. The best bedding is soil mixed with play sand, do a 50/50 mixture. John innes loam based soil is perfect and can be used single or with playsand.
If you do not want to use soil, due to its dull color and strange scent, you can buy a bedding called Bed-A-Beast online, it is really a mixture of all sorts and you buy one brick per foot of the cage, add water, let it expand and then let it dry out and theres your bedding. Now many people dislike the soil, and sand and dull look, so on another hand to that you have alternatives such as Hemcore which is also known as Aspen used for cornsnakes or you can use Wood chippings. If you have an adult female that gets pregnant with eggs, you must have a nest box full of soil or bed-a-beast with a heat light over it for the female to lay her eggs in the bedding. She will not lay her eggs in hemcore, wood chippings or sand.

The cage should be decorated with plants such as patio grasses, aloe vera or succulents. Along with this, since a tortoise is clever and love to dig you should make your bedding deep, which in corners you can put soil and grow plants since it would be deep enough to maintain roots, along with plants you should have shallow piles of rocks, slate bits and similar things as they love to climb. A common decoration is tree bark, tree bark provides shade, aswell as a climbing obstacle. Hermanns tortoises are natural diggers and climbers, with tools such as their claws and limbs they are able to get up and down, in and out of various things. Thats all you need to know for caging a tortoise indoors.

Lighting for a tortoise is very important, they may not have the greatest eye sight but light keeps them active and exercising. The tortoise needs UV rays to help their shell grow smoothly and nicely, during winter if not hibernating you can buy a flourecent tube light that is artificial UVB rays, make sure the light is a Reptiglo or Reptisun, if not then make sure it is a REPTILE UV light of some sort. This light will help the D3 and help the tortoises shell grow stronger, better and smoother, however, the light needs to be changed to a new one every 6-12 months.

Heat is another important thing in a tortoises life, if they are cold they will go into hibernation, or just sleep every day and all day including night time. When a tortoise is warm, they motivate and move around, eat, drink and do their daily things, if they have no heat they have no motivation. For heat you can use a spot lamp, also known as a heat lamp, this and the uv light both should be on for around 12 hours a day from early morning until evening time then they both go off, dont worry about your tortoise getting cold at night they must cool down when they sleep. Never use a heat pad, heat mat, heat rock or anything similar as the tortoise can burn if they are on it too long, so please dont use them. During summer time, you should not need a uv light or heat light, as they should get roughly between 1 and 6 hours outside in the sun, this is better than their UV and Heat lights as the uv off the sun is natural, and isnt artificial. If you do not want to use a uv light, then you can take your tortoise outdoors for 30 minutes every day. 30 minutes outside is the equivalent to 12 hours artificial uv light bulb. However the heat light is NEEDED for sure.

These tortoises are very easy to feed, and easily pleased with whats offered on a plate infront of them.
These tortoises are natural Herbivores, meaning they eat plants and greens, and never touch meat.
Many people from petstores and reptile dealers (not breeders) will advise you feed lots of fruit, vegetables and cat food, but please do not be fooled by this as this diet is bad for a hermanns tortoise.
The correct diet is plants, flowers, weeds, cucumber, cabbage, romanie lettuce and salad mixes...heres a list of whats edible:
Dandelion, Clover, Rose petal, sunflower, pansy, viola, fuschia, hebe, hosta, lavander, rosemary, flowering maple, hibiscus, plantain, vetch, sedum, ice plant, succulent, grasses, dead nettle, hedgemustard, chicory, thistle, mallow, sainfoin, campanula, honeysuckle flowers, endive, escarol, red and green leaf lettuce, romain lettuce, salad mixes, cucumber, Aloe vera, agave, bueddleia (butterfly weed), cornflower, evening primrose, forget me not, gazania, chick weed, all cress, lavaetra, nasturtium, speedwell, trefoil, opuntia cacti, yarrow, wild cabbage, raddichio, kale, collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, carrots, carrot tops, spring mixes, spring greens, henbit, oat grass, bermuda grass, orchid grass, dahlia and thats around it.
This is all a hermanns tortoise eats, which costs less than buying veggies and fruit every couple of days, you can grow most of this outdoors all year round and indoors. It is good if you have turf grass bedding with about 6 inch soil underneat to plant various seeds to grow inside the tortoises enclosure. You should feed babies, hatchlings and yearlings for roughly twice a day (morning and evening), but when they are over 3 inches then you should only feed them once a day.

The hermanns tortoise can be handled, but never handle them rough or quickly, when you move with them move slowly, and dont squeeze them. When holding you should gentley grasp their belly with your thumb(s) and their top shell with all your fingers to make sure they do not drop. Again do not squeeze them. Babies and yearlings you can probly hold in the palm of your hand. If they are dropped, just gentley check them over, and if you see abit of their shell cracked or chipped, please seek vet advice ASAP and until further notice bath the crack or chip with warm water and abit of cotton wool to prevent any viral infections.

Your tortoises cage should have a shallow dish of water big enough to fit your tortoise in (plantpot saucers do well since their not too deep and come in all sizes)...however, they must be soaked either every day or twice a week. When soaking you should use a toddlers toothbrush and scrub their top shell and their belly with it, to remove any bacteria or dirt. You should use a larger tub, such as a storage tub or cat litter tray and put the tortoise in then fill it with luke warm water (not too cold or too hot) up to the side of their shells, this will prevent drowning. When outdoors you must soak them everyday, since the sun can dehydrate them really quick.

For baby tortoises, you should purchase an indoor rabbit cage and use this as a combination of indoor and outdoor habitats, during winter keep it indoors, and safe from cold, but in summer put them outside in the same cage somewhere where the sun shines all the time, and provides heat, and natural UV rays, but at night time bring them indoors. Adults should be put into a extra large rabbit outdoor pen to prevent cats or large dogs, and wild animals attacking them or taking them away. The tortoises should be provided with 2 shadey areas, a dish of cool water, and a plate of food. This will keep them happy all day until night time, you can bring them indoors and let them go to sleep.