Hermann's Tortoise

Indoors, use an open-topped tortoise table with a basking lamp (or a combined mercury vapour heat and UV lamp) over one end, giving a basking spot of about 30-35 °C, a cool end of about 20-25 °C and nights not below about 15-18 °C. In warm UK weather it can live outdoors in a secure, sunny pen with a heated shelter or cold frame, but bring it in or provide heat when nights turn cold.

Indoors it needs a high-output 10-12% UVB tube (or a mercury vapour lamp) over the basking area, giving a UVI of about 3-5 under the lamp (Ferguson zone 3) with shade elsewhere, on for about 12 hours a day. Natural sunlight outdoors in summer is the best UV source; replace lamps as the maker advises.

Indoors, a diggable mix of topsoil and play sand (or soil and coir) deep enough for it to dig in, with a drier area under the lamp; feed on a slate or tile so it does not swallow substrate. Outdoor pens need well-drained ground planted with edible weeds and solid walls sunk about 20 cm into the soil, as they dig and climb.

A high-fibre, low-protein, weed-based diet: at least 70% wild plants such as dandelion, sow thistle, milk thistle, plantain, chickweed and bindweed, plus flowers such as hibiscus, nasturtium and honeysuckle, all free of pesticides. Feed daily in the active season, with supermarket salad and vegetables only when weeds are scarce; avoid fruit, high-protein foods and toxic plants such as buttercups, and dust food with calcium, alternating with a vitamin and mineral supplement.

Provide a shallow water dish it can climb into and drink from, changed daily. Bathe it in shallow lukewarm water about twice a week (more often for hatchlings and before and after hibernation) so it can drink and pass urine.

Give hides at both ends and a varied landscape of slopes, rocks, logs and planted areas to explore, with loose soil for digging; outdoors, a large planted pen allows natural grazing. Tortoises do not need company; if kept together, use single-sex groups with plenty of space, extra hides and several basking and feeding spots.

Common problems are respiratory infections (runny nose, often from cold or damp), mouth rot, worms, and shell deformity or metabolic bone disease from poor diet or too little UV. Hibernation is the riskiest time: freezing can cause blindness or death, rats can attack sleeping tortoises, and one that is not eating or urinating within a week of waking needs a vet. An annual pre-hibernation vet check and faecal worm test are recommended.

Pick it up with both hands either side of the shell, keeping it low and level, and handle no more than needed, as it is not a cuddly pet. Non-venomous and rarely bites; wash hands afterwards, as tortoises can carry Salmonella.

No Dangerous Wild Animals Act licence is needed, but it is CITES Appendix II and Annex A of the UK wildlife trade regulations, so selling, buying, offering, advertising or swapping one needs an Article 10 certificate from APHA (keeping one or giving it away free does not). Tortoises big enough to chip (about 60 mm and over) must have an ISO microchip and a specimen-specific certificate that stays with the tortoise for life, while small captive-bred hatchlings can be sold on a one-sale transaction-specific certificate naming the seller. Always see the certificate before buying, keep it (or a copy and its number) safe, and note that certificates issued in Great Britain are not valid in Northern Ireland or the EU.

Two subspecies are recognised: the western T. h. hermanni (smaller, rarely over 18 cm) and the eastern T. h. boettgeri, the form most often kept in the UK, which can reach about 28 cm; males have longer, thicker tails and incubation temperature sets the sex of hatchlings. Only healthy, well-fed tortoises should hibernate, after a vet check and a 3-4 week wind-down (no food, regular baths, temperatures lowered gradually), for about 6 weeks in young animals and up to 3 months in adults. Keep it at a steady 5 °C or so (never below 2 °C or above 8-9 °C), ideally in a fridge with a max-min thermometer, weigh it every 1-2 weeks and wake it if it loses more than about 1% of its weight a month or 8-10% overall.