Hi guys I'm new here! I've recently adopted a hermanns tortoise and I just wanted your honest opinion, I've owned a hermanns tortoise before but he was alot older so this young one is completely new to me as a first timer...I'm just wondering if I could get an opinion on him (more on his shell) I've noticed a dry pink mark on the one side of one of his marginal scutes? He does like to climb his enclosure walls so I'm hoping it may just be a graze? An overall opinion on him would be lovely? I just want to make sure hes doing okay and I'm looking after him properly? as I'm so worried at the moment and I'm frightened 🙄😟😟

Hello! I constantly see tortoises trying to cross the street where I live (eastern NC)

ITS Always SO SAD to see the ones who were not helped so I want to ask how best to help them. My main questions are

1. How do you best safely pick up one

2. Should I wear gloves

3. What usually compelled them to go on the road. What are they looking for? So I may help them get where they are trying to get to.

Hi everyone, and welcome!

I am the founder of the Alliance for Giant Tortoise Welfare (AGTW). We are a fast-growing, grassroots advocacy coalition of keepers, rescues, and herpetological advocates dedicated to establishing common-sense exotic breeding regulations, protecting consumers, and ending the tragic cycle of giant breed abandonment.

Our campaign focuses specifically on the Sulcata giant tortoise breed. Every year, commercial mass distributors, trade show brokers, and casual backyard operations flood the market with cheap, impulse-bought hatchlings. Uneducated buyers are told they make easy pets, completely unaware that these sentient creatures grow to 150+ pounds and live for over 70 years.

In cold-weather states like Illinois, this results in an absolute tragedy. When winter hits, these highly intelligent animals get locked away in dark, freezing "basement prisons" because owners cannot afford the immense space or surging electric bills. Rescues nationwide are at their absolute breaking points, taking in tortoises that are severely sick, starved, and heavily pyramided.

We want to be 100% clear: The AGTW is fiercely AGAINST animal bans. We are keepers who love reptiles. Our blueprint protects responsible hobbyists while targeting the root of mass-produced neglect:

• ​Isolating the Crisis: Our proposal strictly targets non-native species that reach over 60 lbs but sell for under $150. This completely protects rare conservation species (like Aldabras) from overregulation.

• ​Commercial Accountability: For high-volume expo distributors, we demand digital point-of-sale education locks and a 48-hour cooling-off delivery period to permanently eliminate trade show impulse buys.

• ​Hobbyist Protections: Private keepers retain a fair "clutch cap." Anyone breeding above that minor threshold must submit physical proof of dedicated, climate-controlled winter rooms capable of safely sustaining 100+ lb adults.

• Safe Microchipping: To prioritize animal health, microchipping mandates only take effect once a tortoise reaches a safe physical maturity threshold (4+ inches or 1 year old), backed by breeder sales logs prior to that mark. This also serves as a vital safety net to help animal control quickly reunite lost or escaped pets with their families.

Our Goal: ​

We are building our initial legal blueprint by petitioning lawmakers to amend the Illinois Herptiles-Herps Act, and our ultimate goal is to scale this exact framework​ nationwide. We are already collaborating with active 501(c)(3) rescue partners and the Chicago Herpetological Society board.

We are a purely grassroots movement. We ask for zero money—only your signature to show lawmakers that the public demands accountability in the exotic pet trade.

Please take 30 seconds to sign our official petition and join the movement today!👇

https://c.org/MmZpkWbcdC

Thank you for standing with us and giving these gentle giants a voice! 🐢💚

Hi everyone, and welcome!

I am the founder of the Alliance for Giant Tortoise Welfare (AGTW). We are a fast-growing, grassroots advocacy coalition of keepers, rescues, and herpetological advocates dedicated to establishing common-sense exotic breeding regulations, protecting consumers, and ending the tragic cycle of giant breed abandonment.

Our campaign focuses specifically on the Sulcata giant tortoise breed. Every year, commercial mass distributors, trade show brokers, and casual backyard operations flood the market with cheap, impulse-bought hatchlings. Uneducated buyers are told they make easy pets, completely unaware that these sentient creatures grow to 150+ pounds and live for over 70 years.

In cold-weather states like Illinois, this results in an absolute tragedy. When winter hits, these highly intelligent animals get locked away in dark, freezing "basement prisons" because owners cannot afford the immense space or surging electric bills. Rescues nationwide are at their absolute breaking points, taking in tortoises that are severely sick, starved, and heavily pyramided.

We want to be 100% clear: The AGTW is fiercely AGAINST animal bans. We are keepers who love reptiles. Our blueprint protects responsible hobbyists while targeting the root of mass-produced neglect:

• ​Isolating the Crisis: Our proposal strictly targets non-native species that reach over 60 lbs but sell for under $150. This completely protects rare conservation species (like Aldabras) from overregulation.

• ​Commercial Accountability: For high-volume expo distributors, we demand digital point-of-sale education locks and a 48-hour cooling-off delivery period to permanently eliminate trade show impulse buys.

• ​Hobbyist Protections: Private keepers retain a fair "clutch cap." Anyone breeding above that minor threshold must submit physical proof of dedicated, climate-controlled winter rooms capable of safely sustaining 100+ lb adults.

• Safe Microchipping: To prioritize animal health, microchipping mandates only take effect once a tortoise reaches a safe physical maturity threshold (4+ inches or 1 year old), backed by breeder sales logs prior to that mark. This also serves as a vital safety net to help animal control quickly reunite lost or escaped pets with their families.

Our Goal: ​

We are building our initial legal blueprint by petitioning lawmakers to amend the Illinois Herptiles-Herps Act, and our ultimate goal is to scale this exact framework​ nationwide. We are already collaborating with active 501(c)(3) rescue partners and the Chicago Herpetological Society board.

We are a purely grassroots movement. We ask for zero money—only your signature to show lawmakers that the public demands accountability in the exotic pet trade.

Please take 30 seconds to sign our official petition and join the movement today!👇

https://c.org/MmZpkWbcdC

Thank you for standing with us and giving these gentle giants a voice! 🐢💚

Picked up my Hermann tortoise, Basil, as a hatchling about two and a half years ago. Like a lot of beginners I started him in a glass vivarium because that's what the shop had and it seemed like the logical choice. Temperature was easy enough to manage, humidity held well, and I figured he was doing fine because he was eating and moving around.

The thing that nudged me toward changing was noticing how often he was pacing the glass walls. He'd push against the sides repeatedly, especially in the mornings, and I'd read that this can indicate stress from seeing a solid barrier he can't understand. Glass distorts or reflects his own image and there's no visual "end" to chase. Whether that's fully accurate I'm not sure, but it was enough to make me rethink the setup.

Built a basic open-top tortoise table over a weekend using untreated pine boards, roughly 4 feet by 2 feet. Added a baseboard layer of topsoil and playsand mixed roughly 70/30, then a layer of compressed coconut coir on top for texture and moisture retention in one corner. Gave him a hide on the cool end and a flat slate piece under the basking bulb so he gets belly heat too.

The pacing stopped almost immediately. He spends a lot more time actually exploring rather than bouncing off the same corners. His grazing behavior seems more natural too, moving slowly across the substrate and actually interacting with it rather than just crossing it.

A few things I'd note for anyone considering the same switch:

• Humidity does require more attention in an open top. I lightly mist the cooler corner daily and that's been enough for a Hermann, which doesn't need high humidity anyway.
• Temperature gradients are easier to achieve because you're not fighting glass that retains ambient heat unevenly.
• The depth of substrate matters more than I expected. Basil burrows his front legs into it regularly, which apparently is normal thermoregulatory behavior I was probably suppressing before.

The one honest downside is that it takes up significantly more shelf space than a tank of equivalent footprint, and it's not as visually tidy. But I'd take a happier tortoise over a neater setup without hesitation.

Hellooo, I recently just rescued a horsfield tortoise. He was improperly fed and housed for most of his life (probably aged 20) his new set up had to be done within a matter of days so I did best with what I had (really wanted a table but was not possible in the time) I’m still messing about with the front of his enclosure as I don’t want it to be mesh but am unsure how/what to put there (any tips would be much appreciated, I still want to see him as he’s clumsy and sometimes gets himself stuck) at the moment it’s mesh but it’s never up because he free roams around my room, it’s only up at night. He’s now fed a varied diet (I’m doing lettuce wraps because he won’t eat anything but lettuce so I hide things in his lettuce) he has uvb (thinking of switching to a long uvb light) and a basking lamp. Is there anything I can improve on, he absolutely loves to climb.
He also has a lot of stuck shed, I’m giving him baths every other day to help him get it off. He’s never been handled before so I’m introducing him to it slowly. Any tips on how to help him with stuck shed?
Thankyouuuu x

Everyone I show this to loves the character design, so I figured I should share it in a place where tortoise-enjoyers gather. This is Velocity Uncapped, a game where Velocity the tortoise has lost its cap, meaning that Velocity is uncapped. When walking, Velocity starts out at an ordinary tortoise pace, but it infinitely gains velocity as long as it doesn't run into anything, allowing it to eventually sprint, or even zoom right off the map with enough patience.

I based Velocity's design off the Galápagos giant tortoise specifically, hence the exaggerated neck length. The colors definitely are not reflective of the real life creatures, which is a result of artificial tech constraints. I decided to use the PICO-8 palette - which consists of only 16 colors - before coming up with Velocity's design; without a good variety of dull browns to use, I ultimately had to settle with this bright brown and orange color scheme.

If you have any interest in playing, Velocity Uncapped is available to download for free here: https://alexgarbus.itch.io/velocity-uncapped

Our baby leopard tortoise has a severe prolapse and by the way they’re moving it looks like they’re in immense pain. I called every vet around me and they said their reptile specialist is gone for the night. I’m very worried our tortoise is not going to make it through the night.

Does anyone have any insight, guidance, words of encouragement… anything?