NEWS108
18
small youngsters arepractically never en-
countered in thewild.
Sowhat does thismeanwhen it comes to
terrariummaintenance?Quite simply, the
terrarium, be it in the house or outside,
must be arrangedwithnumerous hiding-
places so that the little ones can feel se-
cure.But thesehiding-placesmust alsobe
easy for theowner tomonitor,asotherwise
hewill lose control overwhat is goingon.
Corkbark isbest suited to thepurpose,as
it is relatively lightandsopresentsvirtually
no risk of injury to the young tortoises if
thepiecesare liftedeveryday forchecking
and thenputback inplace. If the tortoises
Adult femaleand juvenilesof
T.h.hermanni
from theareaaroundRome (Italy).
tortoise reachesanageofaround10years
and begins to breed, then it lays on ave-
rage 8-12 eggs year-round. An adult tor-
toisehas hardly any enemies and can live
to 80 years and even older in the wild.
Hence itwill produce around 700 eggs in
the courseof its life,and statistically spea-
king only two individualsneed togrow to
adulthood inorder tomaintain thepopu-
lation. From this it can be seen that the
mortality rateamong juveniles in thewild
is immense andwell over 90%of the off-
springperishwhen still young. Inorder for
any youngsters to survive at all theyneed
tostayverymuch inhiding,and that ispre-
cisely what they do.Which explains why
are forced into a permanently visible exi-
stence then themore sensitive specimens
among themwill be subject to such long-
termstress thatsooneror laterdiseasewill
set in,perhapswith fatal results.So,always
providehiding-places! If the tortoisesdon't
use them then they can always be remo-
ved,but firstmakeabsolutelysure that the
hiding-placesaren'tbeingavoided for rea-
sonssuchas toohotorcold,toodryorwet,
toodifficult toget into,etc.
Not toodry!
Their secretive way of life also explains
whybaby tortoisesareadapted toahigher
degree of moisture in their environment
thanareadult individuals,whichareoften
found in bone-dry areas. It is always so-
mewhatdamper in holes,beneath stones,
and so forth than in theopencountryside.
IfyoungEuropean tortoisesarekept in too
dryanenvironment then the resultmaybe
unnatural deformations of the carapace,
especially the dreaded hump develop-
ment. Ideally they should bemaintained
on a relativelydeep, loose, substrate com-
prisingamixtureofoneparteachof sand,
earth,andhumus.Thissubstrateshouldbe
about 10 cmdeep and setwith anumber
of shrubbyplants:indoors the ideal issmall
palms (forexample
Chamaeropshumilis
),as
theyarevery robustandcan'tbe trampled
down evenby larger tortoises,while out-
side shrubby cinquefoils (for example
Po-
tentilla fruticosa
), thymes,or lavenders can
be used. If thewatering is such that the
plantsgrowwell (ienodryingout or floo-
ding) then themoisture levelwillalwaysbe
correct for the tortoisesaswell.
Feedsparingly!
The second mistake that is repeatedly
made is to feedmuch toomuchofa far too
lushdiet.YoungEuropean tortoisesshould
be given exclusively grasses and greens
(including lettuce,hayetc.),butnever fruit,
vegetable,meaty foods, soakedbread, or
the like.The tortoisesmaywell eat all this
withenjoyment,but it is extremelyunhe-
althy for them.Nature is parsimonious in
thenatural habitat!Theyareunable to tra-
vel far for food in thewildas theywouldn't
survive suchwanderings. So they search
FemaleHermann'sTortoise
T.h.boettgeri
from theZadar area (Croatia).
