Missus got her tank! :)

Klyde O'Scope

Chameleon Enthusiast
Missus got her baby male Western Hermann's Tortoise yesterday.

1628354190546.png


Full-grown adult size: 4"-5" (10cm-13cm)
Lifespan: up to 90 years
Name: Ol' Mitch


The Adventure Begins... Very... Very... Very... S-L-O-W-L-Y...
 
It’s adorable! 🤗
That's hard to tell. His little face parts are so small, neither of us can see them with the naked eye.
We're not even sure if he has ear holes or not! :eek: We do know that he likes dandelion flowers, and here it's close to the end of the season. :(
 
It’s his itty bitty-ness that makes him adorable. 🤗
And he's not going to get very big so he will still be cute and easy to pick up if need be!

I always made my decisions on whether to keep a species by the criteria....could I pick it up with one hand if I had to move it or work on it for health issues. (Well...most of the time I did that.)
 
I always made my decisions on whether to keep a species by the criteria....could I pick it up with one hand if I had to move it or work on it for health issues. (Well...most of the time I did that.)
We sorta did that with our dogs. We like big dogs, but we have to be able to lift & handle if necessary.
That's getting harder as we get older. Carrying this Lab's butt around in a sling after his knee surgery was a rude awakening.
 
Tortoise Hearing

I've been reading a lot of articles about tortoise/turtle hearing. Interesting reading, but none seem to spell out what frequencies tortoises can hear (vs. feeling vibrations).

Chameleons can ostensibly hear between 200 - 600 Hz — Dr. Wayne Wenowdis

The closest I've found is:
Although the mechanism of transduction of sound into a neural signal via hair cells has been described in detail, the rest of the auditory system is largely a black box. What is known is that turtles have higher hearing thresholds than other reptiles, with best frequencies around 500 Hz.
Underwater Hearing in Turtles

Does anyone know or have a source for more specific frequencies that can be heard by tortoises?
 
First couple/few days were as expected (a little relocation stress), but he's settled into his tortoise groove—and he's eating copious amounts of food. He doesn't always sleep IN his hide, but always in its vicinity. He wakes up slowly (which is good for us), basks a little to warm up, eats & drinks for an hour or so, takes his constitutional laps around his box (he's taking different paths every day, acquainting himself with his digs), gets his daily soak, then settles in for a long nap.

I should be so lucky! :LOL:
 
He just flipped himself for the first time (that we've seen).
He climbed up to the top of his log bridge thingie, looked down over the edge, then stepped off...

I Believe I Can Fly!
Fly Flying GIF by Luis Ricardo


Of course he just flipped over onto his back. Missus ran to get the camera, but by the time she did, he had righted himself and moved on.
Missus: "What if he can't turn himself over?"
Me:——"Then turtles would be extinct." 😁
 
Back
Top Bottom