Baskden a warm den for reptile folk · baskden.com Hermann's Tortoise — Vet-Prep Sheet
🔍 Find a reptile / exotics vet — before you need one
- Search the ARAV Find-a-Vet directory (the Association of Reptilian & Amphibian Veterinarians), or in the UK the RCVS Find-a-Vet — or search "reptile / exotics vet near me".
- Call ahead and ask the key question: "Do you see reptiles?" Not every practice does.
- Ask the exam fee when you call. Knowing the cost up front removes the money-panic in a crisis.
- Find and save one now, while things are calm — not in the middle of an emergency.
📇 Fill this in now — before the crisis
Two minutes now saves ten in a panic. Print it and keep it with your care notes.
🚨 Is this an emergency now?
See a reptile vet promptly if you notice any of these:
- A soft, lumpy, or badly “pyramided” shell, or a rubbery beak (signs pointing to metabolic bone disease / husbandry problems).
- A runny or bubbling nose, or open-mouth breathing (possible respiratory infection — common in tortoises).
- Not eating with straining, or a female restless and straining (possible impaction or egg-binding).
- An overgrown beak or nails, or swollen/puffy eyes.
- Lethargy or weight loss going into or coming out of hibernation — see a vet, don’t “sleep it off”.
When in doubt, a vet call is never wrong — most issues are reversible if caught early.
🚗 On the way / while you wait
✅ Do
- Keep it warm at a safe transport temperature — a cold reptile crashes fast (a warm car or a covered container with a warm, not hot, pack helps).
- Keep it calm, dark and quiet in a secure, ventilated container — stress makes almost everything worse.
- Bring it in its own container so the vet sees it as it lives.
⛔ Don't
- Don’t offer food, or any OTC, aquarium-shop or online-forum remedy — many are useless or harmful and can mask the signs.
- Don’t let it get cold on the way in.
- Don’t handle it more than you must.
🎒 What to bring
- A short video and a couple of clear photos of the behaviour or sign — it may not show it in the clinic.
- A note of your setup (basking, cool-side and night temperatures, UVB, humidity, substrate) and exactly what — and how often — you feed.
- Your reptile, transported safely in its own secure, ventilated container — kept warm (see below), not in a cold car.
🗣️ What to tell the vet
A general vet may not know this species. Come ready to explain its correct care:
- Temperature
- Basking area 95–100°F (35–38°C) from an overhead halogen flood on a thermostat (some vets suggest a slightly lower 90–95°F). Cool/shaded zone 75–85°F (24–29°C), giving a full gradient. Night below ~72°F (22°C); a natural drop is fine and healthy.
- UVB & lighting
- Strong UVB is essential for a diurnal grazer: a T5 HO 12% bulb (Arcadia Desert 12% or Zoo Med ReptiSun 10.0) giving UVI 3.0–4.0 in the basking area (Ferguson Zone 3), mounted at the maker’s recommended height (~17–18 in above the shell), plus a bright ~6500K LED for daylight. Run ~14 hours in summer, 10 in winter. Replace the UVB bulb every 12 months.
- Humidity
- Adults 40–60%; hatchlings higher at 60–80%, with daily misting or a shallow soak — too-dry keeping is a main cause of a bumpy, “pyramided” shell, so don’t keep a young one bone-dry. A humid hide helps.
- Enclosure
- Floor space matters far more than height. Indoor minimum is about 22 sq ft of floor for one — an open-topped table or large enclosure, never a small terrarium. A predator-proof OUTDOOR grazing pen is ideal whenever the weather allows, with walls ~24 in above ground and sunk ≥12 in below to stop climbing and digging escapes. They’re happiest kept singly; add floor space per extra tortoise.
- Substrate
- A deep, burrowable roughly 50/50 topsoil-and-play-sand mix, no less than 6 in deep, that holds a little moisture and lets them dig. They are avid diggers and burrowers. Spot-clean daily; refresh every few months.
- Diet
- A grazing HERBIVORE that needs a high-fibre, LOW-protein, LOW-sugar diet: mostly leafy greens, grasses, and edible “weeds” (dandelion, plantain, clover) plus flowers as treats. NOT the vegetables and fruit from the produce aisle — those are too rich. Fruit and any animal protein are, at most, rare mistakes to avoid.
- Supplements
- Provide a cuttlebone in the enclosure (calcium + it keeps the beak trimmed), and lightly dust food with calcium; a light multivitamin on a rotation.
⚕️ Reptiles are ectotherms kept at species-specific temperatures — a cold reptile can’t metabolise medicines properly, so tell the vet your exact temperatures and keep it warm for transport. Reptiles are prey animals and hide illness until it is advanced, so early changes matter. Mention your UVB/lighting and any supplements or remedies you’ve already used, and ask for reptile-safe products and doses.
Then note which of the warning signs (above) you are seeing, when they started, and whether they are getting worse.
❓ Questions to ask
- Do you routinely see reptiles? If not, can you refer me to a vet who does?
- What are the likely causes — and could my setup or diet be contributing?
- What is the treatment plan, the likely cost, and what should I watch for at home?
- How do I prevent this from happening again?