Twig and Iris are two young Hermanns tortoises that were rehomed with me when they were nearly three years old.  They had been fed a diet of dried commercial pellets and fruit and they spent all their days in a small vivarium.  Not a good start for any tortoise and certainly not a natural life.  As you can see from the photo they were over grown for their age with thick and very bumpy shells.

Sadly they were somewhat addicted to the dried high protein commercial pellets, but with some stubborness on my part, they now enjoy a healthy variety of fresh weeds and plants.  They also live outside for most of the spring and summer, with just a few weeks either side of hibernation on a tortoise table.  This is a real achievement for both Twig and Iris as they both had low grade chest infections when the first arrived.  I believe this was due to the high temperatures in an enclosed vivarium being a perfect breeding ground for nasty bacteria.

Tortoises thermoregulate; They like to warm up and bask, but they also like to cool down in the shade.  You will rarely see a wild tortoise roaming at the hotest part of the day. Instead they find a shady spot to relax.  Vivariums do not allow for this natural process, the atmosphere is often too dry.  Twig and Iris now have a happy life, living in their own garden, they can often be seen digging down in ground or heading off for a snooze in their hut at the hottest part of the day.

Can you spot Iris, dug down on a cloudy day?

The Urban Tortoise was set up to help other tortoises have happy natural lives rather than half lives stuck in tanks eating processed foods.  Beware, Pet shops will sell vivariums and such set ups, just like the unhealthy commercial pellets, after all they are very pofitable!