For tortoise, terrapin and turtle care and conservation
HABITAT: In areas with hot summers; moist or dry regions, on cultivated land, hillsides or woodland. It prefers dense vegetation; some like wading.
SUBSPECIES: Two subspecies are recognised:
1. The Western Hermann's Tortoise (Testudo hermanni hermanni including T.h. robertmertensi)
RANGE: Islas Baleares (Spain), South of France to western Italy.
2. The Eastern Hermann's Tortoise (Testudo hermanni boettgeri)
RANGE: Western Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania to the former Jugoslavia, Greece, Albania and southern Italy.
FEATURES: The animal has a horny pin on the end of the tail,small and clawlike in the case of the female, long and straight in the case of the male. The scaling on the fore limbs is fairly fine. The carapace length is up to about 20cm. The colour is from yellow varying to orange and brown with dark pigment. The supracaudal may be divided. Eggs hatch in 62-66 days.
CARE AND FEEDING: See the Care of Mediterranean Tortoises care sheet.