Coming soon…
European tortoises are popular pets — but how do we give them a home in the cool, damp climate of Central Europe that meets their natural need for warmth and light? This is the question at the heart of the TASCHENDINOS Technology Handbook, the latest volume in the Modern European Tortoise Husbandry series.
Drawing on decades of tortoise-keeping experience, yearly visits to the animals‘ natural habitats and years of voluntary husbandry advice, author Frauke Hustinx sets out how modern technology can be used to recreate a Mediterranean microclimate in a cold frame or greenhouse — as closely and as safely as possible.
The book begins by examining the Mediterranean climate itself: its hours of sunshine, UV Index and the Ferguson Zones that classify the light and heat requirements of Testudo species. From there it turns to the practical side of husbandry — lighting and UVB, safe electrical installation, basking spots, heating and thermostats — before moving on to cold frames and greenhouses, the construction of a frost-proof brumation pit, and the design of a predator-proof outdoor enclosure. A dedicated chapter covers safe brumation, comparing controlled fridge brumation with brumation in an outdoor pit, and explaining how to monitor tortoises safely through the winter and bring them out again in spring.
Every recommendation is grounded in current research and established guidance — from Ferguson’s UV zone classifications and BIAZA’s lighting recommendations to veterinary literature on metabolic bone disease — making this handbook as much a work of reference as a practical, hands-on guide.
“Anyone who keeps reptiles in human care has the responsibility and duty to provide the best possible conditions and to learn about their way of life and behaviour in their natural environment.”
— Krönke (2023), quoted in the book’s closing remarks
The handbook was created in support of Schildkroetensuche.org, the voluntary platform founded by Hustinx that helps reunite escaped and found tortoises with their keepers across German-speaking countries and neighbouring regions.
The Handbook Technology will soon be available.
About the author
Frauke Hustinx has kept and advised on European tortoises for many years and regularly gives talks on tortoise husbandry, overwintering and simulating the Mediterranean climate. She is a board member of the AG Schildkröten within the DGHT and has written a series of books on modern European tortoise husbandry. Handbooks on technology, refrigerator brumation and poisonous plants have so far been published in German, alongside the children’s book Anna and Mona in German, Polish and English. English editions of the Technology Handbook and of Brumation in the Refrigerator are coming soon.
More English resources and upcoming English editions.
