Tortoise newbie

[ReginaPhalangee]

I've acquired a beautiful 12 year old Hermann's tortoise, rehomed from a friend who couldn't look after her any more. I've always wanted one and I'm thrilled! She has been living outside - in a hutch at night and roaming the garden through the day. She hibernates every winter for around 3-4 months in a special box in the shed.
What advice would you offer as to how to look after her well? She's been eating brilliantly but this is slowing down gradually as she prepares for hibernation again. She has put on weight this year and been very active during the warm weather.
I have read plenty of books and websites, but advice does tend to widely differ.
Today she's dug a hole and buried herself under the lawn! I have read that this is normal behaviour and I know she has done it previously when with her former owner. Should I leave her in the hole or bring her out when it gets late/dark?
Should I keep the hutch or offer her a more specialist kind of shelter she can come in and out of as she pleases?
Any advice would be welcomed, we want to give her a long, happy and healthy life. Thanks!

Get a cold frame and she can use that to warm up in on days where it’s cloudy or rainy. They need to be able to bask for digestion and activity as cold blooded. So most people rig the cold frame up with a basking lamp plus a heater and T5 UVA/B lamp for the autumn going into winter months. This will prevent her hibernating too soon. Is the garden secure that she can’t dig out?
It’s good to make an area (where your cold frame is) that’s Mediterranean with typical plants, soil, stones. Keep it heavily planted so that she can make a scrape and shelter from the sun and feel safe. If you dig a deep pit under the cold frame and line it with a permeable liner the tortoise can dig down and hibernate there.
There are some useful Facebook pages, one on hibernation and the other on keeping tortoises naturalistically. There is another on foraging for tortoises which shows you all the different types of weeds and flowers that are safe to feed. You can upload photos and someone will reply almost immediately.

Ps put plenty of rat traps down so that she is protected when she sleeps. Some people lock the tortoise in the cold frame at night when rats are active. You just have to remember to unlock it when the sun comes up! If you hibernate her in the cold frame the deep soil needs lining with something Rat proof but permeable. The Facebook hibernation page will advise you about the box on shed method. Some people hibernate them in a temp controlled fridge.

Please please please find The Tortoise Protection Group on Facebook and ask there. They are SO knowledgable and can help you with the best advice.

TPG are ok. Norfolk tortoise club are very helpful. Maintaining tortoises naturalistically in UK climate (Facebook group) are the most Knowledgeable I’ve come across. Especially as op has a tortoise that’s been raised outdoors (as they should be).

Thank you for all of your comments/advice and for taking the time to respond! I will certainly look at those groups.

My little baby princess turtle fell to his death sadly in 2011, be sure to keep them away from swimming pools

@Karen oh I'm so sorry, that is heartbreaking. You must be devastated. No pool here, not til I win the lottery anyhow ;) but she does like a little splash around in the sink...

No helpful advice what so ever but I was chatting to a man in the supermarket queue (like you do) when I was buying a load of guinea-pig veg .
He had just inherited a very elderly tortoise ( IIRC oer 80) from his grandmother and he was so pleased (he must've been in his 30s I guess)
This very treasured animal was going to its next generation owner to be cherised .

One of the loveliest scenes I remember on holiday years ago was a walled enclosure at a resturant in Turkey where dozens of tortoises just roamed about happily . And they could move pretty quick I have to say