I have made a new, bigger habitat for Fred. He is not as lethargic as he used to be. As a matter of fact, he is so hyper throughout the day. He moves all over his habitat and hen it's feeding time, he really goes crazy on his food. It's really cute.
I noticed that his shell is getting ripples on it around the edges. It is also getting darker. Is that a good sign?? when I got him his shell was very flat, almost glossy. Now I am starting to notice some ripples.
I am living in kazakhstan right now with him and I was wondering if I should make him hibernate. He seams to be in great shape. The winters here get really cold (can go down to -20 C). I also don't know if he is too thin or too fat. How heavy should a turtle be? I guess he weighs a little less than a rock his size. If I should make him hibernate, when should I do that? I have tried to go to the russian tortoise site but it is not working. Sorry for asking so many questions. I just want to make sure that Fred has a good life.

My personal opinion is to not hibernate any animal I have not had for a year. After that year only if the animal is healthy and it can be correctly hibernated. So my vote is not to hibernate him this year. You need the time to be sure he is healthy, growing, eating and eating correctly, ect..,

Ripples? Any way to do a picture? Could be something as simple and positive as new growth or something more serious. Can we get more details on exactly where it's locate, what color is it, ect..,

I don't now much about russian tortoises but maybe you tortoise is trying to escape to find a female?If it's a male.But as Jaz said "Don't make too much of your tortoise trying to "escape" his container."

Why don't you put it on your Favorites?

I would stop feeding the carrots.You should be avoiding all vegetables.I would join the Tortoise Trust and read up on the dietry needs of the Russian tortoise.Where in the wild,in its native country,would the tort find Carrots?

Taylor,why do you recommend the carrot.

I would stop feeding the carrots.You should be avoiding all vegetables.I would join the Tortoise Trust and read up on the dietry needs of the Russian tortoise.Where in the wild,in its native country,would the tort find Carrots?

Taylor,why do you recommend the carrot.

I read up on a tortoise site that carrots are edible, and so is romaine lettuce - but not as a daily meal.
These vegetables are only ok to feed when weeds, flowers and plants aren't available.
other wise you would feed a proper stable diet.

Edible for russian tortoise from the russiantortoise.org webstie:

GREENS
Most grocery stores have a decent selection of greens that Russians readily eat. Ideally the greens should be organic and pesticide free. However this is the real world and not all tortoise keepers have access to "ideal" food. So, I have this section as a starting point for a varied diet. The following greens are easily found in my local stores:
Romaine lettuce
Red and green leaf lettuce
Endive
Escarole
Radicchio
Turnip greens
Mustard greens
Kale
Collards
Spring Mix (mixed salad greens)
cabbage (on occasion)

With the above veggies one can develop a good diet. Once again (and I can't stress this enough) variety is the key!
Don't feed the same food day in and day out. Mix varieties and choose a different green as the basis every few days.


OTHER GOOD CHOICES
Some other favorites of my tortoises that are available:
Hibiscus (flowers and leaves)
Hosta
Sedum
Mulberry leaves
Hen and Chicks
Ice Plants
Prickly pear flowers, fruit and pads (burn the spines off)
Dandelion
Plantain (not the banana type fruit....the weed plantago major)
Mallow (flowers and leaves)
Henbit
Rose (flowers and leaves....make sure no systemic pesticides were used)
Chrysanthemum flowers
Cornflowers Plagiobothrys ssp
Forsythia (flowers and leaves)
Dayflower Commelina diffusa (flowers and leaves)
Californian Poppy escholzia

Make sure all are pesticide and herbicide free.

AVOID
The following food items should be avoided for a variety of reasons. there are many books and groups that go into great detail...so I won't repeat them here. At the end of the page are a few links).
All fruit (although fruit is often recommended, its sugar content can lead
to parasite blooms....just not worth it) the exception is apples due to the high quantity of pectin....but still not frequently.
Iceberg lettuce
Bok Choy
All grains (including bread, pasta etc)
Dog and cat food
Meat
All human food except what's been listed as "good"
Pellet type foods (An often overlooked factor of pyramiding is grain based diets. These are the pellet food that some claim to be essential to health. They typically contain soy, wheat and or rice. These are high in omega 6 fatty acids which has a negative effect on health. They also have an acidifying effect which causes a leaching of bone. They are high in phytate which binds calcium and other minerals. They also have an unfavorable ca/ph ratio and a low ca/mg ratio which has a negative impact on calcium metabolism. Grains alter Vit D metabolism. Diets high in grains can have a negative impact on bone growth in spite of adequate exposure to sunshine. (http://www.sawellnesscenter.com//nutriti...icle-1.pdf)


http://russiantortoise.org/russiantortoisediet.htm[/b]

How is your nutritionally challenged tortoise doing? It must be so hard
when 99% of normal produce is not easily available. It presents a
unique chance for you to educate some of us back here in the states.
Some kids or old timers there might have insight to some of the natural
weeds and plants that Russian torts might find in the natural environment. (Which is really the best diet if you can find it). Take pictures to share if you find anything of value as far as natural food. Glad to hear your
little guy is active. jojo

This post was last modified: 09-25-2007 10:36 AM by josh.

Hi,
Forget the carrots and forget the dried food too.I think the kindest thing to do would be to re-home him to someone who can provide outdoor living areas.Russian torts are a burrowing species so a table top enclosure isnt really a good idea if hes farely big.He will get stressed out at not being able to dig down.They can burrow quite a few metres underground.How long have you had him/her?

Julie

Can i also just say,that you dont know what other torts this Russian has come across while being captured.You wont be able to release him as you will be putting the other wild torts at risk,possibly through contamination.If you have been allowing the tort to roam on areas where a sick animal has been etc,then you will be allowing this tort to introduce disease to the wild population of torts.

Julie