# New Russian



## SleepyWilly (Aug 8, 2008)

Just got my tortoise was suppoused to get a redfoots was illegal was told getting a greek the order form said greek but i got a russian instead lol. So here is sherlock hes a pretty inquisitive little fellow and he even climbed onto his hide! to bad didnt have the camera with me it was priceless.

Here are some pics.

Sherlock's debute






Sherlock's Shell





Sherlocks plastron





Sherlock eatin





Chowin down





Luckily it shows no known signs of repritory infection or any sickness that i know of, im tracking down a herp vet and going to try to set up an appointment soon.

Num num


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## bacaraj (Aug 8, 2008)

nice looking little one.... where are you that redfoots are illegal?


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## egyptiandan (Aug 8, 2008)

You have a nice female Russian there  I hope though that your going to be giving her some substrate to dig into. Also do you have a basking light? I didn't see one.

Danny


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## SleepyWilly (Aug 8, 2008)

egyptiandan said:


> You have a nice female Russian there  I hope though that your going to be giving her some substrate to dig into. Also do you have a basking light? I didn't see one.
> 
> Danny



yes i will give her some substrate she just suprised me wasnt expecting her. and basking light is also check.


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## SleepyWilly (Aug 8, 2008)

bacaraj said:


> nice looking little one.... where are you that redfoots are illegal?



I'm in Rhode island so I don't know thats what my friend told me. Really I'm clueless I mean we do everything backwards in Rhode Island so might be different. One of sherlocks past times though it seems is running into anything and everything.


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## Crazy1 (Aug 8, 2008)

Congratulations on your New Russian.
I know you were researching Redfoots, and then Greeks and now you have a lovely Russian. 
Of the three they are usually the least expensive, so hope you didn't pay for that RF and Receive the Russian. 
Russians are climbers and diggers. 

So like Danny said you will have to give her some dirt or some substrate she can dig down into. If she climbed onto her hide she can climb out of "that" tote. Check out this climbing Russian, http://tortoiseforum.org/beware-t-2633.html

Actually with all the changes the sellers were making, it was smart to wait until you found out just what you were getting before you invested into all the heat lamps and substrates etc. 
Now off with you to the Russian Section for some more research, on lighting, heat etc Oh and don't forget to get a thermometer and hydrometer while you are shopping. LOL  
Here is a good Russian site for reference; http://www.russiantortoise.org/index.htm


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## SleepyWilly (Aug 8, 2008)

Crazy1 said:


> Congratulations on your New Russian.
> I know you were researching Redfoots, and then Greeks and now you have a lovely Russian.
> Of the three they are usually the least expensive, so hope you didn't pay for that RF and Receive the Russian.
> Russians are climbers and diggers.
> ...



Lol yea I did get 2 bags of sphagnum moss though, but i gave her a humid hide so eventually it'll be used up. The basking lamp is makeshift but thankfully the weather has been fairly nice and it works ok there is a difference in temp in the basking spot. I was definitely planning on getting 2-3 thermometers for hot end, middle, and cool end, as well as some calcium+d3 powder, a mvb bulb a new lamp and probably some t-rex food. I didn't actually know it was a Russian until today unfortuneatley it was marked a Greek and they sent a Russian instead.
I checked found the russiantortoise.org site and my knowledge from the previous 2 researched species made it alot easier to grasp the knowledge and some quick dietary and temp changes were in order. The climbing might be a problem she climbed onto her hide and fell off flipping herself and I righted her. I might have to shore up the walls with something though. Tortoises are really all they are cracked up to be I'm so happy I got one and not just talk about it what I'm going to do once i get one.


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## SleepyWilly (Aug 8, 2008)

Right so the place where she comes from is called...Holmes farms, i didnt even know that when i named her Sherlock...weird.


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## Crazy1 (Aug 9, 2008)

Well welcome to Sherlock. If you are useing a Murcury Vapor Bulb make sure you use a lamp with a ceramic base rated for that watt bulb. And you do not need calcium with D3. Just get plain Calcium carbonate and a cuttle bone for her to munch on will do fine. I would skip the T-Rex food it isn't really necessary. Feeding her a varied diet of good greens should do fine. You could always get a bigger tote for her so the sides are higher. And once you change your substrate to dirt or something she can dig into flipping may deminish or stop. Having some slate or rocks for her to climb on will help keep her nails and beak worn down to a good length too.


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## SleepyWilly (Aug 9, 2008)

Crazy1 said:


> Well welcome to Sherlock. If you are useing a Murcury Vapor Bulb make sure you use a lamp with a ceramic base rated for that watt bulb. And you do not need calcium with D3. Just get plain Calcium carbonate and a cuttle bone for her to munch on will do fine. I would skip the T-Rex food it isn't really necessary. Feeding her a varied diet of good greens should do fine. You could always get a bigger tote for her so the sides are higher. And once you change your substrate to dirt or something she can dig into flipping may deminish or stop. Having some slate or rocks for her to climb on will help keep her nails and beak worn down to a good length too.



Yea i got some topsoil and sand today and added it, now shes getting all dirty, but thats ok.. she stopped trying to run through the wall and started to peer over the top..


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## evin (Aug 9, 2008)

handsome little tort


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## TortGirl (Aug 10, 2008)

Congrats! What a wonderful tort you have. =)


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## SleepyWilly (Aug 10, 2008)

Thank you all she is a charmer, loves to walk around too.


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## drgnfly2265 (Aug 10, 2008)

Congrats on your sweet tort!!!

_________________________________________________________

Jamie

1 Sulcata (Bowser)

www.myspace.com/bowsertortoise


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## Jacqui (Aug 11, 2008)

Glad you have her. Did you happen to mention to the seller that it's a Russian?


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## SleepyWilly (Aug 11, 2008)

Jacqui said:


> Glad you have her. Did you happen to mention to the seller that it's a Russian?



Yea they knew already, but I said w/e hey its a tort. They only charged me for a Russian so it;s good. Thanks.


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