Myrandarin_oranges
New Member
I want to start by saying I've had my boy for about three years now, and I've really tried my best to do best by him. When I first took him to the vet, she gave me an instructional sheet on how to care for him, and in diet, it said day- to -day should be dark leafy greens and it gave the example of romaine lettuce. She said to use romaine and not iceberg because iceberg is primarily water. That is what his diet mostly consists of. I also use a calcium supplement, although it's very difficult to get him to consume it. He HATES cuddle bones and has gone as far as to shake/throw his food to dislodge calcium powders. I've also tried feeding him the grassland tortoise pellets, but he REFUSES to eat them. He will actually literally starve himself rather than eat them. I talked to the vet about this, and she said that I shouldn't be feeding those to him, because they're not good for Russians. I've been doing that for most of his time with me now, but I'm seeing a lot of conflicting information on this site, and now I'm getting scared I've been making a terrible mistake.
I had his enclosure built by a carpenter, so it's about 5 feet by 6 feet (roughly the size of an American full sized mattress). It has a second story that's about two feet. He does have constant access to water and he has heat and UV bulbs. I put slates underneath the heat lamp because he really seems to enjoy vegging out on them (it's in the 90ish F range). I use hay for his substrate because I have a problem with him trying to eat... everything. My carpet? Bite. Ants outside? Delicious. Dirt or rocks? Great. Mom's toes? Looks like a tomato to me. There was a major issue when I tried to use woodchips as bedding because he actually ate one (and one very expensive vet bill later) he finally pooped it out. After that the vet suggested rabbit food pellets as bedding, but then he couldn't burrow and it made him so sad. So now we're at hay.
I thought he was just a silly boy but now I'm starting to worry that maybe the vet hasn't been telling me the correct information? If this is the case, please be gentle with me. He's my whole world and I only want to do what's best for him and I'm so scared I've been accidentally abusing him.
Also if anyone happens to know anything about if he appears wild caught or his age, I would be interested in knowing something like that as well. Does he still look healthy? I would really appreciate any information on what I could be doing better. I would like to enjoy his company for the rest of my life.
I had his enclosure built by a carpenter, so it's about 5 feet by 6 feet (roughly the size of an American full sized mattress). It has a second story that's about two feet. He does have constant access to water and he has heat and UV bulbs. I put slates underneath the heat lamp because he really seems to enjoy vegging out on them (it's in the 90ish F range). I use hay for his substrate because I have a problem with him trying to eat... everything. My carpet? Bite. Ants outside? Delicious. Dirt or rocks? Great. Mom's toes? Looks like a tomato to me. There was a major issue when I tried to use woodchips as bedding because he actually ate one (and one very expensive vet bill later) he finally pooped it out. After that the vet suggested rabbit food pellets as bedding, but then he couldn't burrow and it made him so sad. So now we're at hay.
I thought he was just a silly boy but now I'm starting to worry that maybe the vet hasn't been telling me the correct information? If this is the case, please be gentle with me. He's my whole world and I only want to do what's best for him and I'm so scared I've been accidentally abusing him.
Also if anyone happens to know anything about if he appears wild caught or his age, I would be interested in knowing something like that as well. Does he still look healthy? I would really appreciate any information on what I could be doing better. I would like to enjoy his company for the rest of my life.