Throckmortok
Member
-For context let me tell you every bit of information about my very weird situation that lead to me to getting him and what I have/what I’m doing for him currently that I can possibly offer. This way it may give you a better idea as to what advice I’ll need and what advice I won’t. I’m desperate to know my rights and wrongs, I want to give this little guy the best life possoble. Strap in, this’ll be a long post.
-How I got him: I got my russian tortoise, Throckmorton, five days ago. I went to the home of a family friend and she told me about this tortoise her son owns but doesn’t really take care of. She told me they were desperate to get rid of him, and offered him to me. Now I had not the slightest clue about tortoise care at that time, but something looked not right to my eyes. I could tell he just wasn’t getting a good life, so I said yes to taking him. Little did I know, his situation really was worse than I thought. He was in a very very small tank with extremely old dirty substrate, he had clearly never been bathed, his food and water bowl were bone dry and empty so god only knows when either of those were last filled, he had never been outside before, there were no things for him to chew on to shave his beak, and he was clearly deficient in calcium because his shell isn’t the best looking (some small divots and chips here and there). They have no idea how old he is, and the only reason I’m saying he is because I guessed based off of his tail which gender he is.
-The things I bought for him: After I did my research, I bought him this habitat https://a.co/d/h64BVXj, these decorations https://a.co/d/hfbp1IS & https://a.co/d/6uo2KGn (he has two others that were in his tank), this tent so he can roam outside without me hovering over him https://a.co/d/3SeTQKx, a leash and carrier for walks https://a.co/d/eyLODDJ & https://a.co/d/bm3YOl4, some natural medications to keep him healthy https://a.co/d/0Gg9fHX & https://a.co/d/6DtnatQ, three different kinds of substrate (he loves to dig, thought it would be fun and engaging for him to have layers) https://a.co/d/2VD4mVn & https://a.co/d/c3xvquR & https://a.co/d/f4wxIi5, some things to help his calcium levels and beak growth https://a.co/d/18gV8c4 & https://a.co/d/0DqXrij, and lastly some pellets to keep him healthy as far as nutrition https://a.co/d/aEUveXG.
-What I’ve been doing for him, and some of the questions I have: every day I’ve been feeding him a handful of some leafy greens plus some of those pellets I mentioned earlier. Apparently I’ve just found out that I may be doing this wrong? I read just a few moments ago on Google that I actually should be letting him eat as much as he possible can within the span of twenty minutes, is that true? Anyways, I’ve been letting him roam around his cage, dig, and perch on his little cove like he loves to do. Just today a huge tent I bought for him to roam around in outside came today and he loved itttt!!! I also let him roam around on the grass but it made me too anxious. I tried putting the leash on him but he just pooped on me then slipped right out LOL. I gave him a few strawberry tops tonight as I read that I can do that as long as it’s a very rare treat, so hopefully that’s okay. I gave him a very half-assed bath the second day I had him because he was very dirty and I didn’t want to risk him getting a fungal infection any longer than he needed to. It was half assed because I was too anxious to do anything! Any advice with that would be appreciated, too. I had someone over on Reddit say that I should be letting him soak in a warm shallow bath every morning to help him poop. Honestly, that would explain as to why he’s been pooping in his water bowl bahaha. Do any of you do this, too? Also, while we’re on the topic of food, I read that I should starve him for two days. That makes me so nervous! I also read I should only feed him every other day. Which one is right, if either of them even are? Is there anything that I mentioned that you noticed that is a red flag aka something I’m doing wrong? Is there anything that I mentioned that I should be doing but from what you’ve read I’m not? Any thoughts or opinions you may have would be so unbelievably appreciated. Thank you so much!
-How I got him: I got my russian tortoise, Throckmorton, five days ago. I went to the home of a family friend and she told me about this tortoise her son owns but doesn’t really take care of. She told me they were desperate to get rid of him, and offered him to me. Now I had not the slightest clue about tortoise care at that time, but something looked not right to my eyes. I could tell he just wasn’t getting a good life, so I said yes to taking him. Little did I know, his situation really was worse than I thought. He was in a very very small tank with extremely old dirty substrate, he had clearly never been bathed, his food and water bowl were bone dry and empty so god only knows when either of those were last filled, he had never been outside before, there were no things for him to chew on to shave his beak, and he was clearly deficient in calcium because his shell isn’t the best looking (some small divots and chips here and there). They have no idea how old he is, and the only reason I’m saying he is because I guessed based off of his tail which gender he is.
-The things I bought for him: After I did my research, I bought him this habitat https://a.co/d/h64BVXj, these decorations https://a.co/d/hfbp1IS & https://a.co/d/6uo2KGn (he has two others that were in his tank), this tent so he can roam outside without me hovering over him https://a.co/d/3SeTQKx, a leash and carrier for walks https://a.co/d/eyLODDJ & https://a.co/d/bm3YOl4, some natural medications to keep him healthy https://a.co/d/0Gg9fHX & https://a.co/d/6DtnatQ, three different kinds of substrate (he loves to dig, thought it would be fun and engaging for him to have layers) https://a.co/d/2VD4mVn & https://a.co/d/c3xvquR & https://a.co/d/f4wxIi5, some things to help his calcium levels and beak growth https://a.co/d/18gV8c4 & https://a.co/d/0DqXrij, and lastly some pellets to keep him healthy as far as nutrition https://a.co/d/aEUveXG.
-What I’ve been doing for him, and some of the questions I have: every day I’ve been feeding him a handful of some leafy greens plus some of those pellets I mentioned earlier. Apparently I’ve just found out that I may be doing this wrong? I read just a few moments ago on Google that I actually should be letting him eat as much as he possible can within the span of twenty minutes, is that true? Anyways, I’ve been letting him roam around his cage, dig, and perch on his little cove like he loves to do. Just today a huge tent I bought for him to roam around in outside came today and he loved itttt!!! I also let him roam around on the grass but it made me too anxious. I tried putting the leash on him but he just pooped on me then slipped right out LOL. I gave him a few strawberry tops tonight as I read that I can do that as long as it’s a very rare treat, so hopefully that’s okay. I gave him a very half-assed bath the second day I had him because he was very dirty and I didn’t want to risk him getting a fungal infection any longer than he needed to. It was half assed because I was too anxious to do anything! Any advice with that would be appreciated, too. I had someone over on Reddit say that I should be letting him soak in a warm shallow bath every morning to help him poop. Honestly, that would explain as to why he’s been pooping in his water bowl bahaha. Do any of you do this, too? Also, while we’re on the topic of food, I read that I should starve him for two days. That makes me so nervous! I also read I should only feed him every other day. Which one is right, if either of them even are? Is there anything that I mentioned that you noticed that is a red flag aka something I’m doing wrong? Is there anything that I mentioned that I should be doing but from what you’ve read I’m not? Any thoughts or opinions you may have would be so unbelievably appreciated. Thank you so much!