Russian Tort in Bad Shape

Lilly_Two2

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Looks like it is the chemistry lab at school, so must get some bad air when they are experimenting chemistry. Maybe he has it on the basis of biology. Agree not a healthy env and needs attention and well done for noticing and helping the tortoise.
The care sheet is here so you could print it and leave visibly near the enclosure or add the link into your mail.

Yes it's biology, though after talking to him I can see that he does love his animals, I don't know if it's visible in the picture but there is a window right next to the tank not on the sun side but is decent ventilation. The animal was given to him several years ago we geuss the age of the tort is around 7yrs. But it is not for use of biology he only has it bc the original owners impulse bought it relised it was too much and couldn't find a different owner, he already had turtles so thought it would be a fun class pet.
 

Lilly_Two2

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That teacher is unconsciously teaching every student who sees that enclosure that it is ok to keep a tortoise in that type of set up.
My tort will hopefully be getting a new enclosure soon, if that happens I may donate her old one to him and this tort. But unsure when that would be or if it would even happen. It's about half grown at an age we geuss to be about 7. What size enclosure do you think would be suitable for this animal?
 

Sarah2020

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Hi, Well done for talking to him. I posted the care sheet in #18 where you will see lots of guidance and recommendations. I suggest you print it and share with the teacher. Tortoise need to roam and it can not in that tank. We have not see the actual tortoise so do not know its shell and well being. Please post a picture if it as I suspect it is hidden in the hide. They do need a soak in shallow warm water for hydration and that water dish is not correct and the substrate should be orchid bark.
 

Lilly_Two2

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Hi, Well done for talking to him. I posted the care sheet in #18 where you will see lots of guidance and recommendations. I suggest you print it and share with the teacher. Tortoise need to roam and it can not in that tank. We have not see the actual tortoise so do not know its shell and well being. Please post a picture if it as I suspect it is hidden in the hide. They do need a soak in shallow warm water for hydration and that water dish is not correct and the substrate should be orchid bark.
The shell is pretty flat and is domed much, it reminds me of a pancake turtle I will be bring some cuddle fish bones in on Monday and try to figure out what to do about the enclosure situation.
 

SinLA

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The shell is pretty flat and is domed much, it reminds me of a pancake turtle I will be bring some cuddle fish bones in on Monday and try to figure out what to do about the enclosure situation.
I second the idea of giving him a print out of the care sheet. I would be surprised if he didn’t read it since he seems inquisitive. It certainly can’t hurt to bring it in for him. Worst case scenario is he doesn’t read it.

We would indeed love to see a picture BUT I want to say I think you are being very smart about how you are approaching him. The end goal is to help the tortoise and you are “boots on the ground” there and can read the situation better than any of us. If you think smaller steps will get to the end goal faster than more direct ones (especially given the power dynamic here of you being a student (and a shy one at that for which you are doing GREAT!) and him being a teacher, then take it step by step as you are. We’ll be here to help you with advice each step of the way.

I do think a printout of the care sheet (along with the URL to this site on it somewhere) is a great idea though.
 

Lilly_Two2

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I second the idea of giving him a print out of the care sheet. I would be surprised if he didn’t read it since he seems inquisitive. It certainly can’t hurt to bring it in for him. Worst case scenario is he doesn’t read it.

We would indeed love to see a picture BUT I want to say I think you are being very smart about how you are approaching him. The end goal is to help the tortoise and you are “boots on the ground” there and can read the situation better than any of us. If you think smaller steps will get to the end goal faster than more direct ones (especially given the power dynamic here of you being a student (and a shy one at that for which you are doing GREAT!) and him being a teacher, then take it step by step as you are. We’ll be here to help you with advice each step of the way.

I do think a printout of the care sheet (along with the URL to this site on it somewhere) is a great idea though.
I'll take a picture of the tort next time he is out of the hide if I can, as I don't want to make it obvious that I am photographing him, I did show him a picture of my torts set up it wasn't the best picture but my phone was dying so I had to find one fast ill attach a better one that I'll show him some other time here. I am basically trying to hint at the ideas that what he is doing is wrong without directly telling him as it is the beginning of the year and I don't want to be on his bad side for the rest of it.
 

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Yvonne G

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This looks like a baby leopard tortoise.
 

Skunkworks

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Check your PMs.
I'd be happy to donate a T5 HO UVB florescent lamp to you for the classroom tortoise
I can Donate an enclosure, I have one like Lilly's that was Nala's Hatchling Enclosure that is no longer needed.I can Box and ship at no cost..
 

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Sarah2020

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This looks like a baby leopard tortoise.
Yes the op has his own leopard tortoise, but at his school where he us a student the biology teacher has a Russian tort in a tank.
 

Sarah2020

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You have lots of help on here and donation options 😀 good luck next week. Keep us posted.
 

Lilly_Two2

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I can Donate an enclosure, I have one like Lilly's that was Nala's Hatchling Enclosure that is no longer needed.I can Box and ship at no cost..
That enclosure actually looks perfect since it has glass on the side so students would still be able to view him as he wanted in the first place. I was actually just looking at things like this on Amazon. I'll talk to the teacher and some other ppl to see if this is doable thank you.
 

Skunkworks

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That enclosure actually looks perfect since it has glass on the side so students would still be able to view him as he wanted in the first place. I was actually just looking at things like this on Amazon. I'll talk to the teacher and some other ppl to see if this is doable thank you.
Sounds good. Keep me Posted.
 

SinLA

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Ok all just remember, those Tortoise Enclosure boxes are STILL much too small for an adult tortoise. They are only good for babies, though it is still very much an improvement over what it has now. But just know that that shouldn't (ideally) be a permanent solution for him/her.
 

Lilly_Two2

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Ok all just remember, those Tortoise Enclosure boxes are STILL much too small for an adult tortoise. They are only good for babies, though it is still very much an improvement over what it has now. But just know that that shouldn't (ideally) be a permanent solution for him/her.
In that case do you have any recommendations on what I could do for a new enclosure? The most amount of space the we have that we could use is the space on the table so about 2 and a half feet in length. That's a geuss though.
 

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