Should I remove the separator for the hide enclosure?

[Nino]

Hello!

My Russian Tortoise has been sleeping under this log next to the basking light. Theres a big hide place that he can go in to sleep but hes just not going in these few days.

UK weather has been dropping these few days to like -5C, but indoor minimum temperatures are around 17-18C. Today’s temperatures been alright, roughly at 22C, but he still choose to sleep out here under the basking light. Is that alright? I don’t want to dig him out and moving him while hes asleep

Also, is it okay to remove the separator to the hiding enclosure? So that he got more space to walk around?

We just got this little guy not long ago (long story short, he was gifted to my little brother as a pet but he dont have that responsibility so im taking over), im trying hard to give this little guy as proper living environment as possible.

 

[SinLA]

How big is the total enclosure?

Most likely he is digging b/c he likes the feeling of being under something, and being in a big open space, even if dark, isn't doing it for him. You may want to add a lot of substrate into the area so he can dig in. But do bear in mind if that is a "tortoise house" you can buy online about 3' x 2' that is much much to small for an adult Russian

 

[Tom]

Hello!

My Russian Tortoise has been sleeping under this log next to the basking light. Theres a big hide place that he can go in to sleep but hes just not going in these few days.

UK weather has been dropping these few days to like -5C, but indoor minimum temperatures are around 17-18C. Today’s temperatures been alright, roughly at 22C, but he still choose to sleep out here under the basking light. Is that alright? I don’t want to dig him out and moving him while hes asleep

Also, is it okay to remove the separator to the hiding enclosure? So that he got more space to walk around?

We just got this little guy not long ago (long story short, he was gifted to my little brother as a pet but he dont have that responsibility so im taking over), im trying hard to give this little guy as proper living environment as possible.
View attachment 385589

You can remove the divider, but he might go in there and want to brumate. It's that time of year.

These threads will help you:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[Nino]

How big is the total enclosure?

Most likely he is digging b/c he likes the feeling of being under something, and being in a big open space, even if dark, isn't doing it for him. You may want to add a lot of substrate into the area so he can dig in. But do bear in mind if that is a "tortoise house" you can buy online about 3' x 2' that is much much to small for an adult Russian

I am… quite ashamed to say i am giving him a quite small enclosure now (82cm x 41cm). I do aim to improve his enclosure, hopefully outdoor soon when the summer comes. But indoor wise, we have quite limited space and that table kindda fitted just right at a corner

 

[Nino]

You can remove the divider, but he might go in there and want to brumate. It's that time of year.

These threads will help you:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

Thank you for the links! I’ll take a look!

 

[SinLA]

I am… quite ashamed to say i am giving him a quite small enclosure now (82cm x 41cm). I do aim to improve his enclosure, hopefully outdoor soon when the summer comes. But indoor wise, we have quite limited space and that table kindda fitted just right at a corner

Ok but understand they need to certain amount of room to be healthy. Whether or not you have the space doesn't change that - they need what they need

 

[Nino]

Ok but understand they need to certain amount of room to be healthy. Whether or not you have the space doesn't change that - they need what they need

Yeap! Definitely understood! I do let him roam around the house but just wasn't sure if is the wooden flooring, he doesn't wanna walk much somehow. I’ll try my best to give what he needs! Thank you still!

 

[SinLA]

honestly if you have to choose been smaller enclosure and roaming the house, and its a short term issue, pick the enclosure. Roaming the house is very unsafe. Lots of people online do it successfully, but we see so many cases where of when it goes wrong. Some foreign object eaten, accidentally stepped on, caught in a door, etc.

 

[Nino]

honestly if you have to choose been smaller enclosure and roaming the house, and its a short term issue, pick the enclosure. Roaming the house is very unsafe. Lots of people online do it successfully, but we see so many cases where of when it goes wrong. Some foreign object eaten, accidentally stepped on, caught in a door, etc.

Oooh… thats sounds very bad he shall.. stay inside the enclosure unless im watching then. Thanks for the advice!

 

[Anastasia 22]

Yeap! Definitely understood! I do let him roam around the house but just wasn't sure if is the wooden flooring, he doesn't wanna walk much somehow. I’ll try my best to give what he needs! Thank you still!

Hello!
I let my Russian tortoise roam the floor in house. BUT! He is always supervised. So I know nothing bad happens to him.

 

[Nino]

Hello!
I let my Russian tortoise roam the floor in house. BUT! He is always supervised. So I know nothing bad happens to him.

Hello! Good to know! I just gonna keep my eye on him when his out then haha!

 

[SinLA]

This is definitely a subject of contention. Those who have come the board when problems happened usually would also say they only let their tortoise out under supervision.

Ultimately it is your decision - it is not one that I would do personally.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Hello!

My Russian Tortoise has been sleeping under this log next to the basking light. Theres a big hide place that he can go in to sleep but hes just not going in these few days.

UK weather has been dropping these few days to like -5C, but indoor minimum temperatures are around 17-18C. Today’s temperatures been alright, roughly at 22C, but he still choose to sleep out here under the basking light. Is that alright? I don’t want to dig him out and moving him while hes asleep

Also, is it okay to remove the separator to the hiding enclosure? So that he got more space to walk around?

We just got this little guy not long ago (long story short, he was gifted to my little brother as a pet but he dont have that responsibility so im taking over), im trying hard to give this little guy as proper living environment as possible.
View attachment 385589

Hello! I think your guy could possibly be sleeping under the light due to feeling too cool, do you use analog gauges for your monitoring? Things could be cooler than you think if so. Directly under the basking light you want a temperature of around 95f(35c), the rest ranging 75 cool end, 80-85 middle. 70 is a fine night temperature, but if that’s his temperatures all over during the day, he’s definitely trying to warm himself up.

The basking light needs to be an incandescent floodlight, make sure it’s not a spot, or all in one uvb and heat lamp.

For UVB, you want a t5 tube fluorescent light, I wouldn’t go cheap brands for these are they are far too unreliable. The brands to go for are either, ‘Arcadia proT5 kit 12%’, that comes with the reflector fittings, or, ‘zoo med reptisun 10.0’ which usually needs the hood buying separately. Personally I recommend the Arcadia.
With the uv timing, every other source of information will tell you 12hours of uv. This is essentially an old fashioned rule that has stuck with a lot of keepers, it stems from the presumption that once the basking light or ambient lighting is on, ie the ‘sun’, that uv must coexist the same amount of hours. Fact is, uv rays only peak for a few hours a day, anyone with a uv meter will confirm this. No tortoise is blasted with 12 hours of uv in the wild, therefore it’s not necessary in captivity.
The right uv bulbs are much more expensive to replace once their uv strength diminishes, so it’s definitely best having it on a 4 hour timer that provides them with all the uv they need, saving your bulb life.
Then some cheaper led lighting for your ambient 12 hour light cycle as well as the basking light on the same 12hrs, your ceramics(if needed to boost ambient temperatures) will run 24/7 on a thermostat, hopefully this will all make more sense once you read the links.

With substrate, avoid that sandy soil stuff you have and the beech chips, your safest best bet is coco coir or orchid bark.

Sizing wise, adults do need much bigger, though you could look into building a large heated night box if you have more space outdoors. Free roaming the house isn’t safe for a multitude of reasons, but that aside it’s also incredibly stressful, our homes do not mimic their natural environment, so a good sized set up is the goal, hopefully we can all help! For now I would remove the separator yes.

As well as toms links, hopefully you like these! This thread covers correct equipment(uvb, heating bulbs, lighting etc), correct levels, sizing, appropriately maintaining the humidity, safe substrates, there’s lots of visual examples for everything, and a really handy diet link to check out!

Housing adult Russian and Hermans indoors

Hello there! In this thread I’m going to include some information an example of an appropriate indoor set up for an older Herman/russian. As much as it’s encouraged to have tortoises in a safe outdoor enclosure, I understand being from the uk myself, that some climates make it difficult to...

tortoiseforum.org

This includes lots of inspiration for an adult set up both indoors and out! The indoor bit has some good ideas to tackle indoor space whilst still providing the needed roaming room!

Enclosure inspiration

Howdy folks! Hope everyone is well! As you all know, I’m a big fan of making threads that cater more towards visual learners like myself, I’ve really been wanting to create a thread full of adult enclosure inspiration for a while now, I’ve managed to find some great references over time! I do...

tortoiseforum.org

Lastly, this one here is probably most important to go over and keep on hand, it’ll help you avoid the wrong bulbs, substrates, housing etc, I always encourage double checking purchases on the forum too before buying

Common keeping errors

Hello everyone! I’d been a long time lurker on this site long before joining just under a year ago now, over that time I’ve seen these husbandry issues come up time and time again, sometimes with dire consequences☹️ I thought this thread might serve as a good visual guide for these common...

tortoiseforum.org

Really hope this all helps! I know it’s a lot to go over sorrybut take all the time you need! They’ll always be folks to help with any further questions! We can break things down bit by bitultimately focus on lighting&temps, substrate, and when able, sizing, welcome to the forum! So glad you made your way here

 

[Nino]

This is definitely a subject of contention. Those who have come the board when problems happened usually would also say they only let their tortoise out under supervision.

Ultimately it is your decision - it is not one that I would do personally.

Definitely understand the concern and where this coming from! Nonetheless, thanks alot for the input!

 

[Nino]

Hello! I think your guy could possibly be sleeping under the light due to feeling too cool, do you use analog gauges for your monitoring? Things could be cooler than you think if so. Directly under the basking light you want a temperature of around 95f(35c), the rest ranging 75 cool end, 80-85 middle. 70 is a fine night temperature, but if that’s his temperatures all over during the day, he’s definitely trying to warm himself up.

The basking light needs to be an incandescent floodlight, make sure it’s not a spot, or all in one uvb and heat lamp.

For UVB, you want a t5 tube fluorescent light, I wouldn’t go cheap brands for these are they are far too unreliable. The brands to go for are either, ‘Arcadia proT5 kit 12%’, that comes with the reflector fittings, or, ‘zoo med reptisun 10.0’ which usually needs the hood buying separately. Personally I recommend the Arcadia.
With the uv timing, every other source of information will tell you 12hours of uv. This is essentially an old fashioned rule that has stuck with a lot of keepers, it stems from the presumption that once the basking light or ambient lighting is on, ie the ‘sun’, that uv must coexist the same amount of hours. Fact is, uv rays only peak for a few hours a day, anyone with a uv meter will confirm this. No tortoise is blasted with 12 hours of uv in the wild, therefore it’s not necessary in captivity.
The right uv bulbs are much more expensive to replace once their uv strength diminishes, so it’s definitely best having it on a 4 hour timer that provides them with all the uv they need, saving your bulb life.
Then some cheaper led lighting for your ambient 12 hour light cycle as well as the basking light on the same 12hrs, your ceramics(if needed to boost ambient temperatures) will run 24/7 on a thermostat, hopefully this will all make more sense once you read the links.

With substrate, avoid that sandy soil stuff you have and the beech chips, your safest best bet is coco coir or orchid bark.

Sizing wise, adults do need much bigger, though you could look into building a large heated night box if you have more space outdoors. Free roaming the house isn’t safe for a multitude of reasons, but that aside it’s also incredibly stressful, our homes do not mimic their natural environment, so a good sized set up is the goal, hopefully we can all help! For now I would remove the separator yes.

As well as toms links, hopefully you like these! This thread covers correct equipment(uvb, heating bulbs, lighting etc), correct levels, sizing, appropriately maintaining the humidity, safe substrates, there’s lots of visual examples for everything, and a really handy diet link to check out!

Housing adult Russian and Hermans indoors

Hello there! In this thread I’m going to include some information an example of an appropriate indoor set up for an older Herman/russian. As much as it’s encouraged to have tortoises in a safe outdoor enclosure, I understand being from the uk myself, that some climates make it difficult to...

tortoiseforum.org

This includes lots of inspiration for an adult set up both indoors and out! The indoor bit has some good ideas to tackle indoor space whilst still providing the needed roaming room!

Enclosure inspiration

Howdy folks! Hope everyone is well! As you all know, I’m a big fan of making threads that cater more towards visual learners like myself, I’ve really been wanting to create a thread full of adult enclosure inspiration for a while now, I’ve managed to find some great references over time! I do...

tortoiseforum.org

Lastly, this one here is probably most important to go over and keep on hand, it’ll help you avoid the wrong bulbs, substrates, housing etc, I always encourage double checking purchases on the forum too before buying

Common keeping errors

Hello everyone! I’d been a long time lurker on this site long before joining just under a year ago now, over that time I’ve seen these husbandry issues come up time and time again, sometimes with dire consequences☹️ I thought this thread might serve as a good visual guide for these common...

tortoiseforum.org

Really hope this all helps! I know it’s a lot to go over sorrybut take all the time you need! They’ll always be folks to help with any further questions! We can break things down bit by bitultimately focus on lighting&temps, substrate, and when able, sizing, welcome to the forum! So glad you made your way here

Thank you so much!! Definitely will take my time reading them!

I did bought the arcadia floodlight and the prot5 uvb according to their website for the specific. I kindda need to figure out how to install them on the top with the tube lighting hmmm.

Regarding the substrate, i have those mixed with tortoise bedding soil, coco peat (i read somewhere saying coco peat and coco coir is somewhat interchangeable, please correct me if im wrong) and beech chips (i panic bought things when i saw our little guy and this was recommended somewhere ). Will definitely looking into getting some orchid bark!

Thank you so much again!

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Coco peat is a processed coco coir, finely ground, soil-like. So, yes, the same thing. "Peat" means that it's intended to be used as a peat moss replacement in gardening.

For now you can just remove beech chips and that's it. Orchid bark is good to cover coco peat and reduce mess but isn't strictly necessary.

 

[Tom]

Hello!
I let my Russian tortoise roam the floor in house. BUT! He is always supervised. So I know nothing bad happens to him.

Hello! Good to know! I just gonna keep my eye on him when his out then haha!

Everyone who does this and ends up with a sick, injured or dead tortoise thought it was safe and supervised closely. If people thought it would end in disaster, they wouldn't do it. But it does end in disaster a lot of the time. The people who have gotten away with it are on borrowed time. They haven't had a problem... yet.

Just don't do it. Its not safe and it can't be made safe, and its too cold down there anyway.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Thank you so much!! Definitely will take my time reading them!

I did bought the arcadia floodlight and the prot5 uvb according to their website for the specific. I kindda need to figure out how to install them on the top with the tube lighting hmmm.

Regarding the substrate, i have those mixed with tortoise bedding soil, coco peat (i read somewhere saying coco peat and coco coir is somewhat interchangeable, please correct me if im wrong) and beech chips (i panic bought things when i saw our little guy and this was recommended somewhere ). Will definitely looking into getting some orchid bark!

Thank you so much again!

There’s a few ways to mount the uv strip over those find, either home made stands(which would be cheaper) or those hook stands you can get, then a piece of timber wood the fitting is mounted onto, the suspended using chains or clothing line, kind of something like this(hopefully it makes sense)


Yeah coco coir and coco peat are the same, I’d go with that as a base with some of the bark on top, some even just use a deep layer of bark, but I think seeing how much Russians love to burrow down, they enjoy some coir

No problem at all

 

[Anastasia 22]

Everyone who does this and ends up with a sick, injured or dead tortoise thought it was safe and supervised closely. If people thought it would end in disaster, they wouldn't do it. But it does end in disaster a lot of the time. The people who have gotten away with it are on borrowed time. They haven't had a problem... yet.

Just don't do it. Its not safe and it can't be made safe, and its too cold down there anyway.

I'm not going to prove anything, but I had a tortoise who was roaming the floors for 16 years. And she was not even supervised.
And for 16 years she brumated on her own in the warmest corner she could find. She was never soaked and her shell was smooth and gorgeous.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

I'm not going to prove anything, but I had a tortoise who was roaming the floors for 16 years. And she was not even supervised.
And for 16 years she brumated on her own in the warmest corner she could find. She was never soaked and her shell was smooth and gorgeous.

Unfortunately it’s an eventful premature death sentence, there’s no telling if come the 17th year it would’ve happened, or the 18th, it would’ve eventually took its tollthese guys are so sturdy by nature, they can live in less than optimal conditions for decades but still eventually die far too young. She was lucky for sure and I’m glad she grew well, did she get time outdoors? That probably helped if so. If she was only ever kept indoors without uv or anything, she’s certainly not the norm to have grown smoothly, just a very lucky girl.

I’m glad you were able to improve her living situationshe wouldn’t have continued to thrive living like that.