Concerned Russian Tortoise Parents

animalsashley

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image.jpg image.jpg My family just recently purchased a Russian tortoise. We are suposedly her third home. However, we noticed her shell has indents and looks almost like it's going to flake off or its possibly a little raised in some areas where in the very back middle scuttle it looks pushed in. It could be nothing but we just wanted to make sure so we can get her treatment if she needs it as soon as possible. image.jpgimage.jpg
 

wellington

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Its most likely from the days when she was in the wild. Nothing really stands out too worry about.
 

TechnoCheese

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Yvonne G

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Hi and welcome to the Forum!

Like Wellington said, wild caught Russian tortoises always look a little rough. I don't see anything that I'd be worried about.
 

Tom

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I concur with the other posters. Nothing there needs any "treatment". The tortoise just needs a proper environment with moderate humidity, a good weedy diet, and good hydration.
 

animalsashley

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image.jpg
Welcome to the forum! Please give these links a read and come back with questions :)
Russian Tortoise Care Sheet
https://tortoiseforum.org/index.php?threads/Russian-Tortoise-Care-Sheet.80698/
Beginner Mistakes
https://tortoiseforum.org/index.php?threads/Beginner-Mistakes.45180/
Keep in mind that your tortoise needs a minimum enclosure size of 8x4 feet.
Could we see pictures of your enclosure and lighting?
We were told they needed at least a 2x2 or 2x3 so we thought we were doing good with a 4x2 or 5x2. However, we can get her a bigger area and are building her a huge outside area whenever the snow melts.
 

Yvonne G

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You can wet the substrate to keep the dust down. I would wet it good, mix it up with your hand to get it all wet, then allow the light to dry it out some. Russian tortoises don't require a whole lot of humidity, but the dust seems a problem in that tub. We DO recommend a larger area for an adult Russian, but the one you have there seems doable to me. I wouldn't worry about changing it. When the weather warms up she can go outside, then next winter she'll hibernate, negating the need for a bigger tub. Buy a couple weighted artificial aquarium plants to set in the substrate to give it a more natural look.

Also, figure out a way to have some sort of rod across from end to end so you can hang the lights straight down. If one of those fixtures holds a Mercury Vapor Bulb, it shortens the life of the bulb to be at an angle like that. Besides that, those clamps sometimes fail and cause a burning hazard.
 

animalsashley

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You can wet the substrate to keep the dust down. I would wet it good, mix it up with your hand to get it all wet, then allow the light to dry it out some. Russian tortoises don't require a whole lot of humidity, but the dust seems a problem in that tub. We DO recommend a larger area for an adult Russian, but the one you have there seems doable to me. I wouldn't worry about changing it. When the weather warms up she can go outside, then next winter she'll hibernate, negating the need for a bigger tub. Buy a couple weighted artificial aquarium plants to set in the substrate to give it a more natural look.

Also, figure out a way to have some sort of rod across from end to end so you can hang the lights straight down. If one of those fixtures holds a Mercury Vapor Bulb, it shortens the life of the bulb to be at an angle like that. Besides that, those clamps sometimes fail and cause a burning hazard.
Ok thanks and what is the best substrate to use? Plus are you supposed to hibernate your tortoise?
 

Yvonne G

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The substrate you're using is ok. Lot's of our members use it.

Yes, Russian tortoises hibernate. You're not "supposed" to, but it's natural for them to do so.
 

Taylor T.

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Something you could do to easily increase the size of the enclosure is attach another bin to it connecting it with a tunnel for him to walk through.

Are you using a UVB bulb that is shaped like a coil?
 

animalsashley

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The substrate you're using is ok. Lot's of our members use it.

Yes, Russian tortoises hibernate. You're not "supposed" to, but it's natural for them to do so.
Ok so I would be fine without letting her hibernate?
 

animalsashley

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Something you could do to easily increase the size of the enclosure is attach another bin to it connecting it with a tunnel for him to walk through.

Are you using a UVB bulb that is shaped like a coil?
No we have one that is shaped like the heat lightbulb or a normal household lightbulb I guess you could say.
 

Yvonne G

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Ok so I would be fine without letting her hibernate?
Right. They don't HAVE to hibernate , it's just easier on the keeper to do so because it's hard to provide a large enough enclosure indoors.
 

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