Newbie here! Looking for advice.

Tortuga Gill

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Joined
Sep 7, 2018
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13
Location (City and/or State)
Arvada, CO
Greetings all! So I finally went ahead and adopted a russian after decades of wanting one. I’ve had her (sasha) for about three weeks now. Initially started her out in a 40 gallon tank, but have since moved her into a 4 foot by 3 and a half foot enclosure with cypress mulch for her substrate. I would greatly appreciate any advice on how to improve her home as I cant help but feel like its incredibly lacking somehow. Thanks in advance!
 

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RosemaryDW

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Welcome!

Start by taking a look at these two threads:

Beginner Mistakes: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/#post-436227.

Then the Russian care sheet. It starts with care for babies but introduces information for adult tortoises quickly: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/.

The first thing you’ll notice is that your enclosure is too small (sorry!). Four by eight foot is the suggested minimum. There are other changes to make, you’ll find some of them in the beginner mistakes thread. I think you’ll need to change the lighting as well but my tortoise lives outside so I’m no expert there. I can’t tell in that photo if the tortoise has a full hide they can get into? The plastic plant pot I see won’t let him feel safe. Hopefully that blobbish thing at the bottom is a full hide. :)

It’s going to be a lot to take in but I assure you we’ve all made similar mistakes when we were new owners. Please stick around and ask questions; we’re glad you’re here!
 

Tortuga Gill

New Member
Joined
Sep 7, 2018
Messages
13
Location (City and/or State)
Arvada, CO
Welcome!

Start by taking a look at these two threads:

Beginner Mistakes: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/#post-436227.

Then the Russian care sheet. It starts with care for babies but introduces information for adult tortoises quickly: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/.

The first thing you’ll notice is that your enclosure is too small (sorry!). Four by eight foot is the suggested minimum. There are other changes to make, you’ll find some of them in the beginner mistakes thread. I think you’ll need to change the lighting as well but my tortoise lives outside so I’m no expert there. I can’t tell in that photo if the tortoise has a full hide they can get into? The plastic plant pot I see won’t let him feel safe. Hopefully that blobbish thing at the bottom is a full hide. :)

It’s going to be a lot to take in but I assure you we’ve all made similar mistakes when we were new owners. Please stick around and ask questions; we’re glad you’re here!
Hi. Yeah i knew it was lacking in some ways. Its currently a 4x4 enclosure and definitely a work in progress. But compared to the twenty gallon she lived in at the store i rescued her from i figure its an upgrade. I plan to find a better spot to build her a bigger house in the near future. And yep the blob is a hide, that she doesnt use or seem to like much so i plan to replace it with something she may like more. And i plan on getting a few more hides than just one. Thank you very much for the feedback, i really appreciate it! I wanna make her the best palace i can manage and was sort of at a loss ( other than it being too small) as to what i could do to improve quality of life for her inside it once its big enough. So again! Thank you for taking the time to reply
 

Minority2

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Jul 30, 2018
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Location (City and/or State)
Tortoise Hell
Here are a few things you can improve on if you haven't already planned to do so:

1. Larger enclosure for your adult Russian as others have already mentioned.
2. hide boxes and water dishes on both warm and cool side of enclosure (opposite sides, middle optional)
3. Enough lighting to light the entire enclosure. 2x 2-3 ft UVB strip light fixtures and 1x 10.5 inch basking light is a good basic setup for a 8 x 4 ft "closed chamber" enclosure.
4. Decorative/functional objects that also create shade such as potted plants, large cuts of wood, and rocks.
5. 6-8 inch level of substrate to allow your adult Russian to burrow for their thermoregulating needs.
6. Rearrange your decorative items from time to time to keep your tortoise interested. A tortoise will even try to escape an 8 x 4 ft enclosure if they're consistently exposed to wide outdoor setups.
 

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