Are My Arty's nails too long?

[Artemis the Tortoise]

 

[mommybeegs]

I just put a piece of slate tile in my tort house to help with nail length. Though I was told that if the nails aren't bothering them, there is no need to trim them ad torts nails will always look long to us, but they are supposed to be somewhat long to help them dig

 

[Yvonne G]

Russian tortoises' nails do seem a bit longer than the nails of other species. Walking around outside really helps wear them down.

 

[Artemis the Tortoise]

His a half an inch enough digging room? And I have him in a 16 gallon tank 🎈🌷🌹🌺🌻

 

[Rutagonzo]

I use about 2' inches of substrate, and I would recommend getting a bigger enclosure for him. A 16 gallon terrarium won't cut it. An ideal enclosure would be an outside pen, or a tortoise table of some sort.

 

[Artemis the Tortoise]

I live in NY so I can't give him an outside pen. Trust me if I could I would

 

[Tom]

16 gallon enclosure? Is that a typo? That's too small for a hatchling. You need to build him a bigger enclosure.

 

[mctlong]

Digging will help him wear down those nails. Russians generally like to dig. I recommend adding at least 6" of substrate, but 12"+ would be ideal.

I agree with the above. A 16 gallon tank is way too small for an adult Russian tortoise.

 

[Artemis the Tortoise]

Is 6 inches from head to tail and 5 years old and adult? I thought he was a teen


Artemis the RT.

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And I also put him in a 13" round gerbil ball and let him roam around the house. Don't worry there are not stairs


Artemis the RT.

 

[Tom]

Is this a joke? A hamster ball? And a 24" tank for a 6" tortoise?

I hope you are just having some fun pulling our leg.

 

[Rutagonzo]

And I also put him in a 13" round gerbil ball and let him roam around the house. Don't worry there are not stairs

Are you serious?

 

[mctlong]

Is 6 inches from head to tail and 5 years old and adult? I thought he was a teen

To answer this question, we'll need to know which measuring technique are you using -

1.) Straight Carapace Length (SCL) like this: http://russiantortoise.org/measure.htm

or

2.) From head to tail along the curve on the top of the shell?

If you're measuring the SCL and if you are sure your tort is male, then a 6" male is an adult tortoise. A 6" male is a larger than average adult Russian.

If you're measuring the SCL and if tort is female, then it may not be fully mature and may grow another inch or more.

 

[Artemis the Tortoise]

I DONT use metric I think it's called American standard, but yes 6" over the shell


Artemis the RT.

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That's just his temporary cage, I take him outside for an hour or two every day in the summer


Artemis the RT.

 

[JJ_BOY]

A lot of people go by 1ft squared for every 1in squared of your tortoise.

 

[goReptiles]

I would highly suggest a larger enclosure. Buy a Christmas tree storage bin; they're about 40-50 gallons. That's the minimum you should have a Russian in, even if it is just temporary housing.

 

[Artemis the Tortoise]

Thank you


Artemis the RT.

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How much do these bins cost


Artemis the RT.

 

[Rutagonzo]

Thank you


Artemis the RT.

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How much do these bins cost


Artemis the RT.

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Not much more than $15-30 depending on your circumstances.*

*For regular storage totes. (I have no experience with Christmas Tree storage containers)

 

[Steve_McQueen]

And I also put him in a 13" round gerbil ball and let him roam around the house. Don't worry there are not stairs

You should definitely stop doing that. Also, refer to this care sheet for ideas on how to better care for the little fellow. And throw out the gerbil ball. Those are for gerbils.