TONYTORT
Member
Hi all! My husband and I just got our first Russian Tortoise (Tony) off of Craigslist. They say he is about 5 years old, I think he could be older and 5.5 Inches long. The first thing that I noticed when we brought him home in the tank that they gave us was FILTHY... like there were crickets in it.... so we dumped it, gave it a good clean with water (no chemicals) etc. I'll provide all of the usual details below. anyways heres the story:
So the night we got him (2 nights ago) I noticed he moves more like a sea turtle than a tortoise, he kind of pulls himself everywhere which I think is limiting his mobility. Building off of that he doesn't seem to move much, which could probably be attributed to his legs not working well and the stress of a new place. He peed and pooped pretty big after the first soak (we have been reading the forum in preparation ), and that helped him gain some energy but not much. Today after a soak (we think he is very dehydrated so we are doing 20-30 minute warm water soaks every morning for the first couple of days- followed by leaving him be in his tank) he peed and it was almost like a Salmon color? He pooped a little bit too but not much. Poor baby's eyes even look a little bit swollen. He is doing a little bit better day by day but still not great.
note: He has not eaten dandelion, so that is not what is making his pee salmon colored/pink. The first night he ate a small amount of Kale and half of a cucumber slice, he has built since then and actually ate during the day today a variety of kale, romaine, green pepper, and cucumber (he loves cucumber) that we are sprinkling with calcium that we are shaving from the block in his tank. We are also growing him some tortoise grass so hopefully the element of foraging will help him out- he doesn't really eat unless its from my hand.
Here is all of the info i've seen people as for in other threads:
Tank: Right now we have him in the 40 gallon tank that we received him in. We know tanks are not ideal, but we are building him a tort table so it is where he has to be for a bit until we can afford the time and energy of building him the perfect home (which is our top priority). We lined the tank on the outside with paper so his confusion is minimized. Inside only until it gets warmer.
Substrate: Eco earth coconut fiber, about 4 inches deep- but he's struggling with it because he can't raise himself up.
Humidity: 40-42%
Temp: Basking spot in the 90's and rest of tank is about 79 degrees.
Water bowl: yes
Hiding spot/climbing spot: yes
UVB? yes
We know that his previous owners fed him lettuce, strawberries, and carrots because they left whatever he didn't eat in his cage to rot, and that they just put his cage in the sunlight or on the bathroom for humidity. We live in Utah and it's freezing cold outside so I don't think he was previously kept warm enough or given UVB because she didn't mention it to us.
We have a vet appointment for April 1st, 2021 but seeing as that is 6 days away I want to see if I can make him more comfortable until then. I love the little guy already and i'm glad we saved him. I'm concerned something is wrong with his hip development or physical development in some way because when I lift his shell off of the ground for him he walks fast and normal like a little guy should.
It would also be helpful to just hear wha you guys think/if we should be preparing for the worst.
Long story short for anyone scrolling/skimming: New Russian Tort, doesn't move, sleeps all the time, puffy eyes, pink pee, drags legs.
Thanks for taking the time to read, we appreciate it and Tony does too
So the night we got him (2 nights ago) I noticed he moves more like a sea turtle than a tortoise, he kind of pulls himself everywhere which I think is limiting his mobility. Building off of that he doesn't seem to move much, which could probably be attributed to his legs not working well and the stress of a new place. He peed and pooped pretty big after the first soak (we have been reading the forum in preparation ), and that helped him gain some energy but not much. Today after a soak (we think he is very dehydrated so we are doing 20-30 minute warm water soaks every morning for the first couple of days- followed by leaving him be in his tank) he peed and it was almost like a Salmon color? He pooped a little bit too but not much. Poor baby's eyes even look a little bit swollen. He is doing a little bit better day by day but still not great.
note: He has not eaten dandelion, so that is not what is making his pee salmon colored/pink. The first night he ate a small amount of Kale and half of a cucumber slice, he has built since then and actually ate during the day today a variety of kale, romaine, green pepper, and cucumber (he loves cucumber) that we are sprinkling with calcium that we are shaving from the block in his tank. We are also growing him some tortoise grass so hopefully the element of foraging will help him out- he doesn't really eat unless its from my hand.
Here is all of the info i've seen people as for in other threads:
Tank: Right now we have him in the 40 gallon tank that we received him in. We know tanks are not ideal, but we are building him a tort table so it is where he has to be for a bit until we can afford the time and energy of building him the perfect home (which is our top priority). We lined the tank on the outside with paper so his confusion is minimized. Inside only until it gets warmer.
Substrate: Eco earth coconut fiber, about 4 inches deep- but he's struggling with it because he can't raise himself up.
Humidity: 40-42%
Temp: Basking spot in the 90's and rest of tank is about 79 degrees.
Water bowl: yes
Hiding spot/climbing spot: yes
UVB? yes
We know that his previous owners fed him lettuce, strawberries, and carrots because they left whatever he didn't eat in his cage to rot, and that they just put his cage in the sunlight or on the bathroom for humidity. We live in Utah and it's freezing cold outside so I don't think he was previously kept warm enough or given UVB because she didn't mention it to us.
We have a vet appointment for April 1st, 2021 but seeing as that is 6 days away I want to see if I can make him more comfortable until then. I love the little guy already and i'm glad we saved him. I'm concerned something is wrong with his hip development or physical development in some way because when I lift his shell off of the ground for him he walks fast and normal like a little guy should.
It would also be helpful to just hear wha you guys think/if we should be preparing for the worst.
Long story short for anyone scrolling/skimming: New Russian Tort, doesn't move, sleeps all the time, puffy eyes, pink pee, drags legs.
Thanks for taking the time to read, we appreciate it and Tony does too