cold weather question

[Spazz_Attack24]

How do you guys keep your tort happy and healthy when they cant go outside for the sun and to move around, do i need to tort proof a bedroom for winter time?

 

[wellington]

What size tortoise do you have?
I have a insulated and heated tortoise shed and they each have a large area for winter. It's heated, has basking areas and brightly lighted.
If you can't do a shed and you have a fairly large tortoise, basically anything other than Mediterranean species, star, or pancakes, they will need a room size enclosure.
The smaller ones I listed can have smaller than a room size, but no smaller than an 4x8 larger would be better.

 

[Spazz_Attack24]

What size tortoise do you have?
I have a insulated and heated tortoise shed and they each have a large area for winter. It's heated, has basking areas and brightly lighted.
If you can't do a shed and you have a fairly large tortoise, basically anything other than Mediterranean species, star, or pancakes, they will need a room size enclosure.
The smaller ones I listed can have smaller than a room size, but no smaller than an 4x8 larger would be better.

I have 2 Russian tortoises that are about 5 inches big

 

[Tom]

I have 2 Russian tortoises that are about 5 inches big

A couple of 4x8 foot enclosures should suffice to get them through the less than ideal weather. With some hides, logs, big rocks and that sort of thing, they should be fine. If you brumate them, their indoor time will seem even shorter.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

I have 2 Russian tortoises that are about 5 inches big

You don’t house them in the same enclosure do you? tortoise of any species should NEVER be housed in pairs under any circumstances, they’re incredibly territorial, behaviours that look cute to us really aren’t, following one another and sleeping huddled up is all bullying the the tortoise world, you’ll eventually see more extreme signs of aggression. Anyone who tells you pairs are fine, have no idea what they’re talking about.

Small groups are ok when there’s lots of land and the correct male to female ratio.

As mentioned above, two 4x8 foot enclosures will suffice for winter time, I think you’ll hopefully find this thread useful to look through, it goes over correct equipment, appropriately maintaining humidity, correct level etc, there’s lots of visual examples and a good link for the diet side of things

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 one is also handy to make sure you’re avoiding incorrect equipment(very easily done) and materials etc

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

Hope they help!

 

[Spazz_Attack24]

You don’t house them in the same enclosure do you? tortoise of any species should NEVER be housed in pairs under any circumstances, they’re incredibly territorial, behaviours that look cute to us really aren’t, following one another and sleeping huddled up is all bullying the the tortoise world, you’ll eventually see more extreme signs of aggression. Anyone who tells you pairs are fine, have no idea what they’re talking about.

Small groups are ok when there’s lots of land and the correct male to female ratio.

As mentioned above, two 4x8 foot enclosures will suffice for winter time, I think you’ll hopefully find this thread useful to look through, it goes over correct equipment, appropriately maintaining humidity, correct level etc, there’s lots of visual examples and a good link for the diet side of things

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 one is also handy to make sure you’re avoiding incorrect equipment(very easily done) and materials etc

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

Hope they help!

There outside together in a huge yard with me watching them of course or my husband they get there snack time outside they only inside at night or when the weather is not good for them

 

[Maggie3fan]

We have extremely experienced tortoise keepers who tell YOU how to care for their tortoises. 2 Russians are a very bad deal no matter how much room they have. Russians are terribly aggressive. You need to separate them now before one stops eating and dies...oh welcome

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

There outside together in a huge yard with me watching them of course or my husband they get there snack time outside they only inside at night or when the weather is not good for them

They still do need separating unfortunately, as mentioned above, two Russians are a really bad idea no matter how much room they have, even if you are on hand to break them up constantly, the presence of one another is incredibly stressful for them both, the stress alone has proven to eventually be fatal, we’ve seen it here many times. I don’t say this stuff lightly

 

[Spazz_Attack24]

They don't do nythi.g together they walk to opposite side of the yard one likes to dig while the other one loves to eat the grass they have never been aggressive towards one of the other . They eat at different times and loves to be outside I can't put a fence up in my front yard cuz the city won't let me do that is why they go there separate ways and plus when one was at the vet for a few days the other one stoped eating while she was away crush had an infection so we had to separate them but it didn't go well cuz the other one stoped eating till she came home

 

[Spazz_Attack24]

Crush at the vet stoped eating also for a few days till we got them back together they grew up together so if I do that I'll be putting both at risk and I'm not doing that again

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

They don't do nythi.g together they walk to opposite side of the yard one likes to dig while the other one loves to eat the grass they have never been aggressive towards one of the other . They eat at different times and loves to be outside I can't put a fence up in my front yard cuz the city won't let me do that is why they go there separate ways and plus when one was at the vet for a few days the other one stoped eating while she was away crush had an infection so we had to separate them but it didn't go well cuz the other one stoped eating till she came home

Crush at the vet stoped eating also for a few days till we got them back together they grew up together so if I do that I'll be putting both at risk and I'm not doing that again

They are both at constant risk by letting them cohabitate, the reason the other stopped eating without the other one present is because they hate any kind of change, even the ones that are positive for them. They would eventually regain their appetite, you don’t need a huge fence between them, they just both need their own separate secure enclosures.
Theres multiple reasons it’s not advised to house pairs together, Russians are the worst species to do that with too, I don’t want you to find out the hard way.
I don’t suppose you’d mind attaching a photo of them both?
@Tom and @wellington have been on the forum a lot long than I have, they’re both very experienced and will tell you the countless instances they’ve witnessed of pairs on here that don’t end well

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

Unfortunately everything can be fine, but bullying can start later on too, read here about one example: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/w...together-a-lesson-learned-the-hard-way.94114/

Plus, tortoise stress isn't really visible or easy to understand for us humans.