Delurkifying (and a couple of questions!)

[adsum]

Update! Update! Update! (I can't believe I'm so excited about this- ha!) Steve has decided the dandelions are tasty. I decided if i wasn't eyeball t eyeball he might be more inclined to eat- so I left them alone to bask & snack. For a little while Steve was laying with his neck all the way extended- basking. That seems like it could indicate some comfort.

My name suggestions were Boris & Natasha (like bullwinkle- I'm sure that's not all that original around here!) but got shot down. Toto is short for "tortoise tortoise" (daughter's pick) and steve is just my husband being weird.

 

[lynnedit]

Steve sounds like a husband name choice. Probably after several quarterbacks, or something...
Yay! won't be long now before they morph into pigs!
Try radicchio...

 

[dmmj]

My 3 russians are named boris natasha and stohli. Welcome lots of good advice given, just wanted to throw out some food ideas. Mine love hibiscus flower and leaves, grape leaves, dandelion greens and flowers, and various squash leaves and flowers. Once they warm up to you they will follow you around like a puppy.

 

[adsum]

So, steve has parked him self back in the corner. I guess he's not totally ready to come out of his shell yet. Toto, on the other hand, is all over the place. She basks for a bit- walks up the ramp, down the ramp, snacks, she is all over the place. Steve's got some catchin' up to do! It's funny because toto spent all morning in her burrow. After I soaked her and then put her in the basking area she seemed to come to life! I can't wait until I get my temp gun. I'm worried that even though my ambient temp is ok, the substrate feels cold- so if they're burrowing, they might get a bit chilly. At least they know where the heat is, and the food, and what not, so they can choose to be where they feel most comfy.

 

[lynnedit]

If Toto is that active, Steve will come around (as long as he is OK, and no reason to suspect differently).
How fun to see Toto make use of her new digs. Can tortoise be thrilled?
You really do want to know the temps on the tort shell (under basking), on the basking tile or substrate surface, etc., so the temp gun is great. Don't worry about below surface temps if your cool side is around 70 daytime, no lower than 60 nighttime (although a healthy adult Russian can tolerate lower temps outside if they can bask and warm up during the day).
Ambient temps are important but secondary.
One down, one to go!
Now you have to explain to your friends why you are a 'tort nerd'.

 

[adsum]

Ok- so is it weird that steve seems not particularly interested in hiding, but also not particularly intersted in doing anything else? He tends to hang out with eyes closed and head either inside his shell or everything all stretched out. He's not interested in moving. I think he nibbled on some dandelions- but whatever he ate yesterday is minimal. Toto has pooped several times, but nuthin from steve. Yesterday he spent all day in a corner in the cool end of the enclosure- faced in to a wall with his head pulled into his shell. After his bath he spent a bit of time basking, checked out the food dish and then settled into a corner in the warmer end (but out of the direct light). He seems to have rotated this morning and is laying neck totally extended toward the basking light.

 

[lynnedit]

eating can be delayed a bit, but no pooping or peeing is more concerning.
keep soaking him in the baby food soaks, warm, 20" (add water if needed to keep warm), even twice per day.
if you don't see him poop at all, then a reptile vet check later this week might be in order. he sounds a bit sluggish.