Dents in shell

[Arose3311]

I bought my Russian Tortoise about 3 years ago. The pet store was not sure what his age was but their guess was around 5 years so 8 years now. When I got him he had these dents or deformations on his shell and the worker told me it was shedding but he still has them and i’m not sure what they are. They don’t seem to bother him but I just want to make sure he’s okay. Here are some photos,

 

[wellington]

All looks good. Probably wild caught and likely was more like 8-10 years old when you got him. Pet stores know little to nothing about the tortoises they sell.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Agreed, he was likely older and being wild caught has some usual wear and tear

I’m noticing what looks like a coco fiber substrate? That isn’t the safest choice unfortunately as those fibres can pose a bit of an impaction risk, you want to get yourself some orchid bark instead
*edit* upon close inspection, I’m thinking it’s actually orchid bark and coco coir? If so ignore the above!!

I’m also noticing some foods that don’t look appropriate for this guy, you want to stick with leafy greens and safe weeds!

Whilst you’re here, I don’t suppose you’d mind sharing how you keep him? It’s good to check in with newer members

What are your different temp readings? Ie basking temp(directly under the bulb), overall day temps, night temps?
What kind of basking bulb are you using specifically? Packaging photos are good if you have any
What’s your indoor uv type?
How’s humidity reading?
What size set up?

If you’re willing to share more a photo of the full enclosure would be wonderful!

In the meantime, hopefully you’ll find this indoor housing thread I made useful, it covers correct equipment(lighting, heating, uv), levels, sizing, appropriately maintaining humidity, substrates, there’s lots of visual examples for everything, a food list and a really handy diet link to check out!

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 includes lots of enclosure inspiration

Enclosure inspiration

Howdy folks! Hope everyone is well! As you all know, I’m a big fan of making threads that cater more towards visual learners like myself, I’ve really been wanting to create a thread full of adult enclosure inspiration for a while now, I’ve managed to find some great references over time! I do...

tortoiseforum.org

Lastly, probably the most important, this one is also really good to familiarise yourself with, it’ll help you avoid the wrong bulbs, explains more about the substrates, housing etc, I always encourage double checking purchases on the forum too before buying

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! Always happy to try and answer any further questions once you’ve read them! Welcome to the forum

 

[Arose3311]

Agreed, he was likely older and being wild caught has some usual wear and tear

I’m noticing what looks like a coco fiber substrate? That isn’t the safest choice unfortunately as those fibres can pose a bit of an impaction risk, you want to get yourself some orchid bark instead
*edit* upon close inspection, I’m thinking it’s actually orchid bark and coco coir? If so ignore the above!!

I’m also noticing some foods that don’t look appropriate for this guy, you want to stick with leafy greens and safe weeds!

Whilst you’re here, I don’t suppose you’d mind sharing how you keep him? It’s good to check in with newer members

What are your different temp readings? Ie basking temp(directly under the bulb), overall day temps, night temps?
What kind of basking bulb are you using specifically? Packaging photos are good if you have any
What’s your indoor uv type?
How’s humidity reading?
What size set up?

If you’re willing to share more a photo of the full enclosure would be wonderful!

In the meantime, hopefully you’ll find this indoor housing thread I made useful, it covers correct equipment(lighting, heating, uv), levels, sizing, appropriately maintaining humidity, substrates, there’s lots of visual examples for everything, a food list and a really handy diet link to check out!

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 includes lots of enclosure inspiration

Enclosure inspiration

Howdy folks! Hope everyone is well! As you all know, I’m a big fan of making threads that cater more towards visual learners like myself, I’ve really been wanting to create a thread full of adult enclosure inspiration for a while now, I’ve managed to find some great references over time! I do...

tortoiseforum.org

Lastly, probably the most important, this one is also really good to familiarise yourself with, it’ll help you avoid the wrong bulbs, explains more about the substrates, housing etc, I always encourage double checking purchases on the forum too before buying

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! Always happy to try and answer any further questions once you’ve read them! Welcome to the forum

Thank you for your response! It was super helpful and eased my worries. I assure you that his substrate isn’t going to harm him as i’ve done much research, i do appreciate your checking though. Unfortunately this week we ran low on greens so i had to turn to my last resorts but i do usually give him his leafy greens. I will send pictures of his enclosure UV lights and heat lamps and if you have any ideas or suggestions i would love to hear them! PS. i took two of his thermometer and humidity pictures, the one on the log is on the far side of the enclosure but the second is under the heat lamp.





Again thank you!

 

[Arose3311]

All looks good. Probably wild caught and likely was more like 8-10 years old when you got him. Pet stores know little to nothing about the tortoises they sell.

Thank you!

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Thank you for your response! It was super helpful and eased my worries. I assure you that his substrate isn’t going to harm him as i’ve done much research, i do appreciate your checking though. Unfortunately this week we ran low on greens so i had to turn to my last resorts but i do usually give him his leafy greens. I will send pictures of his enclosure UV lights and heat lamps and if you have any ideas or suggestions i would love to hear them! PS. i took two of his thermometer and humidity pictures, the one on the log is on the far side of the enclosure but the second is under the heat lamp.
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Again thank you!

No problem at all! Thanks for your response

Uv looks good! Though if getting an enclosure with a bit more height, the 10.0 is better to go for instead of the 5.0. Don’t suppose you know what kind of basking bulb you have?

I think the main things I’d address is sizing, adults need as close to a 8x4 foot space as possible, you can get away with a bit smaller indoors if they have a larger outdoor space they spend most the year, but if he’s spending a significant amount of time indoors I wouldn’t go smaller than 6x3, roaming room is vital for their health and it can’t be substituted for indoor free roams, that can be both stressful and dangerous.
The trouble with the double dome fitting is not being able to separate the ceramic bulb from the basking, ideally you want your ceramic in the middle for a more even heat distribution, with ambient lighting in the middle and basking&uv the one end.
With uv timing, every other source of information will tell you 12hours of uv. This is essentially an old fashioned rule that has stuck with a lot of keepers, it stems from the presumption that once the basking light or ambient lighting is on, ie the ‘sun’, that uv must coexist the same amount of hours. Fact is, uv rays only peak for a few hours a day, anyone with a uv meter will confirm this. No tortoise is blasted with 12 hours of uv in the wild, therefore it’s not necessary in captivity.
The uv bulbs are much more expensive to replace once their uv strength diminishes, so it’s definitely best having it on a 4 hour timer that provides them with all the uv they need, saving your bulb life.
Then some cheaper led lighting for your ambient 12 hour light cycle as well as the basking light on the same 12hrs, your ceramic(s) will run 24/7 on a thermostat, that’ll all make more sense if you give the thread I linked for you a read
Lastly I’d get yourself some digital monitoring to measure both temp&humidity, those analog gauges are notoriously inaccurate, you can find them pretty cheap in hardware stores, I’d also get an infrared temperature gun, they come in very handy!

 

[Arose3311]

No problem at all! Thanks for your response

Uv looks good! Though if getting an enclosure with a bit more height, the 10.0 is better to go for instead of the 5.0. Don’t suppose you know what kind of basking bulb you have?

I think the main things I’d address is sizing, adults need as close to a 8x4 foot space as possible, you can get away with a bit smaller indoors if they have a larger outdoor space they spend most the year, but if he’s spending a significant amount of time indoors I wouldn’t go smaller than 6x3, roaming room is vital for their health and it can’t be substituted for indoor free roams, that can be both stressful and dangerous.
The trouble with the double dome fitting is not being able to separate the ceramic bulb from the basking, ideally you want your ceramic in the middle for a more even heat distribution, with ambient lighting in the middle and basking&uv the one end.
With uv timing, every other source of information will tell you 12hours of uv. This is essentially an old fashioned rule that has stuck with a lot of keepers, it stems from the presumption that once the basking light or ambient lighting is on, ie the ‘sun’, that uv must coexist the same amount of hours. Fact is, uv rays only peak for a few hours a day, anyone with a uv meter will confirm this. No tortoise is blasted with 12 hours of uv in the wild, therefore it’s not necessary in captivity.
The uv bulbs are much more expensive to replace once their uv strength diminishes, so it’s definitely best having it on a 4 hour timer that provides them with all the uv they need, saving your bulb life.
Then some cheaper led lighting for your ambient 12 hour light cycle as well as the basking light on the same 12hrs, your ceramic(s) will run 24/7 on a thermostat, that’ll all make more sense if you give the thread I linked for you a read
Lastly I’d get yourself some digital monitoring to measure both temp&humidity, those analog gauges are notoriously inaccurate, you can find them pretty cheap in hardware stores, I’d also get an infrared temperature gun, they come in very handy!

Perfect thank you, I will for sure get on all of this!