dry tortoise shell?

[Yingg]

I think you are doing what's needed to prevent stones from forming: hydration (every 4 days for an adult tortoise is okay), proper diet and exercise.

how much exercise do you recommend? when i let her out (maybe twice a week for 4 hours each since it's been so cold) she only walks for 30 min then hides. I think she walks about 100ft when she does move.

 

[Yingg]

I think you are doing what's needed to prevent stones from forming: hydration (every 4 days for an adult tortoise is okay), proper diet and exercise.

is every 2 days also okay? for about 30 min each.

 

[Yingg]

today she had one normal poop and diarrhea.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

how much exercise do you recommend? when i let her out (maybe twice a week for 4 hours each since it's been so cold) she only walks for 30 min then hides. I think she walks about 100ft when she does move.

Does she walks for 30 minutes and then stays 3.5 hours hidden? If so, it's better to bring her in to warm up and rest and then take out for another 30 minutes (until weather gets better).

On average (season, food availabilty and tortoise sex dependent) wild Greek tortoises walk 300-500 ft. a day (up to 1 mile sometimes), I expect similar numbers for Russian tortoises.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

is every 2 days also okay? for about 30 min each.

For an adult - yes.

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

Does she walks for 30 minutes and then stays 3.5 hours hidden? If so, it's better to bring her in to warm up and rest and then take out for another 30 minutes (until weather gets better).

On average (season, food availabilty and tortoise sex dependent) wild Greek tortoises walk 300-500 ft. a day (up to 1 mile sometimes), I expect similar numbers for Russian tortoises.

For Russians, I think males tend to walk more than females. Males have territories of about 10 km2, while females have smaller territories.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

For Russians, I think males tend to walk more than females. Males have territories of about 10 km2, while females have smaller territories.

That's true. However, daily movements are less than that (males don't walk around the whole territory).

I should note, though, that measurement methods were not ideal in papers I've seen (for Redfoots just a daily offsets in GPS coordinates were recorded without data logging and for Greek tortoises researchers used "thread method").

 

[Yingg]

Does she walks for 30 minutes and then stays 3.5 hours hidden? If so, it's better to bring her in to warm up and rest and then take out for another 30 minutes (until weather gets better).

On average (season, food availabilty and tortoise sex dependent) wild Greek tortoises walk 300-500 ft. a day (up to 1 mile sometimes), I expect similar numbers for Russian tortoises.

that's a good idea. do you suggest i love her the second she starts digging a hole in order to keep her walking ?

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

That's true. However, daily movements are less than that (males don't walk around the whole territory).

I should note, though, that measurement methods were not ideal in papers I've seen (for Redfoots just a daily offsets in GPS coordinates were recorded without data logging and for Greek tortoises researchers used "thread method").

Yeah, that is right, they don't use the whole area daily. I wonder if I will be able to find the article about Russian tortoise movements again...

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

that's a good idea. do you suggest i love her the second she starts digging a hole in order to keep her walking ?

I would let her fully settle down and then put her back in the indoors enclosure. She will take a nap, warm up, maybe take a bite and be ready for the next walk (if temperature allows).

Forcing her to walk is an unnecessary stress.

 

[Yingg]

I would let her fully settle down and then put her back in the indoors enclosure. She will take a nap, warm up, maybe take a bite and be ready for the next walk (if temperature allows).

Forcing her to walk is an unnecessary stress.

thank you! do you happen to know why she won't eat unless i offer her the food?

i usually have it on the slate/bowl and she sees it. however she won't eat it unless i physically wave the bowl in front of her face, then she will eat. today i was gone all day from 5 am until 10 pm and couldn't "show her" the food. she didn't touch it.

i don't know if she even went out from her hide today. i don't think she is sick or anything. she walks fine and eats her food ONLY when it's offered to her. maybe she is picky and doesn't like frisée?

i am a bit worried. btw, lately i've been feeding her salad mix (ingredients in image) except the salad mix is like 90% frisée. usually i get some baby red lettuce and some sprouts from my testudo tortoise supply mix, but recently they died somehow and i'm regrowing them.

i wonder if this salad mix has too much protein. could that be why her urates are hard/gritty?

thank you for your replies. i don't reply to all of them but i definitely see them and appreciate them!

 

[Yingg]

I would let her fully settle down and then put her back in the indoors enclosure. She will take a nap, warm up, maybe take a bite and be ready for the next walk (if temperature allows).

Forcing her to walk is an unnecessary stress.

can i do this twice a day? so that maybe she walks 150-200 ft instead of just 100?

usually the weather is great for a day, then completely gets horrible the next. it's weird. when the weather is good, she stays outside for very long. sometimes she even walks for a full hour, just back and forth. it's rare though. i was thinking that i could let her walk, and if she walks too little and starts digging, i can let her inside to rest for 1hr only and then move her back outside.

usually, when she walks too little, i simply put her on the sidewalk and walk with her on a leash. then she won't dig and just walks in front of me. if she wants to dig, i just pick her up and put her back. does this method work?

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

thank you! do you happen to know why she won't eat unless i offer her the food?

i usually have it on the slate/bowl and she sees it. however she won't eat it unless i physically wave the bowl in front of her face, then she will eat. today i was gone all day from 5 am until 10 pm and couldn't "show her" the food. she didn't touch it.

i don't know if she even went out from her hide today. i don't think she is sick or anything. she walks fine and eats her food ONLY when it's offered to her. maybe she is picky and doesn't like frisée?

i am a bit worried. btw, lately i've been feeding her salad mix (ingredients in image) except the salad mix is like 90% frisée. usually i get some baby red lettuce and some sprouts from my testudo tortoise supply mix, but recently they died somehow and i'm regrowing them.

i wonder if this salad mix has too much protein. could that be why her urates are hard/gritty?

thank you for your replies. i don't reply to all of them but i definitely see them and appreciate them!

Salad mix is not very high in protein, no worries.

I don't know what causes her to wait for food instead of foraging. Maybe you can put the bowl right at the exit from her night hide... Also, if you weigh her and see some gains, you can leave foods and do nothing - in a few days she has to start eating on her own. Put a small piece of something enticing in the bowl - squash, steamed pumpkin etc.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

can i do this twice a day? so that maybe she walks 150-200 ft instead of just 100?

usually the weather is great for a day, then completely gets horrible the next. it's weird. when the weather is good, she stays outside for very long. sometimes she even walks for a full hour, just back and forth. it's rare though. i was thinking that i could let her walk, and if she walks too little and starts digging, i can let her inside to rest for 1hr only and then move her back outside.

usually, when she walks too little, i simply put her on the sidewalk and walk with her on a leash. then she won't dig and just walks in front of me. if she wants to dig, i just pick her up and put her back. does this method work?

You can try to bring her out twice a day on gloomy and colder days.

Forcing her to walk when she tries to burrow is not really good (I think) - they burrow when need some safety, it's too cold or they are tired. Also keep in mind that 150-200 ft. a day is a mean value, in the wild they have days without or little movement (daily ranges are from 30 to 1200 ft), depending on weather etc.

 

[Yingg]

Salad mix is not very high in protein, no worries.

I don't know what causes her to wait for food instead of foraging. Maybe you can put the bowl right at the exit from her night hide... Also, if you weigh her and see some gains, you can leave foods and do nothing - in a few days she has to start eating on her own. Put a small piece of something enticing in the bowl - squash, steamed pumpkin etc.

haha i have to go strict mom mode. "if you don't eat my cooking then you don't eat dinner" thanks!

 

[Yingg]

You can try to bring her out twice a day on gloomy and colder days.

Forcing her to walk when she tries to burrow is not really good (I think) - they burrow when need some safety, it's too cold or they are tired. Also keep in mind that 150-200 ft. a day is a mean value, in the wild they have days without or little movement (daily ranges are from 30 to 1200 ft), depending on weather etc.

thanks!

 

[RandyTortoise]

hello all, this is my 15 year old female russian. i give her soaks (30 min) every other day and mist her religiously three times a day. i mist her veggies so she gets some extra water as well. however, i recently noticed that her shell is unusually dry. she's shedding scales too (that's not too out of the ordinary, she does that every now and then).

her scutes also look "separated" somehow. when i run my finger down these grooves they are not soft and she doesn't react. i'm not sure if this is normal or not. she's never looked this dry and crusty before. can anyone tell me why? is it a big issue? thank you all.

My guess, and this is just a guess, looks like she is lacking some vitamin or element of her diet she needs right now. If she is overall healthy other than this, I would analyze what you are feeding her.

 

[Yingg]

My guess, and this is just a guess, looks like she is lacking some vitamin or element of her diet she needs right now. If she is overall healthy other than this, I would analyze what you are feeding her.

yes it ended up being diet and hydration!! she is much better now.

 

[Yingg]

healthy urates today! no gritty at all!

 

[RandyTortoise]

yes it ended up being diet and hydration!! she is much better now.

So glad to hear that!!!