Esio Trot

[Fattysplash]

Hi
We brought our baby tortoise 'Esio' home on Saturday. I am the 'responsible' adult (debatable) but my 10 year old daughter is the very proud tortoise guardian (for the next sixty years, hopefully). Esio is a Russian tortoise and about three inches long, and not a happy tortoise. We are first time owners and read as much as we could find before getting her, but still feel very naive regarding her behaviour and needs. Hopefully we will learn. She was in a warm, humid vivarium and we have housed her in a tortoise table, straight from eBay, lamps included. Temp in her basking area is above 90° and the ambient temp app 70°. We bathed her when she arrived and have offered her food each day, but she isn't eating. She just makes a beeline for the bed and stays there, she's only out when we bring her out, and only long enough to see her race back to bed! Advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Fattysplash]

I'm now in search of polythene or perspex, to line and cover the table. I'll be back

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hello

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Hello, and a very warm welcome to Tortoise Forum to you, your daughter and Esio.
First of all have a read of http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
then http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
Please ask if you have any questions. There are many experienced Russian tortoise keepers on the forum who will be happy to help you.
Straw and hay are not necessary for your tortoise, it probably won't eat it and can go moldy when damp in the humidity.
I use a cheap terracotta plant saucer with low sides for water, sunk into the substrate and big enough for the tortoise to soak in.
If that is a coil bulb, please remove it. Some tortoises get eye problems from some of these bulbs. Is the other bulb an MVB ? If so that should be adequate for your needs.
It is perfectly normal for your tort to be unhappy, shy and nervous at this stage.It takes them time to adapt to new surroundings, to know they're not on another torts territory, understand that there are no predators about and come to terms with the fact that you and your daughter are the food gods and are not going to eat him. It takes a while for them to adjust, but it will happen if the set up is right.
Happy torting!

 

[Gillian M]

Hi
We brought our baby tortoise 'Esio' home on Saturday. I am the 'responsible' adult (debatable) but my 10 year old daughter is the very proud tortoise guardian (for the next sixty years, hopefully). Esio is a Russian tortoise and about three inches long, and not a happy tortoise. We are first time owners and read as much as we could find before getting her, but still feel very naive regarding her behaviour and needs. Hopefully we will learn. She was in a warm, humid vivarium and we have housed her in a tortoise table, straight from eBay, lamps included. Temp in her basking area is above 90° and the ambient temp app 70°. We bathed her when she arrived and have offered her food each day, but she isn't eating. She just makes a beeline for the bed and stays there, she's only out when we bring her out, and only long enough to see her race back to bed! Advice would be greatly appreciated.

A very warm welcome to the forum!

Any pics of your tort?

Don't worry/panic: as @Tidgy's Dad put it: torts do not like change; therefore they take time to adapt to a new environment.

Ask any question when in need of help.

 

[wellington]

Hello and Welcome. I agree, remove be the coil bulb. No sense taking a chance it's a bad one. Also they really were meant to hang the other way. Also agree to remove the hay/straw. If your tort is an adult, that table is way too small. It's only good for a hatchling. Russians roam a lot of ground in the wild. At least a 4x8 is needed and that is a small minimum. If you are handy at all, you can just add on to the end to expand the length.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi, and welcome to the Forum!

Is Esio a baby? Reason I asked is because the more mature tortoises don't need all that much humidity, and you wouldn't need to cover the habitat.

 

[RosemaryDW]

Welcome!

I won't add to the advice of the experts other than to say two days isn't at all a long time for her to be nervous. She just got moved from perhaps the only home she's ever known.

Give her a little time and privacy so she can explore when she's ready.

 

[Kasia]

Hi
We brought our baby tortoise 'Esio' home on Saturday. I am the 'responsible' adult (debatable) but my 10 year old daughter is the very proud tortoise guardian (for the next sixty years, hopefully). Esio is a Russian tortoise and about three inches long, and not a happy tortoise. We are first time owners and read as much as we could find before getting her, but still feel very naive regarding her behaviour and needs. Hopefully we will learn. She was in a warm, humid vivarium and we have housed her in a tortoise table, straight from eBay, lamps included. Temp in her basking area is above 90° and the ambient temp app 70°. We bathed her when she arrived and have offered her food each day, but she isn't eating. She just makes a beeline for the bed and stays there, she's only out when we bring her out, and only long enough to see her race back to bed! Advice would be greatly appreciated.

View attachment 185850 View attachment 185851

I love the personalised tort table

 

[Speedy-1]

Hi and welcome !

 

[Fattysplash]

Hello, and a very warm welcome to Tortoise Forum to you, your daughter and Esio.
First of all have a read of http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
then http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
Please ask if you have any questions. There are many experienced Russian tortoise keepers on the forum who will be happy to help you.
Straw and hay are not necessary for your tortoise, it probably won't eat it and can go moldy when damp in the humidity.
I use a cheap terracotta plant saucer with low sides for water, sunk into the substrate and big enough for the tortoise to soak in.
If that is a coil bulb, please remove it. Some tortoises get eye problems from some of these bulbs. Is the other bulb an MVB ? If so that should be adequate for your needs.
It is perfectly normal for your tort to be unhappy, shy and nervous at this stage.It takes them time to adapt to new surroundings, to know they're not on another torts territory, understand that there are no predators about and come to terms with the fact that you and your daughter are the food gods and are not going to eat him. It takes a while for them to adjust, but it will happen if the set up is right.
Happy torting!

Thank you! I thought it might be one of the bad bulbs, we bought the 'package' because we were unsure of bulb types, I'll remove it straight away. I did some more reading and, since my last post, I've covered the mesh with perspex and she loves it! I guess she wasn't warm/humid enough, but she is certainly much more active now

 

[Fattysplash]

Hi and welcome !

Thank you

 

[Fattysplash]

Esio Trot - The speed she travels I think we should have named her Esio Trotter!

 

[Fattysplash]

I love the personalised tort table

Thank you

 

[Fattysplash]

Hi, and welcome to the Forum!

Is Esio a baby? Reason I asked is because the more mature tortoises don't need all that much humidity, and you wouldn't need to cover the habitat.

She's not a tiny baby, but obviously very young. We weighed and measured her and she is three inches (shell length) and weighs 4oz. Is that young or very young, or do they vary???

 

[Fattysplash]

Hello and Welcome. I agree, remove be the coil bulb. No sense taking a chance it's a bad one. Also they really were meant to hang the other way. Also agree to remove the hay/straw. If your tort is an adult, that table is way too small. It's only good for a hatchling. Russians roam a lot of ground in the wild. At least a 4x8 is needed and that is a small minimum. If you are handy at all, you can just add on to the end to expand the length.

We bought this one for indoors and have a much bigger one outside, I'm also in the process of building an outside run/enclosure. We took her out into the garden yesterday (supervised) 'cause it was so warm, and she was off like a race horse! I was amazed at the ground she covered (but she's only small and our garden is huge, so she was very easily re-directed from any 'problem' areas/plants

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Thank you! I thought it might be one of the bad bulbs, we bought the 'package' because we were unsure of bulb types, I'll remove it straight away. I did some more reading and, since my last post, I've covered the mesh with perspex and she loves it! I guess she wasn't warm/humid enough, but she is certainly much more active now

Just ensure your UV source isn't blocked by the perspex/mesh as it will filter out most of the necessary UV rays.