Feeding

[CourtneyG]

So I currently have a pancake who eats bok choy, mustards, and turnip greens, with grassland tortoise food that has been soaked, sprinkled over the greens. I might get a Russian real soon from someone. What can I not feed the Russian that i feed the pancake. I used to feed my pancake collards but he decided to trade it for bok choy and stope eating collards.

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

Their diets are pretty much the same. I'm sitting here trying to figure out what I would feed one and not the other. Pancakes will take grasses more readily, but that's not really a don't feed to a russian. I feed my russians leafy greens on a bed of dried grass hay in their indoor enclosure, and although I don't see them actively eating it, I find plenty in their scat.

 

[CourtneyG]

That is good, the home for them is large enough for the 3 tortoises to live happily, just need a larger food bowl. I know Russians like to roam where pancakes like to graze on and off throughout the day and sleep in their hides the rest of the time. I can also get collards to throw in and I am sure the Russian will eat it.

 

[theelectraco]

That is good, the home for them is large enough for the 3 tortoises to live happily, just need a larger food bowl. I know Russians like to roam where pancakes like to graze on and off throughout the day and sleep in their hides the rest of the time. I can also get collards to throw in and I am sure the Russian will eat it.

They cannot be mixed. It is not a good idea to put different species in the same habitat.

 

[CourtneyG]

Why? Back in South Africa my mum and a friend had a rescue program for the African tortoise and their were multiple species of different genders and sizes all mixed with no problems.

 

[wellington]

It is not good to mix species. That is one thing that almost everyone will tell you on this forum. It has been posted many, many times. One can be a carrier of parasite, disease, etc and give it to the other, which would never have been exposed to it. Your asking for possible trouble and its not worth the risk. Not good housing practices.

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BTW, it is recommended to wash hands in between exposure to each tort. Also, not to share dishes, etc between torts.

 

[CourtneyG]

I have an isolation tank and my mum works for our vet school, I would have the stool checked for parasites. But if worst comes to worst I can have him set up in a plastic tub.

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I work for our vet school and work in an isolation unit, I am well trained in isolation procedures.

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

Russian tortoise and pancake tortiose come from two completely different continents as well as environments. Remember small pox and the North American population when Europeans first showed up. I have tortoises from both continents and ALL are kept separate with no utensils shared between habitats. I have, in the past, lost a collection due to improper sanitation and I vow I shaw not repeat that foolish act again.

 

[CourtneyG]

Well if I get him for a reasonable price and if the owner is willing to meet the requirements i asked, I can set him up in his own tank.