Giving away my Russian Tortoise

[Itachi]

Hello, as you can see I just now signed up to this forum in hopes of advice on giving away my Russian tortoise for a couple reasons.

To keep this short this is kinda the classic parents gave me one when I never asked for it when I was young and most likely not researching enough before getting me it. He is healthy and I keep him on a good diet but in the next year I probably will not have enough Time to make sure he is being kept healthy, especially because I plan to leave for college and after that I wouldn’t really trust anyone in my family to take care of him (they’re pretty irresponsible to be totally honest) really just because life I won’t have the time/resources to take care of him any advice to find a suitable home for him?

 

[Maro2Bear]

I’m sure it won’t take long. Post some pix of your Russian. Was it a Petco / PetSmart purchase? Are you willing to ship if the lucky new owner wants it shipped? New owner pays fees, etc.

Trusted Shipping https://shipyourreptiles.com/

good luck. Find a good TFO member before u resort to Craigs List

 

[Itachi]

I’m sure it won’t take long. Post some pix of your Russian. Was it a Petco / PetSmart purchase? Are you willing to ship if the lucky new owner wants it shipped? New owner pays fees, etc.

➡ Trusted Shipping https://shipyourreptiles.com/

good luck. Find a good TFO member before u resort to Craigs List

Ngl shipping is kinda scary

 

[Maro2Bear]

Ngl shipping is kinda scary

Honestly. Not really. Lots of folks ship torts around the country with ease. Our Sully came from California. Anyhow, good luck.

ps - what part of Virginia?

 

[Itachi]

Honestly. Not really. Lots of folks ship torts around the country with ease. Our Sully came from California. Anyhow, good luck.

ps - what part of Virginia?

Hampton roads, about an hour away from Richmond

 

[Ink]

Is it a girl?

 

[Itachi]

Is it a girl?

Pretty sure it’s a boy, tbh I haven’t really entirely done a check. Tail is pretty long tho, also pointy

 

[Ink]

Try to attach a picture of the top and bottom, please.

 

[Itachi]

Try to attach a picture of the top and bottom, please.

Of the tail or whole body? I planned on replacing mulch and bathing him after school so I’ll take a picture ? probably gonna be a couple hours tho

 

[Ink]

Great

 

[Itachi]

Try to attach a picture of the top and bottom, please.

 

[Itachi]

On a side note does his/her shell look healthy? I can admit that his beak needs to be trimmed, I’m not sure I know how to get it done however. Something else I only learned pretty recently about tortoise care : /

 

[Minority2]

On a side note does his/her shell look healthy? I can admit that his beak needs to be trimmed, I’m not sure I know how to get it done however. Something else I only learned pretty recently about tortoise care : /

Hard to tell because tortoises tend not display symptoms until much later.

What I do know is that the combination of kale and carrots, sprinkled in calcium powder is often a sign of a poor diet. The blame is not solely on you or your family because accurate up to date tortoise care information is not widely known to the general public. People don't often research these types of things unless they have a need to. Here is an up to date care sheet for Russian tortoises you can read and give to the next potential owner so that they'll be able to know the difference:
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/the-best-way-to-raise-any-temperate-species-of-tortoise.183131/

How old and long is the tortoise?

1. Get a cylindrical cup and rest your tortoise on top of the cup.
2. Use your thumb and index finger to prevent the tortoise's neck from going back into it's shell.
3. Use either a dremel tool or nail file and file the beak shorter to closer meet the top or bottom point of the beak.
4. If you're not confident in doing this you can always get a veterinarian to do it. Pricing would depend on the vet. Not a cheap procedure.

 

[Ink]

Pretty tortoise. I might take him or her I live in north chesterfield. If no one else will take it

 

[Itachi]

Hard to tell because tortoises tend not display symptoms until much later.

What I do know is that the combination of kale and carrots, sprinkled in calcium powder is often a sign of a poor diet. The blame is not solely on you or your family because accurate up to date tortoise care information is not widely known to the general public. People don't often research these types of things unless they have a need to. Here is an up to date care sheet for Russian tortoises you can read and give to the next potential owner so that they'll be able to know the difference:
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/the-best-way-to-raise-any-temperate-species-of-tortoise.183131/

How old and long is the tortoise?

1. Get a cylindrical cup and rest your tortoise on top of the cup.
2. Use your thumb and index finger to prevent the tortoise's neck from going back into it's shell.
3. Use either a dremel tool or nail file and file the beak shorter to closer meet the top or bottom point of the beak.
4. If you're not confident in doing this you can always get a veterinarian to do it. Pricing would depend on the vet. Not a cheap procedure.

Oh he doesn’t only eat kale usually I feed a mixed salad, I recently ran out of the salad mix bag so I gave him kale for today.

 

[Itachi]

Pretty tortoise. I might take him or her I live in north chesterfield. If no one else will take it ☺

tbh it would be really appreciated you can PM for more information ? no fees or anything we could work something out

 

[Minority2]

Oh he doesn’t only eat kale usually I feed a mixed salad, I recently ran out of the salad mix bag so I gave him kale for today.

Read the care-sheet. Grocery store foods in general do not possess enough fiber nor calcium needed in the tortoise's diet. Most of options found in grocery store greens are not only useless watery but can also contain harmful substances that when eaten in excess, through accumulation of eating the same family type greens over and over, can cause severe health issues in tortoises. For example; kale, spinach, mustard greens, collards, all of them belong in the same category of foods that possess these types of harmful substances. This is members warn others to not consistently feed the same type of foods.

 

[Ink]

If anyone is closer to the area, please consider taking this tortoise, or if you are able to pick it up.

 

[grrrrrutah]

Hi... I am new to the forum and find it very helpful so far. Just wanted to add my two cents to the comment about diet - totally incorrect to say no spinach, kale, etc. for tortoises. Yes, you have to be careful about washing and make sure it's organic and so on. The green to minimize is lettuce because it has low calcium to phosphorus ratio. Ideally, tortoises, especially hebivorous ones, should be offered cabbage family which includes cabbage, kale, brussel sprouts, cauliflower/broccoli leaves... spinach, pak choi, chard, coriander, water cress, and rocket. Also many other items but I wanted to add specifically about the greens. The misconception with spinach for example is that is contains lots of oxalates which bind calcium making it biologically unavailable. HOWEVER it contains a LOT of calcium, enough where some will still be available, actually making it a valuable part of tortoise diet. Please note that my source is a veterinary text written by a pair of exotics veterinarians with years of experience each. The text they wrote is called, Essentials of Tortoise Medicine and Surgery.

 

[wellington]

Read the care-sheet. Grocery store foods in general do not possess enough fiber nor calcium needed in the tortoise's diet. Most of options found in grocery store greens are not only useless watery but can also contain harmful substances that when eaten in excess, through accumulation of eating the same family type greens over and over, can cause severe health issues in tortoises. For example; kale, spinach, mustard greens, collards, all of them belong in the same category of foods that possess these types of harmful substances. This is members warn others to not consistently feed the same type of foods.

I think you should look up @Kapidolo Farms thread on the research he has done with different foods including grocery greens. I don't remember the title but it's something like What's in our food. I believe you are very wrong about your food advice. Many tortoises are fed grocery greens in the winter months especially. It's always better to try and feed more natural foods but most everyone feeds grocery type greens at one point or another.