hello, and help :)

[tobymytort]

hello,
first i’m from england and my name’s isobel

so i am new to having a tortoise, ( he’s a horsefield) and am scared that i’m doing something wrong,i read up loads on all different tortoises to make sure i knew what i was doing but having him is different.
He’s around 14 weeks old now i’ve had him for 2 weeks and i love owning a tortoise so far however i don’t want to let him down so i would love some advice, right now i think he has diarrhoea and i don’t know why or what to do so please help , thankyou x

 

[Ben02]

Hi and welcome, what are you feeding him, it might be that he needs more fibre in his diet. We would love to see some pics

 

[tobymytort]

Hi and welcome, what are you feeding him, it might be that he needs more fibre in his diet. We would love to see some pics

so basically his diet has just been kale and occasionally melon and other greens, i try to test stuff out to see how it goes, he doesn’t like the dried chamomile flowers the shop keepers made us buy which is fabulous

also this is him

 

[Ben02]

Handsome fella, yes only feed fruit as a treat. I reckon he needs more fibre, for example dandelions and plantain. I am in Britain as well and I know there hard to find this time of year, but if you go into the country side or fields your bound to find some

 

[T Smart]

Hi,

Your best bet is to provide a large variety of broad leafy greens.

Also, I suggest giving this thread a read if you haven't already:

Russian Tortoise Care Sheet

https://tortoiseforum.org/index.php?threads/Russian-Tortoise-Care-Sheet.80698/

 

[LaLaP]

Hi and welcome! Here is another good thread to read as a beginner to tortoises:

https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

Just from that photo I can see a couple changes you might want to make. That substrate has little white bits (calcium?perlite?) and those can be eaten and cause blockages and impaction. Also it looks like you have a red light. If so, those encourage torts to eat substrate too. That combination is especially concerning because those white bits under the light with look like delicious red fruit.
It's so common to get bad care information from pet stores, breeders and the internet so we've all been through this. If you want advice on the rest of your set-up just post more pics and tell us about your lights and temps and such.
For more diet options check out a website called tortoisetable.com and look at the diet section of this forum. Weeds are the best but if you need to use store bought until you figure it out go with spring mix, endive, escarole and cactus pads. No fruit.
Congrats on your super cute new tort!

 

[TechnoCheese]

Welcome to the forum!
There are some aspects of your care that need to be changed.
-red lights should not be used. Not only can they see both the color and the light(which can keep them up at night), but it can cause them to eat their substrate. You should be using a regular, 65 watt flood bulb for a basking bulb, and a ceramic heat emitter or radiant heat panel for night heat.

-That substrate should not be used. It does not hold humidity well, contains sand, and has limestone bits that encourages your tortoise to eat it. It’s a very large impaction risk.
You could be using coco coir, orchid bark, or cypress mulch.

Please give these a read and come back with questions-
Russian Tortoise Care Sheet https://tortoiseforum.org/index.php?threads/Russian-Tortoise-Care-Sheet.80698/

Beginner Mistakes https://tortoiseforum.org/index.php?threads/Beginner-Mistakes.45180/
The melon is likely causing the diarrhea. Be sure to read those links and fix his diet.

 

[RosemaryDW]

Welcome!

Before you tortoise is still quite young, I suggest you start with the care sheet for babies: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/b...or-other-herbivorous-tortoise-species.107734/.

All the caresheets mentioned above are great resources, this one is closer to what you may need right now.

 

[tobymytort]

Hi and welcome! Here is another good thread to read as a beginner to tortoises:

https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

Just from that photo I can see a couple changes you might want to make. That substrate has little white bits (calcium?perlite?) and those can be eaten and cause blockages and impaction. Also it looks like you have a red light. If so, those encourage torts to eat substrate too. That combination is especially concerning because those white bits under the light with look like delicious red fruit.
It's so common to get bad care information from pet stores, breeders and the internet so we've all been through this. If you want advice on the rest of your set-up just post more pics and tell us about your lights and temps and such.
For more diet options check out a website called tortoisetable.com and look at the diet section of this forum. Weeds are the best but if you need to use store bought until you figure it out go with spring mix, endive, escarole and cactus pads. No fruit.
Congrats on your super cute new tort!

thankyou!! honestly this is great but can you suggest a replacement for my substrate (i think it’s called??) and what do you suggest i do about it until the i can get the new substrate?
also this is what i’ve been using

 

[Gillian M]

A very warm welcome to the forum, @tobymytort .

A gorgeous little tort. God bless.

 

[Ray--Opo]

Hello and welcome, like Technocheese said, coca coir,cypress mulch and orchid bark. I get the mulch at home depot and the coca core online. Not sure if you have home depot's there but something comparable to them or landscaping places. Not sure what you could replace it with temporarily. Maybe just plain dirt no sand. Put food in a small dish like a terracotta dish they put under flower pots. Sink it in the substrate a little so it's easy for the little guy to get in. Don't feed just on top of substrate. More pics of your enclosure would be helpful for giving advice.
P.S What's your torts name?

 

[Ray--Opo]

Zoo Med calls coca coir, Eco Earth

 

[Lyn W]

Hi and welcome I'm in UK too.
There's some great advice already given it just takes time to read through it all and correct your mistakes.

I use an Arcadia MVB bulb in a wide dome to give heat, light and essential uvb in one bulb. It is safer to hang this rather than use a clamp which could fail and cause a fire - you can also alter the height to adjust the temp.
At night I use a ceramic heat emitter on a thermostat to keep temps even at night. My tort has his own room and a radiator on 24/7 - but he is a tropical tort so his needs are different to your tort.
Pets at Home sell coco coir blocks and orchid bark and the mvb. Don't use any coiled or cfl type bulbs as these carry a risk of damaging tort eyes. The Range also sells coir, domes, che and thermostats They aren't cheap but once you have them you are set.

You may find www.thetortoisetable.org.uk a help to find safe foods.. I use Florette Classic Crispy salad mix to supplement the weeds - that has a good mix of salad leaves. Iceberg and little gem aren't very nutritious. Sainsburys bags of mixed leaf salads are also OK. Lambs lettuce is quite good too, but the caresheet should tell you more about the sort of diet he should have,

Good luck

 

[Lyn W]

PS don't always take what pet stores say at face value - they often give bad, out of date advice and sell equipment you either don't need or that may be unsafe for your tort. They are only interested in profit, not tort health.
Always check here before buying anything as the members just have your torts health and safety at heart and can help save you money.
Also don't be offended if someone says you need to change anything, it is only because everyone here cares about torts and wants to help you keep yours safe.

 

[janaw]

I am a new tortoise mom and I soooo appreciate all your advise! I can see I've already made several mistakes with my lil girl that I need to correct! Its great that there is a forum to get great advice!

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Isobel and welcome to the Forum!

 

[Cheryl Hills]

hello,
first i’m from england and my name’s isobel

so i am new to having a tortoise, ( he’s a horsefield) and am scared that i’m doing something wrong,i read up loads on all different tortoises to make sure i knew what i was doing but having him is different.
He’s around 14 weeks old now i’ve had him for 2 weeks and i love owning a tortoise so far however i don’t want to let him down so i would love some advice, right now i think he has diarrhoea and i don’t know why or what to do so please help , thankyou x

Hi, welcome to the forum. Nice little Russian you have there