Hello from Leo & Shelby!

[Shelbylengyel]

Hey! I am Shelby and I have had my russian tort for about a year and a half! I couldn't tell what sex it was but I now strongly think it is a boy! So, he went from Lila to Leo I got him from a Petsmart where they told me he was 6 months. I brought him to the vet and got him his parasite medicine. He has been a happy tort since! I believe all is well with him other than I think the bulb during the day that I'm using for a basking light it too hot. Leo has dryer skin and it was flaking so I have started soaking him more again and when I do his skin looks better but then the next couple of days it'll be flaky again! So, I am thinking it has to be the bulb. I'm just so worried about him being too cold. The night time bulb is a 75 watt but the day one is much bigger so maybe that is the problem. Can anyone tell me how old they think he is. I think he HAS to be older than a year or two. I saw other russian torts in Italy when I visited and they were SO little and the owner said they were like 2-3 years old so I feel like Leo is much older than I was originally told. Here he is!

 

[AZtortMom]

Hi and welcome to TFO I am not very experienced when it comes to Russian torts, so hopefully my experienced forum buddies can chime in and give you an informed reply. Again, welcome

 

[wellington]

Hello and Welcome. Your Russia. Is more like 3-5 years old. Closer to the 5 most likely. That's the ages of the petsmart/Petco Russians. Does your Russian have any humidity? At that age a 30-40% humidity would do him some good. I would try to give him a humid hide, making sure the hide is on the warm side of their temp range. You could also offer a non humid hide too. So he has choices.

 

[mike taylor]

If you post temperatures,humidity in his enclosure we can help you with the skin problems. You should have four temperatures hot side ,cool side,basking spot and night time . You should be reading these temperatures by heat gun or a good thermometer. Welcome to the forum .

 

[Shelbylengyel]

Here are some more pics that hopefully will be helpful. I turned off the basking lamp probably an hour or two before I took these pictures because I read that it just might be too hot and that's why Leo keeps scratching and climbing on everything. The home is about 3ft by 2ft I would say. I only use three lights. The UVB one all day with the basking one and then the red light at night. He does go to bathroom in his pool so I have a separate water dish. I know that carrots should only be fed once in a while but he hasn't been eating much. Also, I thought he was growing to fast for his shell and that I was feeding him more than I should be. I was feeding him twice a day and now I am only feeding him once a day and it isn't as much food. I've started using the coconut soil for more humidity because I thought the bark was absorbing too much of it and making it too hot and dry. What can I do for more humidity because I don't want him to be cold or get the sniffles? Thanks for everyones help!

 

[pam]

Welcome

 

[lisa127]

I don't keep Russians so I am only commenting going by what I've learned reading here. I do not believe that you should be providing heat overnight. I think they need cool temps overnight, but again I do not own Russians. So hopefully someone else will chime in on this.