Hello from me to you!

Stumpy

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Feb 18, 2015
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Welcome! Heather has it right, I'm also in the UK and bought my tort table months before I got my tort and I now know that it will only be adequate for a year or so, it's also more work to make sure the humidity/temps stay reasonable.

We can help you run down the basics though, substrate, food etc. as these are all fairly similar considering the usual torts we see in the UK.
Hi and thank you.bearded photo which should now be above. Please read my reply to Heather too. From there I'd be grateful for advise on best source of nutrients and lighting.
One of the issues 've been thinking about is maintaining the correct heat without eating my electric. Hmmmm! Gonna do what I can, just pray this is not going to be additional expense. What is best instead of a table then?
 

Stumpy

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Feb 18, 2015
Messages
12
Location (City and/or State)
Midlands, UK
*waves* First off, sorry about your Mother. Second I am so glad you didn't forget about the little guy and are now becoming a major part in his future. Don't stress too much about his past, instead do as you are and move on withy his future. The past can't be changed and I would hate for it to cause issues that might create a wall between you and your sister.

I am looking forward to seeing him.
*waves back*
Thank you. You honestly dont realise just how much your message means to me. It's been a very difficult year and falling out is not something I could deal with on top. So my approach is to bite my tongue and do what I can. I could have lied and been one of those who said its a friend of a friend. I dont see the point though and truthfully would like some help..
The future is what we have and my 7 year old daughter has said to me *"don't worry Mom, when you die.Stumpy will live with me."*
How lovely of her
 

Heather H

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What a sweet child. Post pics of the enclosure when you can :) this is a great place to come for help and advice. I would be lost without these guys :)
 

Stumpy

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Feb 18, 2015
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Location (City and/or State)
Midlands, UK
What a sweet child. Post pics of the enclosure when you can :) this is a great place to come for help and advice. I would be lost without these guys :)
Not been delivered yet. But these are the images of what it will look like
 

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Heather H

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Can you cancel the order? The bulb it comes with the coil have been shown to cause eye problems.
 

Tom

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Stumpy

New Member
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Feb 18, 2015
Messages
12
Location (City and/or State)
Midlands, UK

Heather H

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Location (City and/or State)
N.E. ohio

Heather H

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There are tons of things you can use for enclosures. Bookshelves, dressers, large totes, take a look at the section enclosures. Great ideas there.
 

crimson_lotus

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Aww it's a Russian :) Like Heather said, those coil bulbs are potentially dangerous. There was an old batch a while back that really damaged the eyes of the reptiles they were used for, and there are still reports of this issue even though it's been years since the "recall". Better safe than sorry in my opinion.

Soon as you get the tortoise, make sure you give them a very warm and long soak :) looks like they could use it!

Russians I think like to burrow so I would allow enough for him to cover himself. I have about 5-6 inches of substrate myself. Redfoots aren't diggers, so it's really cute to see my little tortoise kind of make "snow angels" when she wants a little hole in the corner to sleep.

They also like to climb, so make sure your walls are high enough so your russian can't climb it...My walls are about 20 inches, but keep the lights in mind as you don't want them too close to your tortoise. Heat lamps if left too close can dry out their shell and damage any new growth. I would leave about 8-12 inches of space between your lights and the tortoise. UV lights are also only effective if used with a certain distance.
 

crimson_lotus

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Is your husband a handy man? I would recommend building a larger enclosure, as it is a lot cheaper to make them than to buy them, and the ones you can buy are never big enough. If he's handy enough to just nail 5 wooden boards togeth

8ft x 4ft is usually the recommended size for a fully grown russian. You could maybe start out at half the size and expand later, or make a two-story 4x4 to save some room.

I did see that you wanted to move him outdoors which is also great!
 

Tom

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@Tom what is a good depth?

I recommend 4x8' x 18" tall for an indoor russian enclosure. Bigger is better. Making it 18" tall will allow a pretty thick layer of substrate, but still make the top to high for the tortoise to stand up and reach.
 

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