Hello! Introduction/asking for advice

[jharrris]

Hello! I recently discovered this forum and it seems very cool

I've had a Russian box tortoise for about 4 years now and I love her a lot. But I'm am amateur and now that I've discovered this forum I'd like to know if she looks healthy and if her enclosure/lighting looks good. I have two videos showing the enclosure and showing her but it won't let me send them here. My email is [email protected] if anyone could have me email them to them, thank you!

Also, the enclosure is the ZooMed tortoise house and it's 3 feet by 2 feet. I also let her walk around the apartment a lot (supervised), hang out and crawl in the blankets on my bed, and walk around outside every once in a while

 

[Ray--Opo]

Welcome, if you transfer the videos to YouTube then look for your library on YouTube. The video will be there and you can copy link. Then paste on your thread here.

 

[Lyn W]

Hi and welcome.
It is indeed a very cool forum and you'll not find any better or more up to date information anywhere else.
Start checking that your tort has everything he needs by reading this

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

and this (which is probably part of the above anyway)

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

If you've been following pet shop advice you'll probably find you have a few changes to make - they know very little about tort care and often sell unsafe and unsuitable equipment for profit only. There is also a lot of old information still being passed around on places like FB or other websites so read then ask as many questions you like there's always someone here to help.

I think at 4 years of age your tort probably needs a bigger enclosure now (smaller species need a min. of 4 x 8 feet) but post pics etc and you'll get good feedback to help you.

 

[Tom]

Hello! I recently discovered this forum and it seems very cool

I've had a Russian box tortoise for about 4 years now and I love her a lot. But I'm am amateur and now that I've discovered this forum I'd like to know if she looks healthy and if her enclosure/lighting looks good. I have two videos showing the enclosure and showing her but it won't let me send them here. My email is [email protected] if anyone could have me email them to them, thank you!

Also, the enclosure is the ZooMed tortoise house and it's 3 feet by 2 feet. I also let her walk around the apartment a lot (supervised), hang out and crawl in the blankets on my bed, and walk around outside every once in a while

Hello and welcome. I agree with everything Lyn said. Please read those threads.

 

[TammyJ]

Hi and welcome! Pictures please.

 

[jharrris]

Hello! I recently discovered this forum and it seems very cool

I've had a Russian box tortoise for about 4 years now and I love her a lot. But I'm am amateur and now that I've discovered this forum I'd like to know if she looks healthy and if her enclosure/lighting looks good. I have two videos showing the enclosure and showing her but it won't let me send them here. My email is [email protected] if anyone could have me email them to them, thank you!

Also, the enclosure is the ZooMed tortoise house and it's 3 feet by 2 feet. I also let her walk around the apartment a lot (supervised), hang out and crawl in the blankets on my bed, and walk around outside every once in a while

Thank you guys for the advice! I read up on that thread and I'll see if sending the videos as a google drive link will work.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZybyIQOg61sYMwjOZXxr-2kMt5ZWQxBW/view?usp=drivesdk

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_86T_532N_9duGe53_oaFY0aIgLF5O2D/view?usp=drivesdk

 

[jharrris]

Hi and welcome! Pictures please.

I'm still trying to figure out the thread works lol, I replied to myself with google drive links to the videos. Please let me know if they work for you!

 

[jharrris]

Hi and welcome.
It is indeed a very cool forum and you'll not find any better or more up to date information anywhere else.
Start checking that your tort has everything he needs by reading this

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

and this (which is probably part of the above anyway)

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

If you've been following pet shop advice you'll probably find you have a few changes to make - they know very little about tort care and often sell unsafe and unsuitable equipment for profit only. There is also a lot of old information still being passed around on places like FB or other websites so read then ask as many questions you like there's always someone here to help.

I think at 4 years of age your tort probably needs a bigger enclosure now (smaller species need a min. of 4 x 8 feet) but post pics etc and you'll get good feedback to help you.

Thank you very much for the advice, I read the threads and will work on changes I can make (I'm a teenager and I live with my dad who is the only source of income. He bought Shelly at a reptile show and ordered the current enclosure, but he hasn't done much research himself)

Please see the reply I made with the google drive links

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Welcome to the forum
I grew up in South Carolina not far from you

 

[jharrris]

Welcome to the forum
I grew up in South Carolina not far from you

That's cool but how did you know?

 

[Ray--Opo]

That's cool but how did you know?

In your profile it says you are from Greenville.
I lived in Manning for about a year.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

In your profile it says you are from Greenville.
I lived in Manning for about a year.

Yes. Your profile.
I've lived in Rock Hill and Fort Mill.
I still own property in Catawba.

 

[jharrris]

In your profile it says you are from Greenville.
I lived in Manning for about a year.

Ohhh I didn't know that was on my profile lol. That's really cool though!

 

[methos75]

Where did the name Russian Box Tortoise or Turtle come from? I have seen this term incorrectly thrown around decades now, even seen petsmart improperly label Russian tortoise as such. How did this get started?

 

[jharrris]

Where did the name Russian Box Tortoise or Turtle come from? I have seen this term incorrectly thrown around decades now, even seen petsmart improperly label Russian tortoise as such. How did this get started?

Oh I'm not sure, I guess she's just a Russian tortoise then

 

[TammyJ]

Saw the videos . Your Shelly is very cute! Follow the care sheets to make the necessary changes to keep her healthy and comfortable.

 

[jharrris]

Saw the videos . Your Shelly is very cute! Follow the care sheets to make the necessary changes to keep her healthy and comfortable.

Yes she is, thank you! I'm working on the changes now. Does she look healthy?

 

[TammyJ]

I am not an expert, but I noticed that her beak could do with a trim.

 

[jharrris]

I am not an expert, but I noticed that her beak could do with a trim.

Yes I've started trimming it recently, a little bit at a time