Hello! New tort owner here~

[melly_87]

Hi everyone! My name is Melanie and I live in California. I'm the new mom of a 5-month-old Russian Tortoise named Claude and I've been learning so much from this site. I have to say that I'm very, very, very new at this since I've only had rodents as pets before bumping up to a reptile. I would appreciate any tips and advice I can get! I hope to learn more from you all so I can give my little guy a full, happy life!

 

[Jacqui]

Hi and welcome! What made you decide to bump it up to having a tortoise and why did you choose a Russian? I hope you share pictures of your little ones, folks in here love their pictures!

 

[Maggie and Torie the Tort]

Hello, welcome to Tortoise Forum! Yes please share pictures!

 

[Yvonne G]

Welcome, Melanie!

 

[melly_87]

Thanks for the welcome! I feel like this community is great and I'm glad I decided to come here for some help. Well, it isn't the best story, but my mom just recently got attached to turtles because one of her friends owns some. She liked them so much that she suggested we get our own and her friend recommended a Russian Tortoise to start with. I thought he was pretty cute, so we adopted him. I researched a ton about his species before we did that, of course, just so I can see if we could handle having him for a very long time. I'm very good with animals, but reptiles are new!

I don't have any photos of him right now, but I'll be sure to upload them when I get the chance!

 

[pam]

Welcome

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Welcome to TFO half of what the sml tortoise needs is love enjoy it

 

[samsmom]

Welcome and I'm sure Claude is very happy you chose him! The more you read on here the more you learn, so happy reading and please post pics!

 

[mainey34]

Hello and welcome...

 

[carey]

Glad to have ya here!! Welcome


~~

 

[Jtort]

Welcome Melanie! I'm new too [SMILING FACE WITH SMILING EYES]

 

[melly_87]

This is his current tank in my room. It's 20 gallons, but I know I'll have to get him a bigger one when I can. I plan on making him an outdoor place, too.


And here's Claude!


I've actaully been worrying about him a lot lately because he doesn't seem to want to eat anymore! This happened in the beginning of the week, but he used to devour his food in the morning and whenever I added more throughout the day. He hardly goes for his food and when I hand feed him, he loses interest after a while. I don't know if something is wrong, if he's sick, or if I just have to let him readjust so he can get back on schedule. Please, any advice would be greatly appreciated!!