Hello!

[Sioux]

My name is Sioux. I live in Houston, Texas and have a very sweet Russian tortoise named Mr.T. I'm not sure how old he is, as I got him from someone that was giving him away for free in my grandmothers neighborhood. I do know that we wasn't given the proper care with his previous owners such as, he only ate pre-shredded iceberg lettuce from a bag, had less than a half inch of substrate in his enclosure, didn't have the proper lighting/heating, and had never been soaked. I've had him since November 30, 2016, about 5 months, and have obviously changed all of those things. He gets soaked once a week. He mainly likes to eat red leaf lettuce and butter lettuce. He doesn't like variety in his diet, like a lot of the things I've read on his species. He is so much fun though! I am open to any advice and tips!

 

[Master_Roshi]

Hello, I'm pretty new as well I also live in Houston. Have you heard of any breeders nearby? In this forum I've only seen breeders in central texas

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hi Sioux
Children don't like veggys either but cause we love them we choose to make them for there own good !

 

[Sioux]

Hi Sioux
Children don't like veggys either but cause we love them we choose to make them for there own good !
View attachment 206498

Lol thank you! I've tried to give him all sorts of stuff such as carrots, bell pepper, chard, romaine, baby lettuces, and I feel like everything under the sun and he just won't touch them!

 

[Sioux]

Hello, I'm pretty new as well I also live in Houston. Have you heard of any breeders nearby? In this forum I've only seen breeders in central texas

I haven't. Sorry! The only place I will buy from in town though is S&S Exotics on connorvale st. My family has buying all of their animals from them for YEARS! We've had a chinchilla, hamsters, a sulcata, ferrets, rabbits, and a few hedgehogs from them and they seriously take care of their animals like their own.

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Lol thank you! I've tried to give him all sorts of stuff such as carrots, bell pepper, chard, romaine, baby lettuces, and I feel like everything under the sun and he just won't touch them!

You got to be stronger give your tort a teaspoon of red lettuce and ahandfull of spring mix every day . It may take a month or so but a teaspoon of lettuce will keep him hungry so the tort will start eating more .

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

As you see my Russians eat a lot and it's mixed veggy greens !

 

[RosemaryDW]

Welcome Siioux!

It's hard to get them to try new foods, especially when they've only had one thing for so long. You'll have to be patient and you'll have to be the parent; your tortoise doesn't open that bag of lettuce by himself! You might try feeding him right after he's gotten nice and warm; that's when my tortoise is the hungriest.

It took my tortoise five months to transition to weeds and healthy foods and she'd at least had more than iceburg!

You will want to limit things like carrots and bell pepper; they are high in sugar, which aren't good for Russians. (You might have seen these foods recommended on other sites or food lists but unfortunately those are usually out of date.) Go take a look at the diet subforum, lots of good feedback there. There is a sticky at the top of the page called "Tortoise Chef" which contains some nice breakdowns of grocery store foods people use. You won't want the recipes that include fruits, grass, or bugs--Russians don't eat those. But the other items listed are good ones to try.

You'll find some lists of good foods to try in addition to leafy greens. Here is one of them:

Mulberry leaves
Grape vine leaves
Hibiscus leaves
African hibiscus leaves
Blue hibiscus leaves
Rose of Sharon leaves
Rose leaves
Geraniums
Gazanias
Lavatera
Pansies
Petunias
Hostas
Honeysuckle
Cape honeysuckle
Leaves and blooms from any squash plant, like pumpkin, cucumber, summer squash, etc...
Young spineless opuntia cactus pads

Weeds:
There are soooooooo many...
Dandelion
Mallow
Filaree
Smooth Sow thistle
Prickly Sow thistle
Milk thistle
Goat head weed
Cats ear
Nettles
Trefoil
Wild onion
Wild mustard
Wild Garlic
Clovers
Broadleaf plantain
Narrow leaf plantain
Chick weed
Hawksbit
Hensbit
Hawksbeard

Other good stuff:
"Testudo Seed Mix" from http://www.tortoisesupply.com/SeedMixes
Pasture mixes or other seeds from http://www.groworganic.com/seeds.html
Mazuri Tortoise Chow
ZooMed Grassland Tortoise Food


There are lots of other good foods, this is just to get you started.

I love this photo of my tortoise because it shows how eager she is to eat a bowl of weeds and good foods these days. It will happen for your tortoise as well.

 

[RosemaryDW]

Also, I can only see a corner of it but I am pretty sure that enclosure is much too small for an adult Russian. Is it a terrarium?

Russians need a lot of room for various reasons, one is because they need to walk around to digest their food. A small enclosure can be a reason a tortoise doesn't get very hungry.

 

[Sioux]

Also, I can only see a corner of it but I am pretty sure that enclosure is much too small for an adult Russian. Is it a terrarium?

Russians need a lot of room for various reasons, one is because they need to walk around to digest their food. A small enclosure can be a reason a tortoise doesn't get very hungry.

Thank you so much for the food suggestions! And yes, this is the enclosure that he came with. A terrarium that is, but I agree that it's much too small. We are in an apartment currently, but are moving to a house with a great big backyard next week and he will be out there a lot. He also doesn't stay in his terrarium all the time. When I get home from work he runs around the apartment for an hour or so, then he will eat, then he runs around again for a while. I promise he's getting his exercise! My grandfather built him a large tortoise table for the new house because he definitely needs the room and the air flow. I feel like he can't be outside unsupervised due to there being several hawks in the immediate area.

 

[RosemaryDW]

Okay. You can get some tips for covering your enclosure with deer wire (I think that's what it's called!) in the enclosures forum.

 

[Stuart S.]

Welcome!!

 

[Rachael403]

Welcome to the forum. I love all the russian pics!

 

[HenleyT]

View attachment 206494 View attachment 206495 My name is Sioux. I live in Houston, Texas and have a very sweet Russian tortoise named Mr.T. I'm not sure how old he is, as I got him from someone that was giving him away for free in my grandmothers neighborhood. I do know that we wasn't given the proper care with his previous owners such as, he only ate pre-shredded iceberg lettuce from a bag, had less than a half inch of substrate in his enclosure, didn't have the proper lighting/heating, and had never been soaked. I've had him since November 30, 2016, about 5 months, and have obviously changed all of those things. He gets soaked once a week. He mainly likes to eat red leaf lettuce and butter lettuce. He doesn't like variety in his diet, like a lot of the things I've read on his species. He is so much fun though! I am open to any advice and tips!

Welcome from New Mexico....Henley does not like red leaf at all!!!!

 

[Yvonne G]

Welcome!

 

[Master_Roshi]

I haven't. Sorry! The only place I will buy from in town though is S&S Exotics on connorvale st. My family has buying all of their animals from them for YEARS! We've had a chinchilla, hamsters, a sulcata, ferrets, rabbits, and a few hedgehogs from them and they seriously take care of their animals like their own.

That's where I got my sulcata! They get most tortoises from reptile expos though