Can anyone advise me about my boy's carapace? My Russian Tort has only been with me for two weeks. His previous environment was appalling and his care was none existent. He lived in a 1'x1' box, no substrate, with maggots under the fake grass lining, which was soaked with watery feces and thick white dried urine. His water source was a plastic lid from a small round microwavable bowl. The family he came from said they hadn't had him long but they knew he was about four years old. His diet consisted of cauliflower leaves and dandelions during the summer. His light/heat source was a 75w spotlight bulb. He struggles to lift his plastron sufficiently when walking and his rear legs bend outwardly,. I'm doing everything I can to rehabilitate him and he's already looking much better than he was. He comes over to me when I call him, his indoor enclosure is 7ftx3ft and 2ft high. He has a sand ,Coco fibre and top soil substrate, which is 7 inches deep in the cooler side and 4 inches in the warmer end. he really enjoys his food and sitting in his water bowl, 10"X10 x1.5" deep.
Help. Carapace misshapen.
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We'll need to see pictures.
Good job on taking him in and giving him a better life.
Good job on taking him in and giving him a better life.
Thank you. I couldn't let him continue to live with those people. I paid them £120. Best money I've ever spent.
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From the photos it looks like he’s just generally deformed from improper care not much you can really do for it but as long as you’re providing him everything he needs now it shouldnt hurt him as far as I’m aware.
Definitely make sure he has a constant source of calcium without d3 (cuttlebone with him 24/7) the limb weakness could definitely be caused by mbd which is generally treated with extra calcium supplementation.
Definitely make sure he has a constant source of calcium without d3 (cuttlebone with him 24/7) the limb weakness could definitely be caused by mbd which is generally treated with extra calcium supplementation.
The last picture almost looks like some of the tips/top of each scute had burned
There is nothing you can do about what happened previously. Just give him the best care you can now. Get an Arcadia 12% HO tube to stop the MBD, and get rid of the sand and soil. Neither of those should be used as tortoise substrate. Sol is made from composted yard waste and there is no way to know what is in it. Could be something toxic. Soil makers don't intend for small animals to be living on it. Sand is a skin and eye irritant, and serious impaction hazard. It should never be used. Coco coir is safe, but its messy. Keep it damp and and pack it firmly. Fine grade orchis bark works best.
Here is the current and correct care info. Most everything else you find from most sources is all wrong and has simply been parroted for decades. Questions are welcome!
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
Thank you Yvonne. He seems to have grown in the past two weeks. He's began to shed in several areas,
Hi, I have a question regarding substrate and diet. He is on a sand, Coco fibre mix. It's deep enough for him to dig and cover himself, which he sometimes does at night, he has a bark log thing he goes to dig beneath. The substrate however isn't firm enough for his legs to push against, and I'm wanting to add something firmer to half his enclosure, to help improve the traction he has to help his walking improve. I take him outside weather permitting and help him with keeping his plastron off the ground. I place a finger either side under his plastron. Walking with him which seems to be helping him gain strength because his already lifting is better himself, only enough to not be scraping on the ground. His diet includes fresh garden dandelions, clover, the odd milk thistle and the occasional pansy, narrow leaf plantain, white dead nettles. I've read that whilst able to graze on the above foods, which are organic btw, as our garden is.
The top soil I was going to get is sterile no adding fertilizer just clean plain top soil. Which I've read is safe. I've read bark and mulch etc isn't firm enough to walk on. The coco core stuff dries out and is too fibrous. I know he needs a dry arid environment so I only spray it every few days.There is nothing you can do about what happened previously. Just give him the best care you can now. Get an Arcadia 12% HO tube to stop the MBD, and get rid of the sand and soil. Neither of those should be used as tortoise substrate. Sol is made from composted yard waste and there is no way to know what is in it. Could be something toxic. Soil makers don't intend for small animals to be living on it. Sand is a skin and eye irritant, and serious impaction hazard. It should never be used. Coco coir is safe, but its messy. Keep it damp and and pack it firmly. Fine grade orchis bark works best.
Here is the current and correct care info. Most everything else you find from most sources is all wrong and has simply been parroted for decades. Questions are welcome!
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...
Meant to add about the calcium that he gets natural calcium from his garden food, his 80 w mvb and 100 w spot light at one end don't seem sufficient because he's always under the lights. Would a strip light along one side help?
Thank goodness you found him. He’s going to have a quality life from now on.
No tortoise needs a dry, arid environment.
Can I get some comments on this statement that I made? Tom? @Tom
The additives that are often found in store bought soil can be another additional issue, but the soil itself is the problem. It is made from composted yard waste and could be anything. It is not safe. You are reading the same old wrong info that everyone else reads. Its wrong and its everywhere. By finding this site, you have found the only accurate source of information that I know of. All other sites that I have seen are universally parroting the same old wrong info.
If the coir is drying out, then you must add more water more often. Coir also needs to be firmly hand packed, but it can work.
I've been raising hatchlings and juveniles on fine grade orchid bark for decades. 100's of them annually now from half a dozen species. Orchid bark, aka fir bark or "repti-bark", is the best of all compromises. Cypress mulch can work too, but I don't care for it.
@TammyJ is correct that no tortoise needs a dry environment. This is more old wrong info. Russian tortoises can survive dry periods of weather in the wild, but this does not mean it is "good" for them to do so. They don't need a tropical rainforest or wetland environment by any means either, but lightly damp soil and moderate humidity helps to keep them healthy.
Please read the care sheet I left for you. Your other "research" has brought you to the usual wrong info that everyone in your position finds. Most people follow that wrong advice and the tortoise suffers. You have found the right advice, and we'd all love to see your tortoise thriving in your care.
