Help in Connecticut, please

[rubybadger]

I've just agreed to adopt a Russian tortoise. Great! ... I'm trying to just find information about successful indoor/outdoor arrangements people in Connecticut have constructed. Specifically Connecticut. Or New England. I keep reading articles, think I have a bead on things, and then realize the author is in Arizona or Southern California or someplace very not New England.

I would dearly love to talk to anyone local or localish. Is there anyone on here that is in Connecticut or a neighbor state, with Russian tortoise experience, and who would be willing to talk with me about enclosures and hibernation and safety for my new buddy?

Thanks!!

 

[Blackdog1714]

I haven’t bruminated my Russian yet but I built a new indoor enclosure that is 3’x11’ and have an outdoor enclosure for VA summers that is 3x12. As they get older the need for humidity drops. Start cultivating weeds-dandelion and plantain. Zinnias and hibiscus are good leaf to flower. Welcome and happy Torting

 

[Markw84]

Look through the section here on Russian tortoises. You will find most of the care tips given here are vetted for information that will work in any area of the world. You are smart in looking at information you see with the filter of knowing your climate is different.

What you need to do is create a Mediteranean climate in the enclosure for your tortoise. That means in the colder parts of the year, it would need an indoor setup. Russians do well with a cool night temp of normal room temperature. So a tortoise table type enclosure will work well for a Russian that is past the hatchling stage. They need room for exercise, so an enclosure of good size is important. 36" x 72" would be a minimum I would shoot for. Outdoors in summer when warmer and nighttime temps don't drop below 50° will be good as well.

For hibernation (brumation) I would recommend a protected indoor small refridgerator dedicated for that purpose. You need to control stable temperatures and eliminate any pest or drowning risks - so an indoor controlled setup is best.

I would HIGHLY recommend only using this site as your source of current, correct information. Disregard most any adivice from pet stores, books, and certainly facebook groups and there is just too much old - outdated information that most "tortoise experts" stick to and haven't explored the new finding of the past decade or so.

Read through the Russian and even the desert tortoise sections and come back with any additional questions.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

@jsheffield is in New Hampshire and has a Russian.

 

[Maro2Bear]

@jsheffield is in New Hampshire and has a Russian.

Yes. I was going to recommend @jsheffield as well. @ColleenT is also a very knowledgeable tortoise keeper Of mostly Box Turtles, but has lots of experience with keeping torts/turtles.

 

[jsheffield]

AS others have said, I live in NH and keep (among others) a Russian Tortoise; I'd love to help you with any questions you might have that are within my ability to answer.

Chili, my Russian, loves spending time outside in the warm months... I arbitrarily picked 65 degrees as the line for getting him outside into his outdoors enclosure. He lives in a slightly smaller enclosure inside during the cold months, and although I got him a fridge to brumate in this winter, I kept him awake because I was unsure of his health as he'd been recently rescued.

I can help with pictures and links for the enclosures, both of which I built easily with stuff from Home Depot, and even share a link to the fridge I bought, as it maintains a nearly perfect temperature range for his brumation.

Think up some questions, and I'd be happy to help.

Jamie

 

[rubybadger]

Thank you so much, everyone! The tortoise adoption has been postponed until May, so I have a bit more time to look through all the posts on here.

And more so, now that I'm safely ensconced and working from home, and my fear of the zombie apocalypse is down to just normal Mad Max level waste lands (I kid! We totally won't go below Hunger Games dystopia! pft!), I can start using that time to look around and get more help.

I'm rather nervous about doing right by this tortoise. I have had my East African yellow belly mud turtle for 20 years come this September. But she is aquatic, in a 210 gallon tank, and she mostly likes to hunt fish and snooze. She's actually pretty easy. Kind of like a cat. A tortoise is more like... a dog!

 

[jsheffield]

I built Chili a table that seems to be working well for him... it was also, blessedly, very easy.

https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/single-pvc-sheet-tortoise-table.177863/

Jamie

 

[turtlebean]

Hey there! I’m actually from New Haven county and I recently homed an adult CP russian tortoise. The breeder I got him from did not hibernate him, and i’m sure I will also forgo the entire hibernation process. From what i’ve read on these forums, if you provide adequate heating and lighting, especially during the colder months of the year, they will not hibernate.

I also had some trouble trying to figure out exactly what enclosure to set up for my little guy but these forums help a lot! It all seems so overwhelming at first, which substrate, which enclosure material, lining, no lining, where to put hides, what brand lights, styles, etc (i could go on forever) , but I promise it’s easier than it seems if you just take it one step at a time.

I recently posted my entire build journey for my indoor enclosure on this forum, definitley check that out, it should help! I got all my materials pretty much at a local home depot, for probably $100-$150.

I thought about doing an outdoor enclosure but as you know, CT weather is so flighty, I kind of put building the outdoor setup on the back burner for now. Yesterday it snowed four inches and the day before it was 65 and sunny lol.

Anyways, I’m still fairly new to being a tort mom but I’m learning as I go, mostly from the forums and I am here to help any way I can if you have any questions or anything! I‘m super happy to see someone from my home state on here!

-Julia R

 

[turtlebean]

Also, forgot to add that it’s super cool you also have a turtle! I have loved turtles since I was a kid and that love is what guided me into my love for tortoises!

My boyfriend’s backyard practically sprouts eastern painted turtles left and right and this past winter, with all the bipolar weather temps, multiple babies were hatching on a warm day and getting stranded out in the freezing weather the next day! Long story short I tried rescuing baby turts for a while, even tried the online ordering of baby turts and it all ended heartbreakingly.

Safe to say, it always tugs at my heart to hear about people having turtles for such a long time, truly precious!

-Julia R