Hi! Russian tortoise owner new on the forum.

avfarrar

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Hi! I am new to this forum. I live in Texas and constantly looking up new information to better take care of my Russian tortoise, Urkel (Agh. I know! He was given the name before I he lived with me :p).
This forum is a gem and I am glad to get to be a part of it. I can't wait to dive in and see what you do for the care of your Russian tortoises!
 

avfarrar

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My tortoise was given to my family a few years back when a family friend had to move and needed to find him a new home. My sister took car of him for a while and now we both kind of do it together trying to make the arrangement for Urkel the best we can with what we have.
 

avfarrar

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Cool. Thanks for the links!

I guess here is a question. We realized recently that we needed to change the substrate in his enclosure. Temporarily we are using pine shavings that we already had on hand for our other animals. What would you suggest would be a cost efficient substrate that would I could buy enough of to make parts of floor deep enough to burrow in?
 

avfarrar

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Nevermind. I am seeing the answer in other threads. Thank you!
 

TechnoCheese

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Definitely change the substrate out ASAP. Pine is toxic for tortoises.

Fine grade orchid bark, cypress mulch, and coconut coir all work. People have also had success with organic top soil, but it can become muddy when wet :)
 

avfarrar

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Definitely change the substrate out ASAP. Pine is toxic for tortoises.

Fine grade orchid bark, cypress mulch, and coconut coir all work. People have also had success with organic top soil, but it can become muddy when wet :)

Good to know. Thank you!
Question out of curiosity... you may not know the answer to this because it is more on animals in general. Would you say that pine would also not be wise to use for small mammals or chickens? Would it be toxic for them as well?
 

TechnoCheese

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Good to know. Thank you!
Question out of curiosity... you may not know the answer to this because it is more on animals in general. Would you say that pine would also not be wise to use for small mammals or chickens? Would it be toxic for them as well?

I know that it is for sure toxic to small mammals, but I don’t know about chickens. I would not use it at all, or cedar for that matter.
 

avfarrar

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Huh. I wonder what pine shavings could even be used for if it is toxic for animals. Maybe there is some other purpose for it.
 

Yvonne G

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Hi, and welcome! Can we please see a picture of Urkel? Looking at your avatar, I'm not convinced he's Russian.
 

avfarrar

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Sure. The picture I used here was not of Urkel, just a pic that I played with on Photoshop for fun ;).
IMG_9712.JPG IMG_9713.JPG
 

avfarrar

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The two photos above are of Urkel and he is 4 1/2 inches long.
 

TortillaTheTortioise

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Huh. I wonder what pine shavings could even be used for if it is toxic for animals. Maybe there is some other purpose for it.
Lots of things are sold that are potentially dangerous or dangerous for pets being sold. For what I know, pine and cedar are toxic to rodents(my main area of expertise!) and anything with flesh or lungs
 

avfarrar

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Okay! To lose the confusion I just changed out my profile pic to a pretty picture of Urkel. Much better!
 

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