Horsefield help please

[Mags1954]

Hello everyone, I have wished for a tortoise all my life and finally I was given one for my 67th birthday!! Wilma is a Horsefield and I have been told she is 5 years old.
It wasn't sure if it had been kept inside or out. So it was suggested that I keep her in this winter and start to put her in the garden when it gets warm enough to do so
and then hibernate her next year. She currently has the run of our bungalow, has her own tortoise bed which is covered and she can go in and out when she wants.
It is filled with hay for her to bury herself in. She has a uv light to bask under when she is out. I purchased lots of types of dried food and make up fresh food daily.
I understood that the amount was same size as her shell circumference. She never eats that much. I wet the food but don't soak it. She has fresh lettuce (round or little
gem) every day. She also has cabbage leaves and sprouts if she will eat them. I bathe her three times a week. Am I doing the right things please. Should I wet the food?
She does have water. I have dried flowers, veg and weeds, again dried - should I soak these? How much should she eat and is there anything else I can get her. I live in the UK on the east coast. Thanks and take care

 

[Lyn W]

Hi Mags and welcome to the best place for up to date information in tort care. There is still a lot of old and unsafe info being circulated on some websites and places like FB, so forget those and ask as many questions as you need here. We've all had poor advice and made mistakes starting out but you'll get great advice from very experienced keepers here.

Here is a caresheet for Horsefields (Russians) which will help you correct any mistakes in her care and help you with diet temps substrate and humidity etc.

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

If you can post pics pf her enclosure and the uvb, basking, and night heat lamps used members will suggest any immediate changes you may need to make to keep her as safe and healthy as possible.

It's not a good idea to let her wander around your home because there are so many hazards for her; from chemicals used in cleaning to choking on small things dropped and dust bunnies in corners etc and above all it is a lot colder on the floor so she could become ill. She really needs an enclosure - 4 x 8 feet minimum, that you can heat and keep her safe in. She is probably a bit stressed by having a new home so she will feel more secure in an enclosure with a hide.

She will also need a dedicated space in the garden when the weather gets warmer. As more has been learnt about torts, long gone are the days where they are just left in the garden to survive. Russians are also great escape artists and will burrow and climb there way out under and even over fences if they can. So tort safety always come first.

Anyway have a good read of the caresheet and ask as many questions as you like.

 

[Lyn W]

P.S getting crushed in doors is also another danger for torts wandering in the house.

Just a few quick changes you need to make -
Hay and straw aren't great for torts as they can go moldy and is too dry, it can also be uncomfortable on tort skin and eyes
In the UK we have to use shop bought in the winter but some lettuces are better than others little gem isn't great.
As a base I use Aldi mixed leaf salad in a pale green bag (57p) it has red and green multileaf and radicchio.
Other good mixes are Morrisons mixed leaf which has escarole and frisee, Lidl sell a mix in an orange bag that isn't bad.
The best mix of all is Florette Classic Crispy Salad and Sainsbury's is quite good too but they can be quite pricey.
To those I add better leaves like lambs lettuce, dark romaine leaves, pak choi leaves, curly kale, sometimes carrot leaves. Not all together but to add variety. I add a pinch of calcium a couple of times a week.
See what the caresheet recommends too.
In the summer weeds from a chemical and fume free source should be the main diet - see www.thetortoisetable.org.uk as a guide to tort safe plants.

I always soak the leaves first to wash off any chlorine they've been washed in before bagging, and for extra hydration for my tort.
My tort won't touch dried foods so I don't know if the leaves and flowers should be soaked - water will soften the pellets for your tort though but they shouldn't be the main diet.

Think of the tort shell as an upturned dish and feed that amount - if he wants more feed more. They are grazers and will often return to food later.

Terracotta plant saucers are cheap and ideal for food and water dishes. If you have one big enough for her to lie in she may self soak, but she will enjoy a soak in warm shallow water a few times a week where she may poop - if so change the water and don't let it get cold.