It's really hard for me to say this but I have been a horrible owner for the past 10 years 
I have a Russian tortoise and I got him 10 years ago when I was a kid. I knew nothing about taking care of a tortoise when I got him and neither me nor my parents really bothered to make sure we were taking proper care of him. He has been somewhat okay for the past 10 years until he recently got sick. He is all better now (I can't exactly remember what the vet told me it was he had :/ some sort of stomach infection from improper hibernation) but I still feel horrible for not taking better care of him.
I am posting this today for multiple reasons. One is that I want to get everything straight on how to properly take care of my pet. I spent 10 years feeding him nothing but romaine lettuce because that's what the store told me to do. I feel so stupid and i want to get his diet back on track. Unfortunately He doesn't like to eat a verity of foods because I spoiled him for 10 years but he has caught on to Dandelion and Endive now that I have tried expanding his diet. What else should I feed him? There are plenty of lists online but I just can't find some of the things in stores near me.
The second reason I am posting this is to start out in a new community that can help me take better care of my pet. I feel like a sack of **** for basically ruining this poor little guys life for 10 years. I want to make sure he lives happily and properly. One option is to give him away to a more competent owner but I don't know if I can do that. If I really can't take care of him then I understand its important that he goes to someone that can but I believe that I can get on track and make my little Nick a happy tortoise.
The third reason I am posting this is because I feel awful. I have already ragged on myself quite a lot in this post but after looking up proper care of my tortoise there were some things that seem obvious (like giving him a bath) that I had never done in 10 years. 10 years! Oh and back to the bath thing. He has always had a water dish in his cage that he has used to take baths but I have seen people wash their tortoises by hand and I had no idea that I was to do that. The first bath I gave him was a little awkward but he was a lot cleaner afterwards!
Anyway... I kinda just rambled on about how bad of a owner I was and really I am just looking for tips on proper care. This summer I plan on building a backyard pen for him to run around in cause currently I take him out and just plop him in my garden for maybe and hour and I have to watch him to make sure he doesn't get under the house, into the pool area, or under the fence to say hello to my neighbors dog.
(BTW his name is Nick... forgot to add that! Not sure why I named him that. I guess I though it was a cool name)
I have a Russian tortoise and I got him 10 years ago when I was a kid. I knew nothing about taking care of a tortoise when I got him and neither me nor my parents really bothered to make sure we were taking proper care of him. He has been somewhat okay for the past 10 years until he recently got sick. He is all better now (I can't exactly remember what the vet told me it was he had :/ some sort of stomach infection from improper hibernation) but I still feel horrible for not taking better care of him.
I am posting this today for multiple reasons. One is that I want to get everything straight on how to properly take care of my pet. I spent 10 years feeding him nothing but romaine lettuce because that's what the store told me to do. I feel so stupid and i want to get his diet back on track. Unfortunately He doesn't like to eat a verity of foods because I spoiled him for 10 years but he has caught on to Dandelion and Endive now that I have tried expanding his diet. What else should I feed him? There are plenty of lists online but I just can't find some of the things in stores near me.
The second reason I am posting this is to start out in a new community that can help me take better care of my pet. I feel like a sack of **** for basically ruining this poor little guys life for 10 years. I want to make sure he lives happily and properly. One option is to give him away to a more competent owner but I don't know if I can do that. If I really can't take care of him then I understand its important that he goes to someone that can but I believe that I can get on track and make my little Nick a happy tortoise.
The third reason I am posting this is because I feel awful. I have already ragged on myself quite a lot in this post but after looking up proper care of my tortoise there were some things that seem obvious (like giving him a bath) that I had never done in 10 years. 10 years! Oh and back to the bath thing. He has always had a water dish in his cage that he has used to take baths but I have seen people wash their tortoises by hand and I had no idea that I was to do that. The first bath I gave him was a little awkward but he was a lot cleaner afterwards!
Anyway... I kinda just rambled on about how bad of a owner I was and really I am just looking for tips on proper care. This summer I plan on building a backyard pen for him to run around in cause currently I take him out and just plop him in my garden for maybe and hour and I have to watch him to make sure he doesn't get under the house, into the pool area, or under the fence to say hello to my neighbors dog.
(BTW his name is Nick... forgot to add that! Not sure why I named him that. I guess I though it was a cool name)
