I made a mistake and need your guys help

[Jessthemess]

hey everyone my name is Jessie and about 6 months ago my boyfriend and I jumped head first into being new tortoise owners. We made an extremely rash decision and bought two tortoises from a shady at best exotic pet store. One of them is a lovley Russian named wrinkles that I am estimating to be 6 or 7 with damage to the bottom of her shell from previous bad husbandry and our other lovely tortoise named Herman is a red foot tort in better condition and he is about two. The pet store said someone dumped my Russian wrinkles at there door one day and left her there and it broke my heart and I bonded almost instantly. The pet store said they could be kept in 20 gallon tanks for life and only needed Romain and occasionally fruit! Without even calcium sprinklings. They didn’t even know that Herman was an omnivore. Anyway we jumped in way over are heads and I need help. I have thought of surrendering them to a tort sanctuary but I just can’t I am willing to spend any amount of money to giving my torts the best life because they deserve it. Anyway I am worried my husbandry and feeding is not up to par and it gives me anxiety so I wanted to come to you guys for help. My Russian lives in a 7 feet long by two feet wide custom enclosure I have a warm and a cool side and I feed her a variety of greens and when I can find them cactus pads or hibiscus. I am using a mix of Cyprus mulch, a little bit of sand, and organic soil. She just looks sad sometimes and I’m not sure if that’s just the way they look but she just looks sad. On to Herman, he currently spends his time in a 20 gallon while we save up for his custom cage which will also be 7 feet long and two feet wide. We have a humidifier for him and twice a month we feed him meat and mushrooms. Occasionally for an hour or two a day we let them play together and that seems to help wrinkles she gets more active and seems almost happy to see Herman so as soon as Herman’s custom tank is done I plan on getting wrinkles another Russian friend to spend her days with. They have both been taken to the vet and are free of parasites and other then wrinkles old divets and slightly curved shell they seem to be doing better. Basically I am looking for any tips and the reason I made this so comprehensive is so you guys can call out any care problems you see because I know I made a mistake buying them without research first and I learned my lesson but I want to take responsibility and become the best tortoise mom I possibly can so please any tips or help is greatly appreciate!!

 

[Maro2Bear]

Welcome.

There is lots of good tort care info under the Tortoise Species tabs, specifically for Russians as well as Redfoots. Take a look there and see if you are doing things correctly. Housing, soaking, water, food, etc.

Upload some pix of your torts and current set ups.

Welcome n happy torting

 

[lilly_sand99]

Hello, you will hear this a million more times, but species cannot be mixed. And they do not want friends or other tortoises. They want there own space and will fight to keep it theirs. They need proper space. But you know that and recovering from bad info will of course take time. One thing I have learned is that Russians (probability all torts) are a lot more active with proper UVB light and temps!!!

We would love to see pictures!

 

[Tamihealey5163]

First of all, I want to say..what a good mom you are! I have a sulcata so can't offer advice on yours but recognizing you may have jumped the gun AND you are here on this site looking for answers so you can take the best care possible for your rescued shell babies shows the amount of responsibility and love you have in your heart. And sometimes people may come off aggressive in some sites the way they word things telling you you're doing something wrong. WE ALL WERE at some point in the beginning until we too learned. They way i see it is those little guys could have been purchased by somebody else who would never have even thought to research and just kept following what the store owner said for the rest of their lives so I am SO GLAD that you are their new mom! There are many good sites out there I belong to. And 5 years later I am STILL learning. So don't stress...my hats off to you! You'll be great! Just keep coming back to ask questions and go to other sites also and ask the same questions. You will get a lot of different answers Im sure, but in educating yourself you will be able to make the best informed decision for your needs. Pat yourself on the back and keep moving forward cuz these little guys need you now! Many smiles coming your way

 

[TammyJ]

Jessthemess - you are NOT a mess by any means!

You seem to be a very caring person and are doing the best you can. Your tortoise may look sad, but that is just you projecting your feelings of guilt (which you have no reason to feel!) onto the tortoise. I have no doubt that you will be a great owner of these tortoises. You came to the best place for help!

 

[Tom]

Here is some care info for Russians:
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/

I'd get rid of the sand ASAP, and stop putting them together. This is a good way to get both of them sick. Tortoises should never be kept in pairs, so I would take that off the table for the future. They do best all alone as the sole king or queen of their castle.

I don't keep RFs, so I'd prefer someone else who does give you specific care advice for them.

Questions and conversation are welcome.

 

[Toddrickfl1]

I don't keep Russians but I do keep Redfoots so for Herman: 20g for a 2 year old is much to small. You can get a larger plastic tote from Walmart real cheap and that would give him a little more room till you build his enclosure. In my enclosures I use about 4" of peat moss, with about a 2" layer of Cypress mulch on top of that. I keep the whole enclosure at 86 degrees with a CHE set on a thermostat. It would be easiest for you to maintain temps and humidity with a closed chamber. I personally don't use a UVB lamp because my torts get natural sunlight weekly if possible. So I'll let someone else give you advice on that. You want to keep a smaller Redfoot at 80% to 100% humidity to prevent Pyramiding. It's not as important once the Tort is a few years old and about 5-6" but still would be better for them as they come from a pretty humid climate. For diet variety is the key. Some of the things I feed mine are Kale, turnip greens, mustard greens, escarole, collard greens, clover, dandelion greens and flowers, hibiscus leaves and flowers, mulberry leaves, plantain weed, strawberry, Papaya, mango, pineapple, cucumber, squash, sweet potato, blueberries, and for protein cooked chicken, Earthworms, scrambled egg, and snails. I do protein about once a week. Redfoots are a lot more forgiving when it comes to diet then other torts and will literally eat anything! I also soak my hatchling daily and my juvenile about once a week. Hope this helps.

 

[Sleppo]

Hi! Thanks for giving these guys a good home! The advice on this forum is better then you will find anywhere else. I’ve learned a lot and made a lot of mistakes too. I impulsively purchased 2 Russians years ago and have been learning my way with the help of this forum and the wonderful folks here. Relax, heed their advice and all will be good