I need help in setting up my russian tortoise habbit.

Dragon

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Hello im new my bf and i researched russian tortoises befor we got our little lady today. We bulit a wood and screen habbit for her and bought everything we needed to set it up at the store when we picked her up. Now we are confused. We have the uv lamp and the heat lamp but they also had us get a reptisun terrarium hood? We showed them a picture of the habbit we built so they knew what we have our question...so we put the heat lamp and the uv lamp on the screened side of the habbit and where do we put the terrarium hood? we also have herptivite multivitamins which they told us to use1 tsp of and calcium with vit.d3 that says 2 tsp. the instructions say to mix the 2 together with her viggies...do we do that every day? I have printed out several care sheets but none of them mention these things. also is there anything we should know or do asides from the things in my question?
 

Lyn W

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Hi and welcome,
Pet stores often know little about tortoise care and often sell unsuitable and unsafe equipment, there is a lot of old and incorrect information still being passed around but if you follow the up to date caresheet linked below you'll be able to put things right


Please read that and then come back with any questions.

If you want to post some pics of the enclosure and your lamps members can help you make sure its as safe as possible.

Vitamins should come from a good diet and only a small pinch of calcium is needed a couple of times a week.
 

Flanman

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They tricked you in to buying more stuff than you need… if you have a UV lamp, you don’t need vitamin D3 as UV is the natural source of the vitamin. And the “terrarium hood” is meant for UV lights, you only need one UV light so I’m not sure why they said you need a lamp and a hood.
 

Dragon

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ok i dont know if we have this right or not, but we have the substructer in the box we have the heat lamp and the basking lamp set up and my little tortoise is finally in her habbit. I put some of the pebbly like food and water in it and spikes off to the store to get some romain lettece.... to put in with her. we still dont know what to do with the terrarium hood. were just letting her be for now, I'll add the lettace when he gets home in the mean time im going to do more research....and try to figure out what or where to put the terrarium hood. all help would be appreached espically by turtee
 

Flanman

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I would just let her be while you search for the proper equipment. She will acclimate faster the more you leave her alone. Chances are she just wants to hide right now after the transport and doesn’t feel like eating.

Tortoises are very hardy in my experience.. don’t think that they’re gonna die just because you didn’t have the perfect set up.
 

Dragon

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ok thank you so much!! I will defently NOT be calling them with questions! I spent weeks reading about the russin tourtus before getting one and Thought I had a fairly good idea on how to her her habbit set up. Nothing i read said anything about vitamins and everything i read said she needed a turtle habbit made of wood and screen....we have a screen side and then the side that is dark. i asked about fake plants and such but they said no she dosnt need them.... we bult the turtle box bigger then the instructions but with the big cave like thing in the screaned area and her food and water dishes it dosnt leave her much room to move around.... i'll take a picture once shes a little more settled. iv been so worried it took us an hour to drive home with her and then a couple of more hours to finialy get the habbit set up best we could so we could get her out of the box. ahh she seems to be doing ok....she wandering around the habbit and her head is out of the shell and shes looking around (sigh of relieaf) its been a very hard few hours for my dear little one but its good to see her moving around. I'll put the romain lettice in when spike gets homes and then let her be to rest and get used to things...but by the look of things shes doing ok. also i saw i had a few replys to my message but can only get to this one willhave to learn how to get around thank you so much!!!!
 

Lyn W

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ok i dont know if we have this right or not, but we have the substructer in the box we have the heat lamp and the basking lamp set up and my little tortoise is finally in her habbit. I put some of the pebbly like food and water in it and spikes off to the store to get some romain lettece.... to put in with her. we still dont know what to do with the terrarium hood. were just letting her be for now, I'll add the lettace when he gets home in the mean time im going to do more research....and try to figure out what or where to put the terrarium hood. all help would be appreached espically by turtee
Please see the reply I posted in your first post in Introductions.
It has a link to a caresheet which will really help you with diet, temps, humidity and substrate etc.
Romaine is not a good regular food for tortoises but the caresheet will tell you what is.
Also if you post pictures of the enclosure and lamps you have we can help you make sure everything is safe.
 

Cathie G

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ok thank you so much!! I will defently NOT be calling them with questions! I spent weeks reading about the russin tourtus before getting one and Thought I had a fairly good idea on how to her her habbit set up. Nothing i read said anything about vitamins and everything i read said she needed a turtle habbit made of wood and screen....we have a screen side and then the side that is dark. i asked about fake plants and such but they said no she dosnt need them.... we bult the turtle box bigger then the instructions but with the big cave like thing in the screaned area and her food and water dishes it dosnt leave her much room to move around.... i'll take a picture once shes a little more settled. iv been so worried it took us an hour to drive home with her and then a couple of more hours to finialy get the habbit set up best we could so we could get her out of the box. ahh she seems to be doing ok....she wandering around the habbit and her head is out of the shell and shes looking around (sigh of relieaf) its been a very hard few hours for my dear little one but its good to see her moving around. I'll put the romain lettice in when spike gets homes and then let her be to rest and get used to things...but by the look of things shes doing ok. also i saw i had a few replys to my message but can only get to this one willhave to learn how to get around thank you so much!!!!
Hello and welcome. I have a little Russian also. They are so much fun. Read the care sheets like everyone says and keep stuff relaxed in the meantime like you're doing ?
 

Dragon

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Please see the reply I posted in your first post in Introductions.
It has a link to a caresheet which will really help you with diet, temps, humidity and substrate etc.
Romaine is not a good regular food for tortoises but the caresheet will tell you what is.
Also if you post pictures of the enclosure and lamps you have we can help you make sure everything is safe.

I want to thank EVERY ONE here for all the help. I spent since nov reading about the russian turtus before getting one, and i REALLY wish I had found this sight and this care sheet sooner! one it would have saved me a LOT of money, as well a worry today. they told me my girl is a young adult and was called turdee... I dont really like that name but havent thought of a better one.... so right now i dont call her by any name. not to hard on her since weve only had home since 2 this afternoon. I was thinking of nameing her spike after my intended ( we hope to get married next jan.) because he agreed to let me have and helped me get her and her habbit. I have saved and read the care sheet from here and it is the most informative one iv found. Tomarrow I will take out the big waterdish i got at the reptail store and replace it with a terracotta plant dish for her water. He habbit is kind of small for her right now even though its bigger then what they sell. the table we have her on has a leaf we can lift up so we figure we will add length to it. I gave her some romain lettice and carrot bits with the pellets they sold me. it said to soak the pellets so i did. she ate all the lettice and carrots and some of the pellets so i think shes doing ok despit our not being as perpaired as we tried to be. Pictures will be forth comming tomarrow of our girl and her habbit as it is right now. we will improve it and everything else as we go along. Frountly Im a woodworker and we have lots of wood here and screening for the part we add on. 2 sides have plexglass right now with a screen top. hopefuly we can sell the stuff we bought that we dont need. the care sheet mentioned cuttle bone ..... i know they have cuttle bone for redeared sliders is there spical cuttle bones for the russion turtos? Spike and i are an elderly couple i'll be 64 in march and he will be 73 in may. We had to travel 100 miles to get our girl and 100 miles back , then the paniced (me) searching to try to figure out why we had some stuff and no directions and looking on here to try to end the confusion. lol Thank God I found you people. We are tired. lol I have lung therpy tomarrow morning so it will be sometime late afternoon or early evening before I get back on here and we get pictures and such. Again thank all of you so much....EVERYONE in our household is just relaxing now. I have 2 dogs, a medsized year old from the shelter, a17 year old pomapoo service dog, a cat and a bird.I had to promise spike i wouldnt get any more animal children after i got my tourtus.lol EVERY ONE is supervised at ALL times. so everyone is safe. weput the cat in the bedroom if we are both out of thehouse at the same time. keeps birds and turtus safe. one question... for soaking could we use a gray tub like they use in restrants for her soaking? well time for this old lady to take an easy until bedtime
 

Lyn W

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I want to thank EVERY ONE here for all the help. I spent since nov reading about the russian turtus before getting one, and i REALLY wish I had found this sight and this care sheet sooner! one it would have saved me a LOT of money, as well a worry today. they told me my girl is a young adult and was called turdee... I dont really like that name but havent thought of a better one.... so right now i dont call her by any name. not to hard on her since weve only had home since 2 this afternoon. I was thinking of nameing her spike after my intended ( we hope to get married next jan.) because he agreed to let me have and helped me get her and her habbit. I have saved and read the care sheet from here and it is the most informative one iv found. Tomarrow I will take out the big waterdish i got at the reptail store and replace it with a terracotta plant dish for her water. He habbit is kind of small for her right now even though its bigger then what they sell. the table we have her on has a leaf we can lift up so we figure we will add length to it. I gave her some romain lettice and carrot bits with the pellets they sold me. it said to soak the pellets so i did. she ate all the lettice and carrots and some of the pellets so i think shes doing ok despit our not being as perpaired as we tried to be. Pictures will be forth comming tomarrow of our girl and her habbit as it is right now. we will improve it and everything else as we go along. Frountly Im a woodworker and we have lots of wood here and screening for the part we add on. 2 sides have plexglass right now with a screen top. hopefuly we can sell the stuff we bought that we dont need. the care sheet mentioned cuttle bone ..... i know they have cuttle bone for redeared sliders is there spical cuttle bones for the russion turtos? Spike and i are an elderly couple i'll be 64 in march and he will be 73 in may. We had to travel 100 miles to get our girl and 100 miles back , then the paniced (me) searching to try to figure out why we had some stuff and no directions and looking on here to try to end the confusion. lol Thank God I found you people. We are tired. lol I have lung therpy tomarrow morning so it will be sometime late afternoon or early evening before I get back on here and we get pictures and such. Again thank all of you so much....EVERYONE in our household is just relaxing now. I have 2 dogs, a medsized year old from the shelter, a17 year old pomapoo service dog, a cat and a bird.I had to promise spike i wouldnt get any more animal children after i got my tourtus.lol EVERY ONE is supervised at ALL times. so everyone is safe. weput the cat in the bedroom if we are both out of thehouse at the same time. keeps birds and turtus safe. one question... for soaking could we use a gray tub like they use in restrants for her soaking? well time for this old lady to take an easy until bedtime
There are many 'mature' members here so you'll fit in fine!

Try to get some better foods off the list in the caresheet for your tort - carrot has too much sugar in it and chunks can be a choking hazard. Fruit should never be fed because of the sugars too.

Pet shops are only interested in profit - could you return the water dish? You may be able to have your money back. We'll be able to give more help and tell you if there's anything else that can go back when you post some pics.

A tray, tub or dish will be fine for soaking, the water must be shallow and under her head at all times. (the sides should be high enough to stop her climbing out though).

Don't let the dogs have any access to the tort ,there are lots of stories here about torts who have been killed by old, trusted pets because they have been spooked by them or thought it was a chew toy, and cats can also cause serious injuries by scratching eyes etc. or puncturing shells of little torts so please keep them all well apart.

Good luck with your appointment.
 

Dragon

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I couldnt get back on yesterday. I am not great with computers anymore. the first and last pictures are of the inclouser we made for sissy. we made the opening to the dark side bigger when we got her home. the two in the middle we took this morning.when we first set things up we had the rock like hidding place in there to but that didnt give her much room to move around, so we took it out thinking she would go into the dark side,but she didnt so this morning we took out the divider and put the cave back in not sure if we should of done that but so far she hadnt gone into that either. She has a very good appitite with most animals thats a good sign that there heathy and not to stressed. spike asked about feeding in his post. The dogs will never be any where near sissy nor will the cat, over the years iv had many different animals all living together and i make sure they are kept safe from each other. the cat is put in the bedroom at night or anytime we are both out of the house at the same time. to keep the bird and now sissy safe.and the dogs can not reach the habbit. we will stop feeding her the carrots. we ran out tuesday and got the first 2 things they said she could eat as they had not fed her befor we got her and i wanted to make sure she had food! will copy down all the safe food that she can eat as well as what she can not eat. unfrountly we had to go 100 miles to find a store that had a tortoise so it would cost more to take the stuff back . they sold us snake oil as well to rub on her legs.... to help keep them from drying out but seems to me if shes soaked once or twice a day that would prevent that, all my animals are sort of examined several times a day as i watch play and take care of the birds cage and now sissys house. i'll check on the care sheet how long to let her soak and she will get to soak today... poor girl hasnt had a soak since we got her. none of the other care sheets we found on line said anything about soaking im so glad we found this sight!! i feel more confadent of the information im getting here. when getting an animal iv never had before i usuly get a book but of course the store didnt have them and now im not sure if a book would have had the right information anyway. sorry about the spelling and other mastakes for some reason I cant see what im typing while im typing next time i'll type the message before i put the pictures in. and thanks for all the help in advance!! I really appricite it and sissy is to weather she knows it yet or not!SDC16309.JPGSDC16308.JPGSDC16301.JPG
 

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Dragon

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well somehow the picturees moved around when i posted, go figure and one picture is under attachments. oh well my computer is always doing weird things lol
 

Dragon

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a question about food. I printed out the lists of food sissy can have. unfrountly in michagin she cant get the grass and such she needs in the winter. I didnt see dandlions on the list just flowers and succlutes....what im woundering is If ican find the foods she needs in the yard during the summer could i pick extra and dehydrate it for use in the winter? could you list the names of some flowers she can eat.... also if you give me the name or type of succlutes she can eat I might be able to grow some in flower pots so she would have frish all year long. I'll take a picture of the succlulte plant i got from my dads furnual ....all they said was that it was a succlute but not what kind....maybe someone here knows what it is if not she wont get any of that! if i have the names of some of the flowers and succlutes she can eat perhaps I can grow them in flower pots..... I have lots of inside plants and would weed those out so that i could plant what sissy can eat. if that makes any sense. oh! and good news!!! sissy has gone into the rocklike hiddy thing!! I was worried about that because she never went into the dark side of the house...in the 3 days we ve had her so took the devider out and put that back in this morning.... what a relief.... also how long should i let her soak when i put her in the rubber tub? i didnt see it in the care sheet, that dosnt mean its not there just that so far i havent seen it! Dont worry the cat will be locked in the bedroom when sissy soaks.....and the tub will be on top of her house so the dogs cant reach her and i shall be sitting next to her while she soaks so i can keep my beady little eyes on her!!! our poor paiket never gets out of her cage....because i cant get her to put her back in. like all the birds iv had in the past she flys away when i get close to her to put her back so we got a rather large bird cage for her. I do try to make sure all my animal children have everything need.. anyway thanks again
 

Cathie G

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a question about food. I printed out the lists of food sissy can have. unfrountly in michagin she cant get the grass and such she needs in the winter. I didnt see dandlions on the list just flowers and succlutes....what im woundering is If ican find the foods she needs in the yard during the summer could i pick extra and dehydrate it for use in the winter? could you list the names of some flowers she can eat.... also if you give me the name or type of succlutes she can eat I might be able to grow some in flower pots so she would have frish all year long. I'll take a picture of the succlulte plant i got from my dads furnual ....all they said was that it was a succlute but not what kind....maybe someone here knows what it is if not she wont get any of that! if i have the names of some of the flowers and succlutes she can eat perhaps I can grow them in flower pots..... I have lots of inside plants and would weed those out so that i could plant what sissy can eat. if that makes any sense. oh! and good news!!! sissy has gone into the rocklike hiddy thing!! I was worried about that because she never went into the dark side of the house...in the 3 days we ve had her so took the devider out and put that back in this morning.... what a relief.... also how long should i let her soak when i put her in the rubber tub? i didnt see it in the care sheet, that dosnt mean its not there just that so far i havent seen it! Dont worry the cat will be locked in the bedroom when sissy soaks.....and the tub will be on top of her house so the dogs cant reach her and i shall be sitting next to her while she soaks so i can keep my beady little eyes on her!!! our poor paiket never gets out of her cage....because i cant get her to put her back in. like all the birds iv had in the past she flys away when i get close to her to put her back so we got a rather large bird cage for her. I do try to make sure all my animal children have everything need.. anyway thanks again
Well with food choices what I do is what's available fresh. Dandelion greens can be given when they are growing and other things that are available through the winter. Or what you can grow inside. I've never tried to dehydrate because I don't think my Tortoise would eat it but he might. I just don't know so I don't even try. Besides that a variety of food is good for them. It probably helps to keep them from getting fixated on just one food. Believe it or not at my grocery store I can buy dandelion greens in the organic produce section for people food ? I guess it just took a while for sissy to decide she likes her hide ? mine did that too but when he finally decided it was a definite no I hate it! He was fine with his little hidey hut until I tried to fancy it up. So now I try to keep things plain for him. I would watch though because as she becomes more comfortable she may use it to climb and wind up on her back. Or possibly use it to climb out. Russians are known for that as they are little escape artists. Soaking is really important but it depends on what is going on with your tort. In other words it has so many useful applications. If they're dehydrated longer or constipated longer. If they are sick maybe to get baby food carrots in them. Once in a while after a soak I do use a little bit of extra virgin coconut oil. I don't do it often but it does seem to have some benefits if used sparingly. Maybe your conditioner that you bought for sissy is okay depending on what oils are in it. Just keep reading and try not to worry as much. That's easier said than done but you are at the right site for expert help.? Hang in there ?
 

Dragon

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well I dont think i'll try dehydring want to make sure i dont do anything that could hurt her. I didnt know you could buy dandelion greens in the store.... i'll look and see. Iv had a few pets over the years who wore escape artests lol so these days I always have a way to latch closed any animal i have in a cage or incloser. i have bread ties on the birds cage door and on his food and water dish doors so he cant get them opened and get out, and we bought slide closers for the doors on sissys house. shes been in and out of her rock cave all day... we've had compeny so i didnt get her out to soak today.....just left her be to relax and do what she wanted today. tomarrow i'll go through my cubbords and find a container i can use for her soaks. after shes more used to us and her new home i'll put her in to soak even if we do have compeny as the container will either on the table by my chair or on my lap so i can see her better and talk to her. I know the redeared slider liked me to use a toothbrush to rub on her shell dont know about tourtos as i said i got rid of a lot of the information i had downloaded on russen tortus because they were incorrect and have just the one from here. eventuly we'll make her house a bit bigger i dont want to upset her anymore then nessary while shes getting used to us and her new home. and i'll look into makeing an outside incloser for her come summer, although I am to nervious to leaave her out there all the time unsupervised..... no matter how strong we make it.... and defently not all night. not fair to sissy i know but i cant keep going out to check on her every 3 to 5 mintues all day and night. she seems more content today what with a little more room to move around and finding her hidding place. I'll cut up a bit more lettece for her this evening so im sure she had enough food, and as soon as there s flower pots in the stores again i'll get the bottom dish part to use for her water. Im concerned if i use one that i already have even if i clean it that it might still have some traces of furtlizers on it that could tint her water. Oh and about the worrying....I will TRY not to worry to much but i have anxity panic disorder and agoraphobia..... so not worrying is like not breathing lol im working on it....I even went with spike to pick up sissy even though it was 100 miles away from home lol Its hard to work on getting out more during a pandemic lol but i go out twice a week for lung therpy and of course to all my various dr appoments when nessary lol i will defently be cheaking in on here a LOT! who knows some day i might be able to help someone else
 

Dragon

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not sure if i im in the right place but just a little update on how sissy is doing. She seems to be good dispite all our mastakes the last few days. This morning she got her first soak, but i didnt let her soak to long as the container was really to small. Spike will get a bigger one for her on his way home from the store. He's going to pick up a couple of things the care sheet said she could eat as right now all she has is the romain lettice. With my next cheak i'll go to sara? sight and buy some seeds to grow in pots....I keep house plants anyway so why not have plants that are useful? I know the water will help keep her legs and feet from drying out but im woundering about her head. its not cracked or anything but it is dry. they sold us some snake oil at the store for her legs but with soaking i dont think she'll need it for her legs and feet. What im woundering is would it be safe to rub a little bit of it on the top of her head to help with the dryness just a drop would do it i think. sissy is laying under her basking lamp now resting. she dosnt seem to be at all afraid but im still going slow. another question how often and how much should she eat a day? spike said he asked in his post but he cant find it so is now woundering if he posted it correctly. ha ha....she has a great appitite and devioues her food so we want to make sure we give her enough to eat but not to much. Iv had various animal children over the years and i do know that some animals just like to eat weather there hungry or not so you do have to regulate the food to some extent so they dont get over weight or sick from eating to much. Sissy and i say thanks!!!
 

Dragon

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ok did some reading about letting your tourtos outside in the summer. Being an over protive mommy I would never just put her in the yard! to afraid of loosing her and am glad im not just being over protive this time. I had thought about getting a kiddy pool to let her use for a little outside time in the summer. i was glad to see this suggested on here. If i do this is there anything i should put in the kiddy pool with her.... besides me lol ( maybe after the first time or to i could just sit right next to it to give her more room to roam. lol if that would be good for her it would also give me another reason to go outside myself. lol I walk the dogs once a day in the summer.... taking sissy out for some sunshine would give me a second reason to have to go out side to lol and now i have sewing to do and house work!! spike would kindly like me to take care of our stuff a bit if i dont mind lol
 

Cathie G

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Lancaster
well I dont think i'll try dehydring want to make sure i dont do anything that could hurt her. I didnt know you could buy dandelion greens in the store.... i'll look and see. Iv had a few pets over the years who wore escape artests lol so these days I always have a way to latch closed any animal i have in a cage or incloser. i have bread ties on the birds cage door and on his food and water dish doors so he cant get them opened and get out, and we bought slide closers for the doors on sissys house. shes been in and out of her rock cave all day... we've had compeny so i didnt get her out to soak today.....just left her be to relax and do what she wanted today. tomarrow i'll go through my cubbords and find a container i can use for her soaks. after shes more used to us and her new home i'll put her in to soak even if we do have compeny as the container will either on the table by my chair or on my lap so i can see her better and talk to her. I know the redeared slider liked me to use a toothbrush to rub on her shell dont know about tourtos as i said i got rid of a lot of the information i had downloaded on russen tortus because they were incorrect and have just the one from here. eventuly we'll make her house a bit bigger i dont want to upset her anymore then nessary while shes getting used to us and her new home. and i'll look into makeing an outside incloser for her come summer, although I am to nervious to leaave her out there all the time unsupervised..... no matter how strong we make it.... and defently not all night. not fair to sissy i know but i cant keep going out to check on her every 3 to 5 mintues all day and night. she seems more content today what with a little more room to move around and finding her hidding place. I'll cut up a bit more lettece for her this evening so im sure she had enough food, and as soon as there s flower pots in the stores again i'll get the bottom dish part to use for her water. Im concerned if i use one that i already have even if i clean it that it might still have some traces of furtlizers on it that could tint her water. Oh and about the worrying....I will TRY not to worry to much but i have anxity panic disorder and agoraphobia..... so not worrying is like not breathing lol im working on it....I even went with spike to pick up sissy even though it was 100 miles away from home lol Its hard to work on getting out more during a pandemic lol but i go out twice a week for lung therpy and of course to all my various dr appoments when nessary lol i will defently be cheaking in on here a LOT! who knows some day i might be able to help someone else
I use a soft tooth brush on Sapphire if he needs a little scrubbing and he doesn't seem to mind it. My out door enclosure has lids on it made with 1×2" 's and hardware cloth. They're on hinges with a latch that I can padlock. That way he can be out as much as possible in good weather. I never leave him out all night ever. I also have one of those WiFi temperature and humidity devices in his enclosure that tells me the approximate temperature close enough to keep him safe from too much heat or cold. I still check him now and then but I can sit in my living room and know that no animals can get to him. And what the approximate temperature is without having to check him every 5 minutes ? When I say try not to worry so much I'm preaching to myself also ? Since finding TFO my worry isn't as hard to deal with. Before all I had was guess work and hoping my decision is right. Now I have members from all over the world that have owned Tortoises for a lot longer than me to chat with. It really really helps.?
 

Dragon

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Joined
Jan 25, 2022
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290
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michagin
Thats a great idea. We basicaly already have everything we need to make sassy an outside inclouser. As a woodworker scroll sawer and wood carver we have tons of wood around here lol....and of course we have lots of wire left over from making her indoor house. Theres a spot right under my livingroom windo that we could make an inclourser for her. Id proubly put a wood floor on it then potting soil and grass seed so she couldnt dig out but would be able to graze. Wouldnt be any harder then making a flower bed except itd be inclosed with screening. id drill some drain holes in it of course like i do outdoor flower containers I make so the rain could drain out some and not leave a soggy mess. Humm wounder if i could make it in the shape of a turtle....would just have to inlarge the pattern some and screening is felxable.... i'll think more on that i have lots of time to plan one out before summer... providing spike agrees to let me do it. we have an acer of land and he just hates it when i bulid stuff for the yard that has to be mowed around and then weed wacked around. lol the mowing ist to bad as we have 2 ridding lawnmowers but he wont let me do the weed wacking anymore as it takes me to long. lol humm defently something to think more on. I'll put a soft toothbrush in with her stuff and see if she likes it. Spike went to the store and got several different greenns that were on the care sheet so i chopped them all up into sort of salid for her and put it in a plastic container with a lid hopefuly that will keep it frish longer.... he forgot to get the bigger container for her to soak in but we can get that tomarrow. I agree with you this sight is just what i needed! I wish i had found it sooner as most of the research i found on line was outdated and wrong. Sissy would have had an easer start in her new home if we had....but she seems to be thriving despit our rough start. lol now off t read my other messages to see if anyone answered on how munch and how often to feed her.
 

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