Igor's New Digs

[Delilah1623]

Hello Everyone,

I just set up Igor's new enclosure and am looking for feedback. He is my first tortoise so I am still learning.

Substrate is a mix of eco-earth and top soil. Light is a power sun 100 watt MVB.

Any suggestions are appreciated!

 

[russian/sulcata/tortoise]

very nice!

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Keep an eye on him while he's eating. Top soil contains a lot of sand. You may want to swap it for potting soil. It's about half a buck more a bag. Nice looking little set-up there!

 

[Delilah1623]

Good to know! I knew sand was bad, didn't realize there would be some sand in the topsoil but it makes sense.

.... but he still isn't eating well so it's kind of a non issue right now )= I hope he will settle in now having more room and his appetite will pick up.

 

[Yvonne G]

Nice job. There are a couple of things - if he ever decided to take a header off the cliff he'd land in the water and that might be disastrous if he landed on his back. Also, Russian tortoises don't really eat grass except for the real young shoots coming out of the ground. Try offering him some Spring Mix or other packaged lettuces that has a nice variety of different greens. If you can find Santa Barbara Mix, I really like that one for tortoises. You can wander around your property and pick different weeds too. Just wash them off good before you offer them to him.

 

[Delilah1623]

Thanks Yvonne, I will move his water dish away from the climbing area.

I do put a big mix or spring greens and weeds in the every day. I just took this picture right after I set it up. He hasn't been eating well and the pet store was feeding him fruit and Timothy hay so that's what that big pile is.

I have all sorts of good stuff for him growing in my yard... grape leaves, dandelions, clover, hibiscus, mulberry leaves, plaintain....

The only success I have had so far getting him to eat was spring green mix chopped up with strawberries and melon.

I have had him about a month and he has gone from 486 grams to 454 grams

 

[Delilah1623]

I also have some chia seeds in the sprouter for him. Hopefully something will tickle his fancy soon.

 

[Yellow Turtle01]

If he was in a petstore, he's probably wild caught, which means he might have parasites, which could be affecting his appetite ! You could take him to a herp vet and get stool sample in case he's got something. My russian tort didn't have any yucky things, but had to settle down a bit for a couple days before he ate anything... your enclosure is really nice! How high is the humidity in there? Big open top areas like this can make it hard to control the humidity.

 

[Delilah1623]

I took him to the vet a couple days after I got him and he had pin worms. He has been wormed twice and they want to recheck in another week or two to make sure they are gone.

The humidity has been staying pretty constant, around 50-60%. The middle hide has some sphagnum moss in it so he has a more humid area to go if he wants.

 

[Delilah1623]

I am trying to do right by him. It is disheartening that he isn't eating. I hope he comes around soon.

 

[ascott]

I absolutely love love love the tortoise name...fantastic...cute tort by the way...

 

[Delilah1623]

Thank you (=