im a new owner of a horsefeild and abit scared im doing it wrong!

[nikki_franklin89]

I have finally had my very own tortoise !YAY!
he is a male called "Franklin" and he is 10months old, i have only had im a few days and im abit scared im doing it all wrong!!!! any tips at all would be a great help and much appreciated

i have had him for 4days with all the starter kit and stuff! at first he didnt move much but he is slowly starting to move more,he didnt eat but has 2day he hasnt had a poo yet should i be worried??? im not sure if he has had a drink either but i have changed it a few times, i have some pallet food (komodo) do they eat it or am i wasting my time with it? sooo much i need to learn !HELP! wb

 

[dmmj]

pics of your enclosure will help. most "starter kits" sold at pet stores are a waste of money ( overpriced), I personally would avoid the pellet food since they don't eat that in the wild, and would stick to weeds, leaves and flowers. Welcome to the forum and feel free to ask any questions you may have.

 

[Laura]

Time to start READING and educating yourself...
Diet, enclosures, heat, light, substrate etc.
its all here.. have fun! ask ANY question,, when you are just starting out, no question is a dumb one, its how you learn. But read first...it helps a lot!
Go to the store and buy some Spring Mix bagged salad.. or Santa Barbara Mix.. and start feeding that.. make sure he is warm enough to want to eat, and lights are on 12 hours a day minimum. A good shallow warm water soak would be good too.

 

[PeanutbuttER]

I second everything dmmj said.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Nikki:

Welcome to the forum!! Where are you located?

I'm sorry that you've spent all that money on a starter kit. Its always cheaper to buy things at the big box stores instead of at the pet store. If you can figure out how to post pictures, we'll need to see how you have the tortoise set up. We need to know what kind of light you have and how hot the habitat is.

 

[Isa]

Welcome to the forum and congrats on the new tort
The same thing happened to me, when I bought my Hermann, the guy at the pet store made me buy an expensive starter kit. Thank God I came on this forum and learned how to take care of my tortoise properly .
I can't wait to see a pic of your little guy

 

[egyptiandan]

Welcome to the forum Nikki

Danny

 

[Torty Mom]

Welcome to TFO congrats on the new tortie

 

[coreyc]

Welcome to the forum an congrats

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Welcome.

 

[Kristina]

Welcome to the forum!

Don't get too attached to your little guy being male. At 10 months old, there is no guarantee on the sex. How big is your tortoise and where did you get him? A lot of the time Petsmart and Petco and even petshops will tell you a tortoise is a specific age, and either they have no idea what they are talking about or they are not telling the truth. Most Russians that are available in the pet trade are wild caught sub adults, and ages run from 4-10 years, not just a few months. A 10 month old Russian is still considered a hatchling and will be quite small. Care for a baby will be a bit different than care for an adult.

 

[Turks-mummy]

Hi,

Iv recently been bought a russian tortoise also an he will be 1 jan 10th.
He came with a starter kit it was a poxy plastic box with wood chippings in thats all!
Now bought him a big viv n have lights heat uv etc all in there hanms to the help from these guys on here!
My lil man has no pooped in over a week now! - let me no of anything that helps yours apparently aloe vera an mineral oil is ment to do the trick!

Post a picture of how you have him x