I'm new and in need of some serious help!

zolasmum

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May 19, 2015
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I will!!
Also, she doesn't seem afraid of hands at all!! I've been feeding her today and she can't quite get some of the carrots to stay still, they just slide across the soil away from her so I've been holding them for her. She just walks right up to my hand, even if I'm not holding the food. she also let me gently pet the top of her head and just didn't seem to care whatsoever? Then again I suppose having been with a much smaller kid before me she was probably handled quite a bit!
That's fantastic.You and your mum will be fighting over whose turn it is to play with her !! Please read the fact-sheets you get from here, and don't accept any information from elsewhere - it is amazing how many people who had a tortoise once ,years ago, think they can tell you how to look after them. People like Tom and Yvonne really do know the best things to do, from their own experience. And before you buy anything, check here - there may be cheaper alternatives that are just as good.
Best wishes from Angie
 

Lyn W

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Also! i've just been looking on ebay and came across this bookshelf! do you reckon this was suffice for now? i'd have to remove the shelves but it's way bigger than her current home
If you join Freecycle (which is a free and nationwide website but has local groups) you can make a wanted post and possibly get bookshelves which will cost you nothing - you just have to collect it. I very often see unwanted Ikea shelving being offered in my area. Charity shops which sell furniture may also be cheaper than Ebay and they will deliver for a small price. Try all avenues to keep your cost down and save your money for the more expensive things you'll need. I always try Freecycle first before spending money. Keep the shelves to cap the corners. It won't last forever as Tom said, and certainly no good for outdoors, but it will give you a bit of breathing space until you can make something more permanent.

What are you using for heat and light at the moment?
 

Lyn W

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ah alright! we think it is a few inches too big to fit in our van anyway! we'll just have to make one instead, no biggie
If you make one, make the sides high enough so that the tort can't climb out when a good layer of substrate is added.
 

Lyn W

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I will!!
Also, she doesn't seem afraid of hands at all!! I've been feeding her today and she can't quite get some of the carrots to stay still, they just slide across the soil away from her so I've been holding them for her. She just walks right up to my hand, even if I'm not holding the food. she also let me gently pet the top of her head and just didn't seem to care whatsoever? Then again I suppose having been with a much smaller kid before me she was probably handled quite a bit!
Carrots aren't great for torts - they are too high in sugar which tort systems can't deal with so only feed occasionally. Fruit should never be fed for that reason either. Chunks of food can also be a choking hazard so if fed at all maybe grate a little. The leaves cut off the tops of carrots are Ok but most carrots come already trimmed these days.
Best to put the food in a flat dish/saucer etc. to make sure substrate isn't ingested with the food.
 

Ray--Opo

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Welcome and thank you for rescuing your new friend. If she will allow you to trim her beak with toenail clippers that would be great. Look at pictures of other russians to get a idea what the beak should look like. Nip off a little at a time. I know Tom is comfortable with using a dremal tool, but you need a steady hand and also hope your tort stays still. Supposedly when the torts neck is stretched out. You can slide your index finger and your middle finger behind the head. So your tort can't slip their head back in. Using a dremal tool to me seems scary. Injuries seem very likely for a novice to try the procedure. I would take to a vet that knows what they are doing. It's important for the beak to be trimmed, so the tort can eat properly. If you put the food in a terracotta dish. The tort should keep the beak normal when scraping the beak on the terracotta while eating.
 

LJL1982

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Inexperienced and in need of help!!

Hi there, I'm a 17-year-old living at home with my mum and we have just come into possession of a tortoise. I did not advise getting a tortoise, as we have never had one, but my mother believed it would be fine and said we could rescue her anyway. She will not let us give it up, despite me saying we are most likely unfit to care for her correctly. Her previous owners are clients of my mum's, she does kids' entertainment and we asked about their tortoise when we were packing up our stuff from their home. They explained that it was their son's, who had just turned 10 that day, and that he was the only person responsible for its care. But they were planning to release it into a local park because he no longer seemed interested. We were able to ask a little more about her, they have been feeding her bags of grocery store baby-leaf salad, baby corn, carrots, and sometimes kale or fruits, apples being the main one I think. She has also never been hibernated, they had her for about 3 years. They gave her to us along with the stuff they had for her, which consisted of a small enclosure, a little bit of terrain, a bag of pure pasture meadow hay, a thing of reptile calcium powder, a heat lamp, a heat mat, and 2 dishes that barely fit into her space. I have removed both dishes as they have tall sides and after a quick google, it appears they are a flip hazard? they aren't too deep but I really don't want her falling over.

My mother took it upon herself to offer to take the tortoise, so now it is in my bedroom. They had been calling him Ralfie, but after a vet trip on Friday, we found out that he is actually a she. We then renamed her Myrtle thanks to my niece's suggestion. I did not attend the appointment as I was in school but according to my mum, the vet has said she is underweight, and her nails are overgrown as is her beak. Her beak is also wonky? not sure how but it is longer on one side than it is on the other. The vet also said she looks as though she's been squished, she said it might be a birth defect or that when she was little someone used to press down on her shell frequently. My mother could not remember if the vet said what type of tortoise she was, which wasn't helpful at all, but that she is around 13 years old.

The thing she lives in seems really small in comparison to her though, it has an open top and it was filthy. I believe what she was living in was mostly filled with sand as terrain, it was very very dry and it was not clean at all. When she first got home I just cleaned out any waste that was in the enclosure, it was pretty late so then I just let her chill and I went to bed. This morning she has been quite active, she walks around the little space and likes to peek out of the glass front. I was reading posts anonymously on here yesterday trying to find what to feed her on such short notice and so I gave her some carrot tops, Lettuce, and some zucchini we had in the fridge, all are store-bought and I washed them all before giving them to her. I also sprinkled on some of the calcium stuff her last owners gave me. She didn't seem to want to touch it and I then read a post that mentioned soaking stimulating appetite. Which seemed to work because after I let her roam about supervised in my bathtub she ate it all. I then went to pets at home, which I know probably isn't great as it is a big-name store and likely has questionable animal care advice, but I asked anyway and came home with a replacement substrate that I have pictured below. I put the whole 10L bag in.

As far as getting a new enclosure for her we are a low-income household and with the current cost of living crisis I doubt we could afford one any time soon, but we do have a woodworker in the family! I was thinking if someone gave us measurements of what an ideal size home would be for her we could make her a better living space and then I can save to buy her some hides. She currently only has one built-in shelter, so I feel like she really needs some new places to hide out. I'm currently on the lookout for a more suitable dish I can use as a water source for her, unfortunately, until I can get one she will have to have regular soaks instead.

The point is I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing. I don't know what her enclosure is meant to be like, what she's meant to eat, or what type of tortoise she even is! I could really really use some help, I don't want her to be neglected because I am unaware of what I'm doing and my mother has put her foot down that she won't let us rehome her. Here are some pictures!! If anyone can tell me what species she is or kind of mentor me on what I'm doing that would be really helpful! I'm also open to like, brand suggestions of what I should be getting for her, plants, hides, terrain, anything helps really!
Any vet who said your tortoise is squashed and it might be a birth defect isn't worth his salt. His skull shape and bloated eyes as well as abnormally shaped and overgrown beak are all signs of metabolic bone disease.

As a result the vet should have performed some key functional tests such as checking the tortoise can fully retract its head into its shell, and explain the importance of a correct diet and lighting to prevent it worsening.

They should have also done some blood tests to establish the level of impact on the organs which often suffer from both toxicity and being physically impacted by the deformities caused.

The diet your tort was on was all pretty much wrong.

It's a Russian Tortoise and so a Mediterranean tortoise and they cannot process any sugars. So no fruit or tomatoes or carrots. The latter two also contain high oxalic acids.

Go and Google The tortoise table plant database. It's very easy to use and also available as an app.

You shouldn't feed broccoli, Spinach or Cabbage, as it contains goitrogens which caused hyperthyroidism and worsen MBD.

Tortoises need exceptionally low levels of protein...so no dog or cat biscuits or cheese.

Best bet is your garden. Feed dandelions, weed plantain and sowthistle. From the shops you can top up with lamb lettuce watercress, pak choi, kale, radicchio and small amounts of romaine lettuce.

The tortoise needs regular baths. Daily ideally for twenty mins. Deep enough for her to submerge her tail and head. She may do so for several mins. Keep the bath at the same temp as you would for a child so about 50c. For the whole 20mins and change the water if they defecate into it.

Lighting wise, get a Arcadia ProT5 12% desert strip bulb. The wattage refers to the length, so just decide which length is best for the enclosure size.

She also needs a basking bulb to heat up so an Arcadia floodlight type bulb from Pets at Home. She need basking spot to be 35c and cooler end to be around 22c.
Regular central heated room temps and down to 15c ok overnight.
Get a cheap heat gun...temperature one like they used in covid, to check your temperatures under the lights.

Once you are OK with her and into a routine and have established her health you can get her out into garden once night temps are holding 15c.

Also...two if the largest causes of death if tortoise...accidents and injuries from free roaming in the house, and dogs.

Consider that the floor temperature is 10 degrees colder than head level, so raise your enclosure up.

Keep asking questions on here and find a good exotics vet.
 

Taylor_

New Member
Joined
Mar 26, 2023
Messages
9
Location (City and/or State)
Liverpool
Any vet who said your tortoise is squashed and it might be a birth defect isn't worth his salt. His skull shape and bloated eyes as well as abnormally shaped and overgrown beak are all signs of metabolic bone disease.

As a result the vet should have performed some key functional tests such as checking the tortoise can fully retract its head into its shell, and explain the importance of a correct diet and lighting to prevent it worsening.

They should have also done some blood tests to establish the level of impact on the organs which often suffer from both toxicity and being physically impacted by the deformities caused.

The diet your tort was on was all pretty much wrong.

It's a Russian Tortoise and so a Mediterranean tortoise and they cannot process any sugars. So no fruit or tomatoes or carrots. The latter two also contain high oxalic acids.

Go and Google The tortoise table plant database. It's very easy to use and also available as an app.

You shouldn't feed broccoli, Spinach or Cabbage, as it contains goitrogens which caused hyperthyroidism and worsen MBD.

Tortoises need exceptionally low levels of protein...so no dog or cat biscuits or cheese.

Best bet is your garden. Feed dandelions, weed plantain and sowthistle. From the shops you can top up with lamb lettuce watercress, pak choi, kale, radicchio and small amounts of romaine lettuce.

The tortoise needs regular baths. Daily ideally for twenty mins. Deep enough for her to submerge her tail and head. She may do so for several mins. Keep the bath at the same temp as you would for a child so about 50c. For the whole 20mins and change the water if they defecate into it.

Lighting wise, get a Arcadia ProT5 12% desert strip bulb. The wattage refers to the length, so just decide which length is best for the enclosure size.

She also needs a basking bulb to heat up so an Arcadia floodlight type bulb from Pets at Home. She need basking spot to be 35c and cooler end to be around 22c.
Regular central heated room temps and down to 15c ok overnight.
Get a cheap heat gun...temperature one like they used in covid, to check your temperatures under the lights.

Once you are OK with her and into a routine and have established her health you can get her out into garden once night temps are holding 15c.

Also...two if the largest causes of death if tortoise...accidents and injuries from free roaming in the house, and dogs.

Consider that the floor temperature is 10 degrees colder than head level, so raise your enclosure up.

Keep asking questions on here and find a good exotics vet.
Thank you for all this! I'm terrible at finding what specific things I need so naming specific types of lights I should have and food I should / should not be feeding her etc is really helpful!

Additionally just to note she is not on the floor! her enclosure is raised on a stack of IKEA shelving, completely off the floor and my dog isn't even aware she exists so we are good there!! :)
 

LJL1982

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Joined
Jan 28, 2022
Messages
318
Location (City and/or State)
UK
Thank you for all this! I'm terrible at finding what specific things I need so naming specific types of lights I should have and food I should / should not be feeding her etc is really helpful!

Additionally just to note she is not on the floor! her enclosure is raised on a stack of IKEA shelving, completely off the floor and my dog isn't even aware she exists so we are good there!! :)
That's sounds good, keep us informed on progress x
 
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