Russian and his enclosure

[caldo0779]

Hello I am a russian tortoise owner I just ordered a new house called aiviturvin tortoise table on Amazon and i don’t know what type of heating/basking light I need for him idk if any of you guys could help me out I will be glad if y’all could 😁

 

[SinLA]

Hello I am a russian tortoise owner I just ordered a new house called aiviturvin tortoise table on Amazon and i don’t know what type of heating/basking light I need for him idk if any of you guys could help me out I will be glad if y’all could 😁

Unfortunately those are terrible. Can you cancel the order?

How old is your Russian? Those are too open for babies and too young for adults.

Tell us about your tortoise! How old where did you get? Can you share photos

 

[caldo0779]

Uhh I got him at Petco and he looks to be medium sized idk his age 😅 now I feel dumb I didn’t really realize does where bad

 

[caldo0779]

 

[caldo0779]

Unfortunately those are terrible. Can you cancel the order?

How old is your Russian? Those are too open for babies and too young for adults.

Tell us about your tortoise! How old where did you get? Can you share photos

 

[caldo0779]

Unfortunately those are terrible. Can you cancel the order?

How old is your Russian? Those are too open for babies and too young for adults.

Tell us about your tortoise! How old where did you get? Can you share photos

He looks to be medium sized also I think it’s a bit to late to return it and also we got him at Petco I few weeks ago so idk what to do anymore I just saw that people always said the house was perfect including some experts

 

[SinLA]

Uhh I got him at Petco and he looks to be medium sized idk his age 😅 now I feel dumb I didn’t really realize does where bad

No worries! You and everyone else. She or he is likely an adult. There is a FAQ someone will link I am unable to do so at the moment. Also search for “info for new people” thread and “best way to raise a testudo”

 

[caldo0779]

No worries! You and everyone else. She or he is likely an adult. There is a FAQ someone will link I am unable to do so at the moment. Also search for “info for new people” thread and “best way to raise a testudo”

Ok thank you I also got the house for winter I have a pretty big enclosed outside I built he seems pretty happy he gets plenty of Sun and has perfect humidity and shade and some hides

 

[Tom]

I just saw that people always said the house was perfect including some experts

You are reading the wrong info and listening to the wrong "experts". This is going to lead you to much frustration and problems with your tortoise. Go back and re-read post number one on this thread.

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

If you have any questions, it is best that you make your own thread and I am sure they will all get answered! @caldo0779

 

[MaNaAk]

If you have any questions, it is best that you make your own thread and I am sure they will all get answered! @caldo0779

Yes I think there is a forum for enclosures and tortoise health. The experts are @wellington, @Tom and @Yvonne G.

Natrah

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Hello and welcome! Cute tortoise!😁

I’m going to include some information below on an appropriate indoor set up for this guy, including the appropriate indoor uv, if your guy is primarily housed outdoors, you may not need it, but if housed inside for a good portion of the year, I’d add it.

Basking light should be an incandescent floodlight(example attached) on a 12 hour timer.

Basking temperature directly under the floodlight should be 95-100f. The rest of the enclosure should be ranging 75-80 during the day.

You may also wish to add ambient lighting on the same timer, providing shady areas with hides and safe plants.

Then CHE/CHE’s(ceramic heat emitters) always on a thermostat, for night heat if your house drops below 60’s at night. Set the thermostat for a night temperature place the probe in their cooler end, plug the che into it and the thermostat into the mains, it’ll be plugged in 24/7 but will only turn on when the temperature drops. If your house stays in the 60’s don’t worry about this!

Uv should be a t5 fluorescent tube, avoid the compact and coil uv bulbs, they don’t give out enough uv and can hurt the tortoises eyes. The uv can be on a 4 hour timer from noon. I’ve attached examples of the two brands to go for and some examples of how to mount them.

With lighting always avoid anything labelled halogen or mercury vapour.

For substrates, either coco coir, dampened and packed down by hand as a base, with a layer of orchid(fir not pine) bark or forest floor on top, or just the orchid bark/forest floor. Never use anything with sand mixed in, no top soils and no kinds of moss.

You want to aim to have the bottom layer of substrate damp, to do this pour lukewarm water into the corners, not loads but enough to dampen the entire bottom layer. To stop that top layer getting a little too dry/dusty, mix the substrate now n then. Check your monitors and substrate to do the pours as and when needed.

I’d personally recommend you make your own base or get your hands on something larger than what you’ve ordered, it doesn’t provide enough vital roaming room for the tortoise. The closer you can get to a 8x4 size the better, but again if yours is primarily housed in a large outdoor space, you’ll get away with something smaller for whilst they’re inside. They still do need roaming room though.

When making your base, just make sure the material is safe, some use flower beds, or take a large bookcase, take out the shelves and lie flat, or just make their own, for all these options I’d line with cheap pond liner to protect the base, making sure the liner goes up the sides too and make sure those sides are deep enough! Russians are professional escape artists😂

I’ve also included examples of stands people make/buy to hang their lighting, use a temperature gun to determine how high the basking bulb needs to be, the uv I suggested needs to be mounted 18-20 inches from the substrate.

For a water dish a shallow terracotta saucer is considered safest, they have grip in the event your tortoise flips themselves, most pet store options are a known hazard.

I’d also always recommend getting your hands on a temp gun, they’re SO handy when setting up a new environment or for checking your monitors are correct🙂

 

[SinLA]

Since it doesn't look like the threads were linked, here you go:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

its very dense, but has good info in there. You can skip the stuff about babies since you have an adult.

and here is Russian-specific info: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/the-best-way-to-raise-any-temperate-species-of-tortoise.183131/