Is this guy a Rusian Tortoise??

[DARKFIRE007]

That enclosure lighting looks like something you would see in the back room of a strip joint lol....

Everyone here beat me to all the good advice, except one. Watch this tort religiously. Russian's can escape almost anything. I suggest walls 6 inches higher than the tort is tall if he stands up on his back legs. And be careful he can't climb something to defeat the walls or dig under them. Mine is FULLY capable of digging 6 inches down and escaping an outdoor enclosure if I don't have a grate or wire mesh floor.

 

[SailAway2026]

How cold is it? Is it regularly below 65? If so and your indoor enclosure is still fairly small, as it sounds like it will be, you might consider building a heated night box for him. Then he could be outside most of the year.

Also, unless your enclosure is quite large, you can pretty much forget growing live food in it; your Russian will trample and/or eat it to death. You can probably plant some cover/shade plants or keep some edible plants in containers the Russian can’t knock over.

We only plan to put him in the outside enclosure during the day on good days where the temperature is at least 70.

Viewing it as more of an exercise pen as the weather here gets down into the teens and snows for about four months of the year off and on.

And I understand what you mean by the volume of what he consumes each day it would be hard for anything to grow unless it was in a very large area.

 

[SailAway2026]

That enclosure lighting looks like something you would see in the back room of a strip joint lol....

Everyone here beat me to all the good advice, except one. Watch this tort religiously. Russian's can escape almost anything. I suggest walls 6 inches higher than the tort is tall if he stands up on his back legs. And be careful he can't climb something to defeat the walls or dig under them. Mine is FULLY capable of digging 6 inches down and escaping an outdoor enclosure if I don't have a grate or wire mesh floor.

Well, we do live in Nevada!! . The red light is gone. We kept it on the first night and then found this forum.

 

[SailAway2026]

So another question: he eats everything (fresh) that I put out and I want to know if I am feeling him enough.

He really doesn't touch the premade food (zoo med grassland tortoise pellets).

I'm putting it dandelion, kale and endive right now. I put in a loose pile about the same size as he is. I do not chop it up.

Should I weigh his food and him?

Thank you!

 

[RosemaryDW]

Try soaking the pellets and then mixing a tiny bit with what he will eat. Over time you should be able to increase it.

Tortoises are grazers; they should have access to food all day long. If there isn’t anything left at the end of the day, put out a little more. If it gets to the point where there is leftover, you can drop it down.

There is no need to weigh the food. If you want to monitor his growth, use a kitchen scale that lets you weigh in grams. You can get one on Amazon or at Target. Salter is a good brand if you actually plan to cook with one, but feel free to get something cheaper. It doesn’t have to be 100% accurate. I weighed mine once a week at first. Slow, steady increase is what you hope to see. Be advised that pooping can drop the weight of a small tortoise; don’t worry if it’s lower a few grams than the week before! Spring and summer is time for tortoises to eat and eat! If he’s getting outside exercise and sun, he can get very hungry. Mine is an eating machine right now.

Because tortoises move around, you’ll need to put him on an upside down turned cup or glass so he can’t wiggle off. This isn’t the best picture but you get the idea.

 

[teresaf]

Mazuri is Awesome! Tortoises LOVE the original version but usually HATE the LS type. Soak for one minute to soften and as soon as they realize that it's food they scarf it down....

 

[SailAway2026]

Mazuri is Awesome! Tortoises LOVE the original version but usually HATE the LS type. Soak for one minute to soften and as soon as they realize that it's food they scarf it down....

His new favorite pastime is climbing into of his cave and eating his food from above.... .... He makes a bit of a mess during the climb, but seems to enjoy the task. He eats so much!!