My new Rescue

[SunshineAndDeadThings]

Hello, I've recently taken in a rescue male Russian tortoise, and was told by my partner who helped me do the research needed to take care of him that this forum was great at helping give some possible extra info. The person I got him from had minimal information on him - male, no know health issues - but didn't offer up any additional info. I tried asking if they knew how old he was, and they said no, they had purchased him from an expo, and did not state how long they have had him in their care. I'm curious if anyone can potentially give me a rough age estimation - he looks to be about 7in long - or whether or not he may have been wild caught.

Of course, I have attached the required Tortiose Pic tax of him. His name is Bonktholomew - curtesy of my fiancé.

 

[Ink]

Can you post pictures of the plastron (bottom) and tail area if you want to know male or female. It is probably an adult looks wild caught but I'm not an expert. Welcome to the forum. Cute tortoise and love the name.

 

[SinLA]

@Yvonne G

 

[wellington]

Can you post pictures of the plastron (bottom) and tail area if you want to know male or female. It is probably an adult looks wild caught but I'm not an expert. Welcome to the forum. Cute tortoise and love the name.

I do believe they know it's a male. But seeing the original owner knows little to nothing about the poor thing, who knows if it's really a male or not.

 

[wellington]

It is an adult, looking wild caught and needs a 4x8 foot minimum enclosure. Incandescent flood bulb for basking that reaches 95-100. Tube flourescent for uvb on four hours a day and ceramic heat emitter for any added heat needed
All over day temps that ranges from 75-80 and night temps 68-70.
30-50% humidity.
Brightly lit enclosure to keep him up during winter. Next year you can brumate him if you want.

 

[SunshineAndDeadThings]

Can you post pictures of the plastron (bottom) and tail area if you want to know male or female. It is probably an adult looks wild caught but I'm not an expert. Welcome to the forum. Cute tortoise and love the name.

My partner knows the basics of tortoises and was able to ID him as male so that's not a concern for me. She only knew that working in a store that sold them, so any more detailed information is always welcome. I'm unsure if he is underweight at all, from what little I know about what he was eating before it looked like green leaf lettuce and spinach, but I am unsure if that was his primary diet or just what was in the picture. His shell has no give but looks as if it may have had a soft spot at one point, and he seems to have some mild trouble with his back legs so I'm worried about the beginning stages of MBD.

 

[SunshineAndDeadThings]

It is an adult, looking wild caught and needs a 4x8 foot minimum enclosure. Incandescent flood bulb for basking that reaches 95-100. Tube flourescent for uvb on four hours a day and ceramic heat emitter for any added heat needed
All over day temps that ranges from 75-80 and night temps 68-70.
30-50% humidity.
Brightly lit enclosure to keep him up during winter. Next year you can brumate him if you want.

Due to short notice of pick up, he is currently in a 3'x2' enclosure with about 3" of substrate. We have a UVB coming in tomorrow for him and both a baking light and ceramic emitter already set up Come spring we will be custom building him an 8x4' table and did now he is going to get some supervised floor time.

 

[wellington]

Problem with his legs could be MBD but also could be from being housed for who knows how long in too small of an enclosure.
Lettuce and spinach is a very poor diet and they should have very little to no spinach

 

[Anastasia 22]

My partner knows the basics of tortoises and was able to ID him as male so that's not a concern for me. She only knew that working in a store that sold them, so any more detailed information is always welcome. I'm unsure if he is underweight at all, from what little I know about what he was eating before it looked like green leaf lettuce and spinach, but I am unsure if that was his primary diet or just what was in the picture. His shell has no give but looks as if it may have had a soft spot at one point, and he seems to have some mild trouble with his back legs so I'm worried about the beginning stages of MBD.

Hello!
I've learned here on the forum that spinach is not good for Russian tortoises...
I hope your guy will have a beautiful life with you!

 

[wellington]

Due to short notice of pick up, he is currently in a 3'x2' enclosure with about 3" of substrate. We have a UVB coming in tomorrow for him and both a baking light and ceramic emitter already set up Come spring we will be custom building him an 8x4' table and did now he is going to get some supervised floor time.

Try to get him in a much bigger enclosure now, not spring. He already has leg problems and being kept in such a small enclosure is not helpful.
Also roaming the floors of your home is very dangerous and should not be done. We have seen to many get sick or dead because of this poor habit of roaming floors.

 

[TammyJ]

Good luck with him! Some nice long warm soaks are always beneficial.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Perhaps you might like looking through these if you’ve not seen them already!

In this indoor housing thread, I cover equipment, levels, sizing, appropriately maintaining humidity, substrates, there’s lots of visual examples for everything and a really handy diet link to check out!

Housing adult Russian and Hermans indoors

Hello there! In this thread I’m going to include some information an example of an appropriate indoor set up for an older Herman/russian. As much as it’s encouraged to have tortoises in a safe outdoor enclosure, I understand being from the uk myself, that some climates make it difficult to...

tortoiseforum.org

This one might also get the creative juices flowing

Enclosure inspiration

Howdy folks! Hope everyone is well! As you all know, I’m a big fan of making threads that cater more towards visual learners like myself, I’ve really been wanting to create a thread full of adult enclosure inspiration for a while now, I’ve managed to find some great references over time! I do...

tortoiseforum.org

Hope you like them!!

 

[SunshineAndDeadThings]

Perhaps you might like looking through these if you’ve not seen them already!

In this indoor housing thread, I cover equipment, levels, sizing, appropriately maintaining humidity, substrates, there’s lots of visual examples for everything and a really handy diet link to check out!

Housing adult Russian and Hermans indoors

Hello there! In this thread I’m going to include some information an example of an appropriate indoor set up for an older Herman/russian. As much as it’s encouraged to have tortoises in a safe outdoor enclosure, I understand being from the uk myself, that some climates make it difficult to...

tortoiseforum.org

This one might also get the creative juices flowing

Enclosure inspiration

Howdy folks! Hope everyone is well! As you all know, I’m a big fan of making threads that cater more towards visual learners like myself, I’ve really been wanting to create a thread full of adult enclosure inspiration for a while now, I’ve managed to find some great references over time! I do...

tortoiseforum.org

Hope you like them!!

I'll definitely look them over! My fiancé Is going to be the one doing the build, so I'll pass on anything interesting