My RT Commander Squishy

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gyang333

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Here's my Russian Tortoise, Commander Squishy. I got him from a guy near Kitchener, ON. I had a Yellow Footed Tortoise, Verne however I found it was very hard to properly care for him in the short term and long term as I felt after a period of evaluation, that I might not be able to handle as large of a tortoise that Verne could potentially become. So the guy I got the Russian from (he has quite a few Russians) decided to do a swap and I gave him Verne and I got the Russian in the exchange.

Anyway, here it is!

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checking out the temp in his enclosure ha!
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gyang333

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He's smart too, the pics were upped in a weird order, hmmm... but, you see him swatting at that plant in one shot, and then the pot's on the ground, I always righted it because I didn't understand why, until one time, he got to the plant before I could and just started to chomp on the leaves. And all became clear to me. I also had to raise the thermostat you see in the picture because he was using that to stand upright trying to get out, and he would on occasion fall backwards and I was concerned about that so I raised it to a level he could not reach (though this does take away from the effectiveness of that thermostat, so I'll probably have to drop some money to get another one and just leave it on the ground).

Here's some more shots!

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He might have looked very happy in all the other shots, but he was pretty determined to get at my fingers in this one!
 

Stephanie Logan

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AAAaawww, I love his name! Did you get that from "Finding Nemo"? :cool:

A strong and busy little man.:p
 

gyang333

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Stephanie Logan said:
AAAaawww, I love his name! Did you get that from "Finding Nemo"? :cool:

A strong and busy little man.:p

It must have been in my mind subconsciously, but I didn't realize/remember that the sea turtle in that movie was called Squishy as well until I was talking to this girl and she asked me what his name was. I just thought in some pictures of Russian Tortoises, especially the really young ones, that they sorta look like they could be squishy to the touch, ya know?

Sorta like here: http://www.theturtlesource.com/largeView.asp?id=225689762&ref=3&cat=444

Oh, and the guy I got him from said he's about a year and a half old up to two years old, does that sound about right? I haven't done a proper measurement for him yet, but he looks about 4.5 inches eye balling, since I have measured my Mississippi False Map and he's about 4.5 inches and they look to have about the same shell length.
 

GBtortoises

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Great looking tortoise and nice enclosure! Based on size and appearance he's probably much older than 2 years old. Probably more like 6-10 years. Looks to be a wild caught import and also a very good eater! Try to stay away from feeding him too many juicy, sugar filled foods like tomatoes, melons and other fruits. Russian tortoises digestive systems are not designed to handle foods like that. Dark, tough, leafy greens with a little bit of vegetables should be the main diet. You might also want to have a little bit of timothy hay for grazing and cuttlebone for a calcium source available at all times.

Also check out: www.russiantortoise.org for lots of additional care information specifically for Russian tortoises.
 

gyang333

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Okay, I thought he might have been older. Guy must have sold me the father out of his group. That's fine I guess. Though I don't know of it's a wild caught import as I'm not sure if those are allowed in Canada/cheaper in Canada because of all the hoops one would have to jump through to import them (if that's even possible to do). Thanks for the info!
 

GBtortoises

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It's very doubtful that it's captive born. Thousands of Russian tortoises that same size are imported into the U.S. annually. I am not familiar with Canada's import regulations at all. Here in the U.S. they just have to be above 4" SCL to be imported or sold as "pets". If the person does in fact have a Russian tortoise breeding group how were his obtained? I've also heard, but do not have proof other than verbal, that some species have been purchased in the U.S. and transported to Canada in small numbers illegally. I have no idea if that is true or not, just rumor at this point without solid proof.
Either way, what's done is done and you have a very nice tortoise to care for now!
 

gyang333

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GBtortoises said:
It's very doubtful that it's captive born. Thousands of Russian tortoises that same size are imported into the U.S. annually. I am not familiar with Canada's import regulations at all. Here in the U.S. they just have to be above 4" SCL to be imported or sold as "pets". If the person does in fact have a Russian tortoise breeding group how were his obtained? I've also heard, but do not have proof other than verbal, that some species have been purchased in the U.S. and transported to Canada in small numbers illegally. I have no idea if that is true or not, just rumor at this point without solid proof.
Either way, what's done is done and you have a very nice tortoise to care for now!

Yeah, I'm not sure how it works in Canada, I always assumed because prices are so crazy here that they were all captive born, like a pet store will sell a red foot tortoise for 500, and they aren't even readily available like a pet store in the US like PetsMart. He said he got them from a friend who was a breeder but he moved out of the country and sold them to him, as far as I know. But even the guy I got them from seems to know a lot about them and he said he has had them for a few years now. It doesn't really matter either way as I am very happy with the RT. But I honestly can see the smuggling in from the US angle just because they are so costly in Canada.
 

Stephanie Logan

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At the risk of sounding WAY too informed on Disney movies, the sea turtle in Finding Nemo is called Crush. ;)

At one point Dori is accidentally handling a baby jellyfish, and she announces he will now be her pet "Squishy". :p

I know that clarification was very important to all of you. :rolleyes:
 

ChiKat

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Squishy is adorable!! :D I love that I got my RT as a hatchling but I really can't wait until he's bigger! They look so much fun ;) Your little guy has a gorgeous shell!

Stephanie Logan said:
At the risk of sounding WAY too informed on Disney movies, the sea turtle in Finding Nemo is called Crush. ;)

At one point Dori is accidentally handling a baby jellyfish, and she announces he will now be her pet "Squishy". :p

I know that clarification was very important to all of you. :rolleyes:

"I shall call him Squishy and he shall be mine. And he shall be my Squishy." ;)
And Squirt is the baby sea turtle :D
 

Stephanie Logan

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Spoken like a true kindergarten teacher...;)

Or a recent fan of Disney movies...:p


ChiKat said:
"I shall call him Squishy and he shall be mine. And he shall be my Squishy." ;)
And Squirt is the baby sea turtle :D

That's the one! :D
 

gyang333

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Yeah! That must be it, I don't know, I think I've only seen the movie once and I wasn't really paying attention during the movie... so that's my bad lol pulling a name out of thin air and trying to link it to a movie that I don't know much about lol.

And thanks for the compliments, yeah he's pretty active throughout the day when I'm around. I just can't wait for this winter weather to clear up and I can take him outside!
 
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