My Russian Tort Albus

[Bublitz497]

My tort Albus unknown age is very picky. He will only eat fresh greens and veggies appropriate for tortoises and the zoomed flower topper. I have tried every type of pellet and he hates hay.

He also eats twice a day. I give him a handful of his green and veggie mix for breakfast and dinner and then before I turn his lights off he gets a sprinkling of flower topper as a snack. I also add a sprinkling of reptivite to his breakfast every couple of days.

His enclosure is 4' wide x 6' long. Because of the area of his enclosure and its indoors I have 2 heat lamps and a UVB lamp. Plus a heat emitter.

 

[Chubbs the tegu]

Welcome! They are not grass or hay eaters. U can offer safe weeds and flowers from ur yard.. plantain weed, dandy greens and flowers, wild violet leaves and flowers, chickweed, catsear to name a few

 

[Bublitz497]

Welcome! They are not grass or hay eaters. U can offer safe weeds and flowers from ur yard.. plantain weed, dandy greens and flowers, wild violet leaves and flowers, chickweed, catsear to name a few

He eats grass and dandelions. Just not hay. I have to plant them but I bought the komodo dandelion and grass seed kits for his enclosure. I might get a couple more of each so I can get more coverage. Just wondering if the every day greens is healthy?

 

[Chubbs the tegu]

If greens everyday the staples should be endive and escarole and add some collards, kale, mustards ,carrot and radish tops etc for variety. I would try to get some broadleaf weeds mixed with it as much as possible, they need more fiber than just greens can offer. Good luck!

 

[Chubbs the tegu]

@Blackdog1714 and i believe @Tom own some Russians. They could give you more advice

 

[Chubbs the tegu]

And @MichaelL

 

[Chubbs the tegu]

And heres a care sheet to read through for now

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

www.tortoiseforum.org

 

[MichaelL]

And @MichaelL

Thanks for the @ dude haha.

 

[MichaelL]

Nice tortoise!

Chubbs was right about the diet- endive and escarole should be the staple (if a variety of fresh weeds aren't available), and more fibrous foods need to be offered as well.

Also, I wouldn't really offer any veggies except rarely. The diet should be pretty much completely broadleaf greens and weeds. When offering veggies often, it tends to make russians more picky to other greens. When you want to introduce a new food, unless they love it at first sight, they will usually shy away from it. You have to introduce it little by little. Maybe cut it up very small at first and hide it in a pile of their favorite food. Then slowly increase the increments.

Regarding your enclosure, it's a pretty good size which is good. I would get rid of the red light though. Any basking areas should be bright.

Picky tortoises can be frustrating, hope he starts being open to more foods.

 

[Bublitz497]

I can not find endive and escarole anywhere. Trust me I have looked. Today I got him snow peas, parsley, beet top greens, squash, leeks, collard greens, kale, sweet potato, and a mini cucumber. I also got him some blackberries to try as a treat.

 

[Bublitz497]

I should also say that there are many different types of advice on what to feed Russian Torts so I have done my homework. But the best advice always comes from you guys. Albus also has a ball that he plays with when he is in a playful mood. He will roll it around his enclosure. I did post for enclosure advice as well as I don't know how to get the heat and humidity levels right. Especially being the majority of his enclosure is open.. Any ideas would be appreciated.

 

[MichaelL]

I can not find endive and escarole anywhere. Trust me I have looked. Today I got him snow peas, parsley, beet top greens, squash, leeks, collard greens, kale, sweet potato, and a mini cucumber. I also got him some blackberries to try as a treat.

That's pretty good diet wise except for the veggies, and mainly blackberries. Even though it was a treat, it has way too much sugar for a russian and can cause parasite blooms and diahrrea.

 

[MichaelL]

I should also say that there are many different types of advice on what to feed Russian Torts so I have done my homework. But the best advice always comes from you guys. Albus also has a ball that he plays with when he is in a playful mood. He will roll it around his enclosure. I did post for enclosure advice as well as I don't know how to get the heat and humidity levels right. Especially being the majority of his enclosure is open.. Any ideas would be appreciated.

I wouldn't worry about humidity for a russian of that age, just make sure it doesn't become too dusty. Spray down every once in a while if it becomes too dry and dusty. For heat, if my russians are indoors, I honestly just make sure it's warm enough by feel under the lamp, where I know they can warm up but it's not so hot where it makes the ground scorching. You can also use temperature guns, and the right temperature to have is in the care sheet I believe.

 

[Mrs.Jennifer]

I should also say that there are many different types of advice on what to feed Russian Torts so I have done my homework. But the best advice always comes from you guys. Albus also has a ball that he plays with when he is in a playful mood. He will roll it around his enclosure. I did post for enclosure advice as well as I don't know how to get the heat and humidity levels right. Especially being the majority of his enclosure is open.. Any ideas would be appreciated.

I actually built a PVC enclosed chamber for my Russian this past winter. However, up until that point, I was using the technique I learned here of dumping water into the substrate and mixing it up with my hands. The top of the substrate dries out a bit, but the underneath parts stay damp and emit humidity.

 

[Bublitz497]

He doesn't get everything in his diet all the time. Just the dark leafy greens daily. As far as the substrate and heat go I do spray it down along with him at least once a day. And he has 2 areas that have heat. The red lamp I will be switching out for the heat emitter tomorrow.

Thank you all for your feedback and advice.