Just dropping by to say "hello". I grew up in rural Iowa and have been a caretaker for everything from mice to pygmy goats, but this is my first attempt at keeping cold-blooded critters.
I recently adopted 2 male Russian tortoises (Charlie and Harper) that were in a house with an aggressive dog. I'd been researching suitable pets for awhile... I'm recently divorced and I live in an apartment. My rent agreements doesn't allow dogs, and because of mild cat allergies, a cat really wasn't an option either.
I was originally considering a Sulcata, but because of their size and fast growth I didn't think that would be a good choice at this point in my life...maybe down the road.
I ran across a "help" ad on Craigslist and thought it was just too good to pass up. Russians better fit the housing I could provide. Charlie and Harper came with a basking lamp and fixture, UV bulb and fixture, clamps, fluorescent hood lamp, under that tank warming pad, pellet food, substrate, hides, food and water bowls, some Vitashell, water conditioner, etc, and a 75 gallon aquarium (48" x 18").
I don't really like the pelleted food and have been mostly feeding fresh greens (mostly Spring Mix) and a calcium vD supplement (Flukers). I'd read that tortoises cannot recognize clear borders so I put a couple wraps of black duct tape around the bottom of the tank to create a pseudo-wall. And I need to switch out the substrate...they had been using Reptibark and I'd like to get this switched over to something else...but I've hit the end of my allowed budget for this month and that will have to wait a couple of weeks.
Like I said... I'm new at this so any helpful pointers would be great.
Thank you.
I recently adopted 2 male Russian tortoises (Charlie and Harper) that were in a house with an aggressive dog. I'd been researching suitable pets for awhile... I'm recently divorced and I live in an apartment. My rent agreements doesn't allow dogs, and because of mild cat allergies, a cat really wasn't an option either.
I was originally considering a Sulcata, but because of their size and fast growth I didn't think that would be a good choice at this point in my life...maybe down the road.
I ran across a "help" ad on Craigslist and thought it was just too good to pass up. Russians better fit the housing I could provide. Charlie and Harper came with a basking lamp and fixture, UV bulb and fixture, clamps, fluorescent hood lamp, under that tank warming pad, pellet food, substrate, hides, food and water bowls, some Vitashell, water conditioner, etc, and a 75 gallon aquarium (48" x 18").
I don't really like the pelleted food and have been mostly feeding fresh greens (mostly Spring Mix) and a calcium vD supplement (Flukers). I'd read that tortoises cannot recognize clear borders so I put a couple wraps of black duct tape around the bottom of the tank to create a pseudo-wall. And I need to switch out the substrate...they had been using Reptibark and I'd like to get this switched over to something else...but I've hit the end of my allowed budget for this month and that will have to wait a couple of weeks.
Like I said... I'm new at this so any helpful pointers would be great.
Thank you.
