New Owner Of Two Russians (They won’t be homed together)

[_Laine_]

Hi, I live in Oklahoma and adopted 2 Russian tortoises from 2 different owners within the past week. I originally planned to adopt/rescue one Russian and responded to classified ads on several websites. A few days ago, I finally got a response and brought the first Russian home. She currently has a very nice (and very secure) 12x4 outdoor habitat with burrows, safe plants, and plenty of things to climb. At night or when I’m not home I bring her into a smaller 2x4 enclosure for the time being since she wears her out exercising in her outdoor enclosure. I plan to build something bigger before the weather gets cold and she starts spending more time indoors.

I got the first Russian established and yesterday I got a text from one of the other classifieds I had messaged. She sent me pics of her Russian male (rehoming for free). He looked very sad and he was in an enclosure less than 1 square foot. I felt bad for the poor little guy so now I have 2 Russians. This weekend I will build him his own outdoor enclosure.

I dont plan to home these tortoises together and I don’t ever want to breed them. I’m just happy that they will both have space to roam around! Female tortoise (lighter colored) is eating well and ate a lot of turtle bone. Male tortoise (darker colored) ate some grass and herbs last night.

The first picture is of the girl training to be a ninja. The second picture is the boy right after I picked him up. The owner gave me him in this container and he didn’t even try to climb out. I gave him a soak and he got a lot more active. The third pic is the females outdoor enclosure.

 

[SinLA]

Thank you for rescuing them and giving them a good life!

 

[Ink]

Welcome to the forum. Nice tortoises.

 

[Anastasia 22]

So happy for you and your guys! Thank you for giving them a better life! ❤️

 

[wellington]

Very nice tortoises you rescued.
In the wild, they roam miles and miles, so your female is not wearing herself out at all. She's doing what they do.

 

[_Laine_]

Very nice tortoises you rescued.
In the wild, they roam miles and miles, so your female is not wearing herself out at all. She's doing what they do.

Yeah, she climbs and digs for hours and then gets tired and goes to bed 😂

 

[Yvonne G]

It's very rewarding for us when we get feedback from folks like you who show us you've read our info and taken our advice. Thank you so much for sharing. I have no doubt that your depressed little male will perk up and start acting like a normal Russian once you have him set up right.

 

[_Laine_]

It's very rewarding for us when we get feedback from folks like you who show us you've read our info and taken our advice. Thank you so much for sharing. I have no doubt that your depressed little male will perk up and start acting like a normal Russian once you have him set up right.

The female was previously kept in what her owner described as ‘a huge 50 gallon container.’

I’ll attach of photo of the males enclosure that his owner sent home with me 😭

 

[Anastasia 22]

The female was previously kept in what her owner described as ‘a huge 50 gallon container.’

I’ll attach of photo of the males enclosure that his owner sent home with me 😭

Poor babies 😭😣

 

[SinLA]

The female was previously kept in what her owner described as ‘a huge 50 gallon container.’

I’ll attach of photo of the males enclosure that his owner sent home with me 😭

OMG

 

[zovick]

Hi, I live in Oklahoma and adopted 2 Russian tortoises from 2 different owners within the past week. I originally planned to adopt/rescue one Russian and responded to classified ads on several websites. A few days ago, I finally got a response and brought the first Russian home. She currently has a very nice (and very secure) 12x4 outdoor habitat with burrows, safe plants, and plenty of things to climb. At night or when I’m not home I bring her into a smaller 2x4 enclosure for the time being since she wears her out exercising in her outdoor enclosure. I plan to build something bigger before the weather gets cold and she starts spending more time indoors.

I got the first Russian established and yesterday I got a text from one of the other classifieds I had messaged. She sent me pics of her Russian male (rehoming for free). He looked very sad and he was in an enclosure less than 1 square foot. I felt bad for the poor little guy so now I have 2 Russians. This weekend I will build him his own outdoor enclosure.

I dont plan to home these tortoises together and I don’t ever want to breed them. I’m just happy that they will both have space to roam around! Female tortoise (lighter colored) is eating well and ate a lot of turtle bone. Male tortoise (darker colored) ate some grass and herbs last night.

The first picture is of the girl training to be a ninja. The second picture is the boy right after I picked him up. The owner gave me him in this container and he didn’t even try to climb out. I gave him a soak and he got a lot more active. The third pic is the females outdoor enclosure.

They are very good climbers, so be careful they don't climb out and escape. You might need to put covers over the corners of your enclosures to prevent such escapes.

It is great that you "saved" them from their respective poor conditions. Good luck with them.

 

[_Laine_]

They are very good climbers, so be careful they don't climb out and escape. You might need to put covers over the corners of your enclosures to prevent such escapes.

It is great that you "saved" them from their respective poor conditions. Good luck with them.

Yes, they are little ninjas! I plan to build hardware cloth frames to cover the top before I leave them outside unsupervised. Especially the girl, I worry about her parkouring over the top. Luckily there is slab under the substrate in their enclosures (previous homeowner’s built a dog run), so they can’t burrow out.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

I really love the look of that outdoor enclosure! Well done😁
Definitely do keep an eye on escape missions though, they really give it their all🤣

 

[_Laine_]

I really love the look of that outdoor enclosure! Well done😁
Definitely do keep an eye on escape missions though, they really give it their all🤣

The girl is a ninja! I’m too scared to leave her outside alone until I’m able to build a screened cover 😂

 

[Tom]

Hi, I live in Oklahoma and adopted 2 Russian tortoises from 2 different owners within the past week. I originally planned to adopt/rescue one Russian and responded to classified ads on several websites. A few days ago, I finally got a response and brought the first Russian home. She currently has a very nice (and very secure) 12x4 outdoor habitat with burrows, safe plants, and plenty of things to climb. At night or when I’m not home I bring her into a smaller 2x4 enclosure for the time being since she wears her out exercising in her outdoor enclosure. I plan to build something bigger before the weather gets cold and she starts spending more time indoors.

I got the first Russian established and yesterday I got a text from one of the other classifieds I had messaged. She sent me pics of her Russian male (rehoming for free). He looked very sad and he was in an enclosure less than 1 square foot. I felt bad for the poor little guy so now I have 2 Russians. This weekend I will build him his own outdoor enclosure.

I dont plan to home these tortoises together and I don’t ever want to breed them. I’m just happy that they will both have space to roam around! Female tortoise (lighter colored) is eating well and ate a lot of turtle bone. Male tortoise (darker colored) ate some grass and herbs last night.

The first picture is of the girl training to be a ninja. The second picture is the boy right after I picked him up. The owner gave me him in this container and he didn’t even try to climb out. I gave him a soak and he got a lot more active. The third pic is the females outdoor enclosure.

This is awesome. You rock!

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[Ray--Opo]

Welcome and thank you for the rescues. Like Zovick was saying. The corners are a place they can climb and escape.