New owner

[amydi]

Hi,
Help and advise much appreciated. We are getting our first tortoise next week - Russian.
I have spent hours upon hours reading and researching caring for it, but there's such varied opinions and guidance.
So I have a few questions....
1. How best do I settle in the new shell baby? Should I be bathing them daily for the first week?
2. Is it okay to swop indoor/outdoors weather dependent
3. Can I use ordinary orchid bark from garden centres?
4. Is less more in their enclosures? Should I be putting plenty of textures and objects in to make it more interesting?
Honestly guys, I read one thing and then read something else that just contradicts everything not one website seems to say the same thing. I just want to get it right.
Your responses are greatly appreciated

 

[SinLA]

Your confusion is valid and frustrating. I know. There are so many sources of information and everybody says they’re the best. We strongly recommend you ignore pretty much everything else you’ve read and just start here:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

How old will your Russian be?
Do you know much about how the breeder starts it, assuming it’s a baby?

If it is a baby, you need to keep it in an enclosed chamber, and it should not go outside for quite some time. It needs to be kept with high humidity to avoid pyramiding.

Also know that adults need quite a large bit of space around 4‘ x 8‘ minimum, they shouldnt be kept in those commercial tortoise houses that are sold all over the place

 

[amydi]

Your confusion is valid and frustrating. I know. There are so many sources of information and everybody says they’re the best. We strongly recommend you ignore pretty much everything else you’ve read and just start here:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

How old will your Russian be?
Do you know much about how the breeder starts it, assuming it’s a baby?

If it is a baby, you need to keep it in an enclosed chamber, and it should not go outside for quite some time. It needs to be kept with high humidity to avoid pyramiding.

Also know that adults need quite a large bit of space around 4‘ x 8‘ minimum, they shouldnt be kept in those commercial tortoise houses that are sold all over the place

Hi thanks for responding.
Tortoise will be a baby bought from a reputable breeder/seller.
We have purchased a large tortoise table which is 91cm x 68cm, so should be sufficient for now until we get established and into a routine whilst it's still small

 

[SinLA]

If it’s an open top Tortoise table it will not work. It won’t be able to retain the level of humidity the baby needs to stay healthy

 

[Ink]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[zolasmum]

Welcome from Devon. A lot of the information you come across is out of date or affected by the writer's personal ideas, which may in fact be quite wrong.
So just stay with this forum - you will get information that is up to date and unbiased - and people who are very kind and patient, and willing to explain things clearly. They won't make you feel stupid, and will really try to help.
Where in the UK are you ?
Angie

 

[Tom]

Hi,
Help and advise much appreciated. We are getting our first tortoise next week - Russian.
I have spent hours upon hours reading and researching caring for it, but there's such varied opinions and guidance.
So I have a few questions....
1. How best do I settle in the new shell baby? Should I be bathing them daily for the first week?
2. Is it okay to swop indoor/outdoors weather dependent
3. Can I use ordinary orchid bark from garden centres?
4. Is less more in their enclosures? Should I be putting plenty of textures and objects in to make it more interesting?
Honestly guys, I read one thing and then read something else that just contradicts everything not one website seems to say the same thing. I just want to get it right.
Your responses are greatly appreciated

You've gotten good info and advice from the other posters above me here.

The thread linked for you will explain a lot of what you've been seeing. The old wrong info is deeply ingrained and the ones who have been doing it wrong the longest seem to be the most resistant to learning better ways, with a few notable exceptions.

I reached the conclusions given in those threads by doing many side by side experiments with multiple clutch mates of several species over more than 10 years now. I did it the old wrong way for almost 20 years before learning the hard way why that info was wrong, what was right, and why. So when you meet someone online, or in a pet shop, or one of those "reputable breeders", and they tell you they've been doing it their way for 30 years and their tortoise is still alive, ask them how many times they have done it the way we suggest here. Ask them how many side by side experiments they've done raising multiple clutch mates changing one variable at a time. They will probably get mad and insult you. Take a guess how I know they will react that way...

Feel free to question my info. I won't insult you. I will explain how I reached that conclusion over any other, and why it works better. Our goal is healthy tortoises and happy tortoise keepers.