New Russian Owner - Some Questions on Habitat and Care

[Dave B]

Hello All,

I am a new owner of a Russian and am going about getting his habitat setup correctly. We purchased at Petsmart (which we now realize may not have been the best idea) and store recommended a 20 Gallon Glass Teranium which is what he is currently occupying.

After much reading and research we are going to alter his setup to a table (3 ft by 2 ft is best we can do indoors), at least 6 inchs of soil / coconut fibre mixed, a terracotta plate for water and bathing, a hide as well as some edible plants from the tortoise table list.

In addition we plan to build an outdoor pen, 8 ft by 3 ft but as we are heading into cooler temps here in Norther California this would not be usable at night.

That being said I have a couple of questions:
- Can you recommend a good heatlamp choice, i have seen setups with 2 lamps (One heat and one Light) and other setups with a single lamp that has a special bulb that handles both heat and light. What would be best? I am leaning toward the single lamp option.

- Do you leave your bulbs on a timer to turn on in the morning, off at night? Is anyone using a temperature controlled setup?

- Is moving the Russian around daily, between indoor table and outdoor pen a good idea? This seems like a lot of handling / changing environment? Is this bad for them?

- For soaking I am planning on placing him in a basin with warm water, do i need a heatlamp over him for the 20 or so minutes he is soaking? Planning on a few times per week.

- Lastly, for feeding, at the moment we are offering some spring mix that is store bought until we get get a better setup. Is there any particular time of day we should feed him? Or just place the leaves in the terranium and he will get to them if he is hungry? Yesterday he ate but not until later in the evening?

Thank you all for your help,
David

 

[leigti]

Hello, congratulations on getting a Russian tortoise. Moving the tortoise indoors at night is fine, they get used to it and they benefit from the sunlight during the day. if he will be getting outdoors almost every day you do not need a UV lamp. But if he is going to be inside for a while, like A week or two at a time, then I would get in MVB bulb which is heat and UVB combined in one bulb.just from personal experience, I've had my Russian for two years now, I would recommend a larger indoor enclosure even though he will be outside during the day. Maybe a large Rubbermaid tub, Home Depot has some nice big ones. Check out the Russian tortoise section of the forum and there is someone great information there.oh and everybody here loves pictures

 

[leigti]

You can soak your tortoise in lukewarm water and he does not need a heat lamp on top if you don't want to. Spring mix is okay but there are other options such as turnip greens, escarole, endive, dandelion greens, cactus pads. I personally scraped the spines office them to give them to my tortoise, she loves them.I feed my tortoise a little in the morning and a little in the evening. But you can feed just once a day also.you can also plant edible stuff in the outdoor enclosure and then you don't have to feed them necessarily indoors. You can get seed mixes several places, I have used Carolina pet supply.com and tortoise supply.com. keep asking questions and people will help you out.

 

[russian/sulcata/tortoise]

welcome to the forum!!! http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/ this is a really good care sheet

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi David, and Welcome to the Forum!

I allow my Russian tortoises to hibernate, so moving in and out isn't a problem for them. Right now they're not eating, so they'll probably be digging in next week or so. At that time I'll box them up in shredded paper and put the box in a cool, dry place where it doesn't get below 40F or above 50F.

I DO have some younger tortoises (not Russians) that have to do what I refer to as the ins and outs of Autumn. Each evening I bring in the young desert, leopard, manouria and yellowfoot tortoises and place them in their tort tables indoors. Then each morning, they each go back outside to their outdoor spaces. Once the weather is cold all the time, no more warm days, then they just stay in all the time. In the spring we go back to the ins and outs. The tortoises get used to it and it is not stressful for them.

 

[Dave B]

Thank you all for the advice, i thought id post a few pictures of our little guy as well as the outdoor enclosure we are building, it is still a work in progress. Is there anyway to tell from his appearance whether he is wild caught or captivity bread?

Also, for the enclosure, my plan is to fill with approx. 6 inches of soil, we have pavers around the bottom to prevent tunneling out. For building a hide, what would be a good idea, we were thinking of using a flowerpot and burying it? Would a hide typically be in a sunny or shaded part of the enclosure?

- David

 

[leigti]

Most Russian tortoises in this country are wild caught. You can put a hide in the warm side and the cool side. And flowerpots on their side work well. And put some dirt in them as well so he can tunnel into them.you want at least 6 inches of soil in there, more if possible. You can cover the top with hardware cloth to keep predators out. here is a picture of part of mine just to give an example. There are lots of ways to do it, look in the enclosure section for some great ideas. You have a great start there.