New Russian owner

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jacquiroell

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Hi. So glad I found this forum. I am VERY new to tortoises. A week ago, I inherited a 5 yr old Russian from my sister. They had her in a 50gal glass aquarium with pine shavings. After doing a lot of self teaching on the subject, I have found that that is not the best home for a tort! We already had a 75gal tank (I used to have a terrarium/aquarium) so we put her in that with wrapping paper wrapped around the sides For a visual barrier (did they not notice how she wacked her head agains the glass all the time?) and I've put in cypress mulch and coconut mulch as a substrate. ANYWAY we are building a tort table this weekend for her and I've put a temporary outdoor area for her which she seems to love. I could use any suggestions on how to help her because she's so used to being in that glass tank and never being held so she just walks along the board walls of the outside area and she goes into her shell when I go near her. Thanks and I'm happy to be here!!
Jacqui
Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
 

Cloud 9

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Welcome to the Tortoise forum community Jacqui :).

Does the Russian tortoise have a name yet ?
 

Yvonne G

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Hi Jacqui:

Welcome to the Tortoise forum!!

Can you make an outdoor pen for your steppe tortoise? They do much better outside than inside. They eat broad-leaf weeds and plants, and being able to graze on these items is the best diet for them.

Your new steppe tortoise can live outside until the cold weather sets in, then you can box him up in shredded newspaper and let him hibernate. So, really, there is no need for spending a lot of money making an indoor habitat.
 

jacquiroell

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Her name is Roxanne! We live in a very wooded area with a lot of forest animals so I'm very nervous about leaving her outside without me nearby - even with a fence on top. I've made a framed area for her during the day when I can keep an eye on her but I bring her inside at night. We have really smart raccoons that seem to figure out a way to get into anything so I don't want to leave her there 24/7. She's also so timid right now - I think it'd stress her out to have a predator trying to get to her.

Any suggestions on how to help her adapt to the environment she's supposed to be in? She's used to being in pine shavings and she seems confused about the cedar mulch/coco mix I have. The temps and humidity are right where they should be.
 

Zamric

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Welcome to the Forum!

Patiance! More for you less for her. Tortoises in general dont like change. Give her time to adapt to her perfect (yet scary to her) new enviroment. She will eventually relax as she get more comfortable in her surroundings
 
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