April_PDX
New Member
Hello everyone, my name is April. I live in Portland, Oregon. I just purchased a baby/juvenile Russian tortoise yesterday. He’s my first turtle/tortoise. His name is Boris. Boris the Tortoise. He’s about 4 inches long and the pet store said he’s roughly 1.5-2 years old, so basically just a toddler, considering how long these guys live for.
Anyway, I got him the whole setup, a spacious terrarium, bedding, a hiding spot, a basking light, a water dish big enough for him to get inside but not too big for him to drown in, a food dish etc. However, before I was able to set that up for him, he was in a cardboard box during the 2 hour car ride home. We stopped for coffee about halfway through that trip home and I let him out of the box. He seemed active and playful and was running around in he grass and cuddling up in my neck. It was the cutest thing.
When I got him home and took him out of the box, he hissed at me. So I soaked him for 20 minutes in luke warm water, hoping it would calm him down because I figured he must just be stressed from the journey. He did not seem to like that at all. The entire time he seemed to be trying to get out of the opaque soaking tub. While I was setting up his habitat my partner took him out to the backyard to roam around, but he just hid under some plants.
I got his habitat set up very nicely. I put him inside with a bunch of leafy greens as well as some of those nasty pellets they were feeding him at the pet store, just in case he wanted something familiar. He immediately burrowed himself into the bedding and stayed there.
When I went to bed, I turned off his basking light. When I woke up, he was in the exact same spot. No food had been eaten. So I gently moved him out of that spot to make sure he was still alive, he is! I put some kale in front of his head and I went to the restroom. When I came back, he was in his hiding rock and no food had been eaten.
What is going on? Does his leafy greens need to be cut up into small pieces in order for him to be able to eat? Is he just scared and will eventually settle in? Or is there something more serious I should be worried about? Please help!!
Anyway, I got him the whole setup, a spacious terrarium, bedding, a hiding spot, a basking light, a water dish big enough for him to get inside but not too big for him to drown in, a food dish etc. However, before I was able to set that up for him, he was in a cardboard box during the 2 hour car ride home. We stopped for coffee about halfway through that trip home and I let him out of the box. He seemed active and playful and was running around in he grass and cuddling up in my neck. It was the cutest thing.
When I got him home and took him out of the box, he hissed at me. So I soaked him for 20 minutes in luke warm water, hoping it would calm him down because I figured he must just be stressed from the journey. He did not seem to like that at all. The entire time he seemed to be trying to get out of the opaque soaking tub. While I was setting up his habitat my partner took him out to the backyard to roam around, but he just hid under some plants.
I got his habitat set up very nicely. I put him inside with a bunch of leafy greens as well as some of those nasty pellets they were feeding him at the pet store, just in case he wanted something familiar. He immediately burrowed himself into the bedding and stayed there.
When I went to bed, I turned off his basking light. When I woke up, he was in the exact same spot. No food had been eaten. So I gently moved him out of that spot to make sure he was still alive, he is! I put some kale in front of his head and I went to the restroom. When I came back, he was in his hiding rock and no food had been eaten.
What is going on? Does his leafy greens need to be cut up into small pieces in order for him to be able to eat? Is he just scared and will eventually settle in? Or is there something more serious I should be worried about? Please help!!