New Russians

[ironhide & franklin]

Hi! I'm new to this forum. I just got two Russian torts one female and one male. Growing up, I had a box turtle and my favorite animals are turtles and tortoises. I missed having one so decided to get one (or two). I Just wanted to introduce myself and am open to all advice possible! I want to give these cuties a good life! Females name is Ironhide and boys name is Franklin. They were living together along with about 5 others at the reptile store. Right now I have them together and they seem fine. No problems and they don't interact much, which is fine with me. I've been feeding them kale, romaine lettuce, shredded carrot, not much because I haven't even had them for a week. And always have water, but they never drink it. I have a square tank and they seem to like the space. They are usually burying themselves under the coco coir I have as bedding and usually do it right up against the glass which I find sort of odd. Their basking lamp is 100 watts (im sure it will hurt seeing the electric bill this month) and UVB lamp that's 13 watts. I leave both on all day, usually 10 hours. All suggestions and advice is very welcome! I'm excited for this new adventure with these two!

 

[cmacusa3]

Check out the care sheets in this section for great info. It's highly recommended not to keep torts in pairs especially Russians.

And a warm welcome to the forum and being a tort owner.

 

[Carol S]

Welcome to the Forum.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi, and welcome to the Forum!

Your aquarium isn't big enough for one Russian, let alone two. Look for a used book case, remove the shelves and line it with plastic. That should hold you over until the weather warms up in the Spring, then you can make them a safe and secure outdoor yard to live in. You don't see a problem now, but once they become accustomed to living in their new territory, you'll start to see problems.

Also, I'm guessing the UVB light is one of those spiral shaped compact fluorescent bulbs. Some of those bulbs hurt tortoise's eyes. I wouldn't use that bulb at all.