New to community - please help (Russian Tortoise)

[sarahandshelldon]

Hi Everyone! I am a new tortoise mama and I want to make sure i’m doing everything I can to raise a happy and healthy baby. I built my own terrarium (i’ll put a photo here) and i’m open to any constructive suggestions y’all have to make it better. I plan on keeping him outside since the summer months here are very hot and humid. I got him yesterday and unfortunately haven’t had much time to spend with him yet, i’m a nurse and I work 12 hour shifts so i’ve been working all day today. I’m a bit nervous he isn’t eating, I planted live plants in his terrarium (all tortoise safe thanks to dr. google) and some turtle food from the pet store and today when i checked on him after work he didn’t seem to have eaten much. i’m a bit concerned but i think he might be a bit stressed. also, i know i need to do a warm water soak for him. do i use any sort of soap for that like dawn or just warm water and for how long? thank you all and i look forward to hearing from you!

 

[SinLA]

Hello, welcome to the forum.

Ok so, don't get too upset, but pretty much everything you've been told is probably wrong. What we are going to tell you is only in the best interests of the Tortoise.

Dr. Google = Dr. Kevorkian, so stop using him.

1) that water dish is a death trap, remove it ASAP. you can use a plain terra cotta saucers sunk down into the substrate
2) those plants are probably laced with pesticides and should also be removed ASAP. The KINDS of plants may be fine, but unless you grow them from seed yourself, or give them many months to work the pesticides out of them, they are toxic. Also for a box that size, that many plants means it has no walkaround space. The solution is you need a bigger box, but get rid of the plants at the moment, too. Give it other kinds of things to hide under.
3) No idea what kind of tortoise you have (you don't mention it in your post and I don't see it in the photo) but whatever it is, your space is either too small (if an adult) or needs to be fully enclosed chamber (if a baby). Despite what Dr. Google says, tortoises need a LOT of room and cannot be kept in a fishtank or 2 x 3 box
4) Not sure what that black box is in the top corner?
5) What is your light and heat setup?
6) Soak in water ONLY (there are exceptions if tortoise is sick, but for regular soaking its just water). I try to keep it around 95 degrees.


What kind of tortoise is it, how old did they tell you it was, and where did you get it? Can you provide photos of the tortoise?

Again so sorry this is NOT the info you want to hear, please don't take this as a personal attack. You, like almost everyone else out there, was given info that is good for salespeople, but not actually good for tortoises...

Read this link: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/info-for-new-people-please-read-this-first.202363/#post-2036954 its really long and dense but the best place to start.

 

[TammyJ]

Hi and welcome to the forum! Please let us see your tortoise?

 

[wellington]

Hello, welcome to the forum.

Ok so, don't get too upset, but pretty much everything you've been told is probably wrong. What we are going to tell you is only in the best interests of the Tortoise.

Dr. Google = Dr. Kevorkian, so stop using him.

1) that water dish is a death trap, remove it ASAP. you can use a plain terra cotta saucers sunk down into the substrate
2) those plants are probably laced with pesticides and should also be removed ASAP. The KINDS of plants may be fine, but unless you grow them from seed yourself, or give them many months to work the pesticides out of them, they are toxic. Also for a box that size, that many plants means it has no walkaround space. The solution is you need a bigger box, but get rid of the plants at the moment, too. Give it other kinds of things to hide under.
3) No idea what kind of tortoise you have (you don't mention it in your post and I don't see it in the photo) but whatever it is, your space is either too small (if an adult) or needs to be fully enclosed chamber (if a baby). Despite what Dr. Google says, tortoises need a LOT of room and cannot be kept in a fishtank or 2 x 3 box
4) Not sure what that black box is in the top corner?
5) What is your light and heat setup?
6) Soak in water ONLY (there are exceptions if tortoise is sick, but for regular soaking its just water). I try to keep it around 95 degrees.


What kind of tortoise is it, how old did they tell you it was, and where did you get it? Can you provide photos of the tortoise?

Again so sorry this is NOT the info you want to hear, please don't take this as a personal attack. You, like almost everyone else out there, was given info that is good for salespeople, but not actually good for tortoises...

Read this link: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/info-for-new-people-please-read-this-first.202363/#post-2036954 its really long and dense but the best place to start.

I second all of this

 

[wellington]

Hello and Welcome. We need more info to help you further.
Species,temps, age/size of tort, light bulbs using exactly and type of heat you are using
The enclosure needs to be bigger. Add on to one of the ends about the same size you made. If it's and adult, it will need much bigger.

 

[sarahandshelldon]

Hello, welcome to the forum.

Ok so, don't get too upset, but pretty much everything you've been told is probably wrong. What we are going to tell you is only in the best interests of the Tortoise.

Dr. Google = Dr. Kevorkian, so stop using him.

1) that water dish is a death trap, remove it ASAP. you can use a plain terra cotta saucers sunk down into the substrate
2) those plants are probably laced with pesticides and should also be removed ASAP. The KINDS of plants may be fine, but unless you grow them from seed yourself, or give them many months to work the pesticides out of them, they are toxic. Also for a box that size, that many plants means it has no walkaround space. The solution is you need a bigger box, but get rid of the plants at the moment, too. Give it other kinds of things to hide under.
3) No idea what kind of tortoise you have (you don't mention it in your post and I don't see it in the photo) but whatever it is, your space is either too small (if an adult) or needs to be fully enclosed chamber (if a baby). Despite what Dr. Google says, tortoises need a LOT of room and cannot be kept in a fishtank or 2 x 3 box
4) Not sure what that black box is in the top corner?
5) What is your light and heat setup?
6) Soak in water ONLY (there are exceptions if tortoise is sick, but for regular soaking its just water). I try to keep it around 95 degrees.


What kind of tortoise is it, how old did they tell you it was, and where did you get it? Can you provide photos of the tortoise?

Again so sorry this is NOT the info you want to hear, please don't take this as a personal attack. You, like almost everyone else out there, was given info that is good for salespeople, but not actually good for tortoises...

Read this link: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/info-for-new-people-please-read-this-first.202363/#post-2036954 its really long and dense but the best place to start.

Hi! Thank you so much for responding, I appreciate the honesty and the feedback! I read that link and realized that I did do most of the things wrong lol… i’ll remove the plants for sure. I have a russian tortoise, he’s about 4 inches long. According to Petco where I got him he’s a few weeks old. my habitat i built is about 36 by 24 inches. I figure it would be big enough for him for now. i will work on making a bigger one. in the mean time once i remove the plants he’ll have more space to move around. The black box is a water mister that has a timer, i’ve been using it since i put his box outside to increase the humidity. however after reading tom’s forum i’m not going to keep him outside anymore and instead i’m going to move him inside and only take him outside for 3-4 hours a day when i have time. I have a UV light bulb set up on top of the screen topper of his terrarium. I’m ordering incandescent flood bulbs off amazon like Tom’s forum had said to as well as a timer lamp. If you have any recommendations for how to make the enclosure bigger i’m all ears, I really don’t want to have a glass enclosure (this is an old book case i converted into the terrarium). Dimensions would suffice as well (i.e. 3 feet by 4 feet long or something like that) so if i decide to build a new one i know how big to make it. Thank you!

 

[sarahandshelldon]

Hi and welcome to the forum! Please let us see your tortoise?

He’s about the size of my hand

 

[sarahandshelldon]

Hello and Welcome. We need more info to help you further.
Species,temps, age/size of tort, light bulbs using exactly and type of heat you are using
The enclosure needs to be bigger. Add on to one of the ends about the same size you made. If it's and adult, it will need much bigger.

Hi! He’s a russian tortoise, pet store said a few weeks old, he’s about 4 inches long. I have a UV bulb in place right now but I ordered incandescent flood bulbs off amazon and some heat lamps. Those should be coming tomorrow. Is this enough of a heat source for an indoor enclosure? also how big do you recommend the enclosure to be?

 

[wellington]

Chain pet stores sell adults, likely wild caught. Yours is an adult and they tell everyone they are under a year old
He needs a minimum of a 4x8 foot enclosure. 30-50% humidity. Hopefully an outdoor enclosure for the warm months.
If you can get him outside a few times a week or 24/7 you don't need a uvb light
The incandescent flood bulb needs to reach temps of 95-100 at tort level.

 

[sarahandshelldon]

Chain pet stores sell adults, likely wild caught. Yours is an adult and they tell everyone they are under a year old
He needs a minimum of a 4x8 foot enclosure. 30-50% humidity. Hopefully an outdoor enclosure for the warm months.
If you can get him outside a few times a week or 24/7 you don't need a uvb light
The incandescent flood bulb needs to reach temps of 95-100 at tort level.

I live in North Carolina so it is very humid and warm here from now until end of september. I had his enclosure outdoors up until I read that forum from Tom then i moved it inside because I was nervous he would be spending too much time outside. I’m getting confused because I feel like I read one thing somewhere and then the opposite somewhere else. So can I keep him outside 24/7? or do I only bring him outside a few hours a day like the forum says to and keep him inside with the 65watt incandescent flood lights? please help.

 

[wellington]

I live in North Carolina so it is very humid and warm here from now until end of september. I had his enclosure outdoors up until I read that forum from Tom then i moved it inside because I was nervous he would be spending too much time outside. I’m getting confused because I feel like I read one thing somewhere and then the opposite somewhere else. So can I keep him outside 24/7? or do I only bring him outside a few hours a day like the forum says to and keep him inside with the 65watt incandescent flood lights? please help.

This forum told you to not house him outside? Babies should not be housed outside because they need the control of high humidity and proper temps and even in a high humidity location, this is hard to achieve unless controlled indoors. Adults however is different
All tortoises should live outside as adults whenever possible
As long as you can build him an outside enclosure that he can't climb or dig out of yes, get him outside. Be sure there is lots of shade. In the winter when it's too cold, then you can either house him inside or brumate him.

 

[wellington]

Be sure when you are reading different threads and posts, that you are reading what is right for your species and the age of your species
Seeing you thought you had a baby, the info of keeping him indoors with short trips outside is correct
You have an adult and so the care is different.

 

[sarahandshelldon]

Be sure when you are reading different threads and posts, that you are reading what is right for your species and the age of your species
Seeing you thought you had a baby, the info of keeping him indoors with short trips outside is correct
You have an adult and so the care is different.

Okay thank you, so I can keep him outside in his enclosure while I work on building a bigger one for him. Do you have any recommendations for an enclosure? what do you have for your tortoises? thanks so much

 

[wellington]

I have two leopards and a Russian all adults. They each have a big table in a heated shed for winter and they all live outside in their own fenced in area during spring to fall.
Look into pop up greenhouses and raised garden beds for inside
Dog runs or chicken runs can be used for outside.

 

[sarahandshelldon]

I have two leopards and a Russian all adults. They each have a big table in a heated shed for winter and they all live outside in their own fenced in area during spring to fall.
Look into pop up greenhouses and raised garden beds for inside
Dog runs or chicken runs can be used for outside.

that’s a great idea thank you so much! do you think a 6 feet by 3 feet would be okay rather than a 8 feet x 4 feet? if my tort is an adult than he is full grown? i know russian tortoises only get to be around 6-8 inches long

 

[wellington]

that’s a great idea thank you so much! do you think a 6 feet by 3 feet would be okay rather than a 8 feet x 4 feet? if my tort is an adult than he is full grown? i know russian tortoises only get to be around 6-8 inches long

He may be full grown but he may also still grow. It's hard to say not knowing the conditions he loved in before you. Poor care stunts growth until proper care is then given.
In the wild Russians roam a very big area for their smaller size. If you can go bigger, it would be best. Some people that can't go bigger will add a second level with a ramp to get more room

 

[sarahandshelldon]

He may be full grown but he may also still grow. It's hard to say not knowing the conditions he loved in before you. Poor care stunts growth until proper care is then given.
In the wild Russians roam a very big area for their smaller size. If you can go bigger, it would be best. Some people that can't go bigger will add a second level with a ramp to get more room

I really appreciate your help, thank you so much and i will keep y’all posted on what i end up doing!

 

[SinLA]

Yes if you thought you had a baby Russian I can see why you would misread the post. You absolutely 100% have a wild caught fully adult Russian. when you get a chance show us a photo of his backside and tail to confirm it’s a boy but based on the size it probably is.

You can keep him in that box for now until you get things sorted but he will need more space. When I first got mine he lived in 2‘ x 6‘ space for a few weeks until I got my outdoor enclosure built.

You can get about six of those Tortoise houses and string them together and you get pretty close to what you would need for their space indoors, but that is a bit of an investment. Just so you have a frame of reference here is my set up.

The good news is Russians are fairly hearty and fairly forgiving so you have some time to get things right. You definitely want to get rid of the plants and the water dish because that is instant problems, but you have a little bit of breathing room to get everything else right.

what are you feeding him?

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Another option for indoor enclosure, cheaper than Tortoise house is raised garden beds. I like this one, if you have space: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/best-alternative-to-pvc.212443/#post-2107545
(it was "Lifetime" brand, if I'm not mistaken, pair of 4x4 garden beds was around 100 bucks). The only drawback is that you need somekind of flooring underside. Like a sheet of plywood with a tarp.

 

[Tom]

Hello and welcome. Good advice from everyone so far.

Congrats on the new tortoise. It will likely take at least a few days for the tortoise to settle in and start eating good.

The basking light is a must, but what type of UV bulb did they sell you?

Questions and conversation are welcome!