New to the game

[Hollymacd63]

I adopted a Russian from my niece. She has had him for 8 years. I determined he is a mature Male. He has a turtle table. He was pretty sluggish with swollen eyes when I first brought him home. Today he is active, enjoyed his soaks, his eyes are now open….he is curious and interactive. His basking spot is 90-95 degrees, at night he burrows into his cypress mulch. I’m just concerned he isn’t super healthy. I need to get a hygrometer because I believe he does not and has not had the right humidity. His table is home made. See pictures.
He has been enjoying dandelion greens, romaine, kale as well as Mazuri 5M21 one or two times a week. He has also previously been treated to a random strawberry and bell peppers.

Any and all advice is welcome.

 

[wellington]

He needs a 4x8 foot enclosure. The one he is in is way too small, stressful and will not give him enough room to roam and keep his muscle strength.
The overall temp should be 75-80 during the day and brightly lit seeing he is not brumating. 70 temps for night.
A tube florescent for uvb and an incandescent flood bulb for basking. Ceramic heat emitter for night heat.
30-50% humidity.
Do not feed fruit, their gut can't handle it. Add more items to his diet. Arugula, water cress, endive, ridicchio, a long with any edible weeds you can get.

 

[Hollymacd63]

He needs a 4x8 foot enclosure. The one he is in is way too small, stressful and will not give him enough room to roam and keep his muscle strength.
The overall temp should be 75-80 during the day and brightly lit seeing he is not brumating. 70 temps for night.
A tube florescent for uvb and an incandescent flood bulb for basking. Ceramic heat emitter for night heat.
30-50% humidity.
Do not feed fruit, their gut can't handle it. Add more items to his diet. Arugula, water cress, endive, ridicchio, a long with any edible weeds you can get.

He is getting a new table that is much larger, presently being built and I have researched plants that aren't toxic and plan to use a reptisoil base with the cypress mulch topper, this way I can plant some plants in his new enclosure. I've read that they don't love change so I was thinking of doing it all at once. New table, New plants and new substrate all at once. Its only my first week with him so I will be sure to add other greens.

Silly question but how do I know if my tortoise is "stressed"????

 

[wellington]

Can't really always tell if they are stressed. Sometimes they will keep pacing the walls or climbing trying to get out. The biggest thing is knowing what would stress them. Like too small of an enclosure. Being housed in pairs. Being too hot or too cold. All stressful besides dangerous.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

He is getting a new table that is much larger, presently being built and I have researched plants that aren't toxic and plan to use a reptisoil base with the cypress mulch topper, this way I can plant some plants in his new enclosure. I've read that they don't love change so I was thinking of doing it all at once. New table, New plants and new substrate all at once. Its only my first week with him so I will be sure to add other greens.

Silly question but how do I know if my tortoise is "stressed"????

Hello!

This guy is definitely getting a better care, than he had before. Thank you!

Non-potted plants in the enclosure usually die within a week: stomped, chewed and torn to pieces. Plant care is the thing I've overlooked myself: they need to be fertilized from time to type (if they survive, of course), not all plants do well in constantly wet and packed soil.

So I would not mix cypress mulch with soil and go with potted ones (whatever option you like: wall mounted, hanging pots, buried in substrate, substrate/soil zoning).

 

[TechnoCheese]

Welcome to the forum! Thank you for taking this guy in.

 

[Sarah2020]

Welcome, thanks for taking in this shelled warrior. You seem to have kicked off with the right ideas soak, toothbrush, attention etc .. Stress is normally seen by pacing and endless stretching up to escape. If your new enclosure has a window then tape up the first 4 or 5 inches to avoid it seeing out. Russians are escape artists so if you put it somewhere double check for escape routes. In summer if you have a garden make an outside enclosure with wire underneath the substrate and high walls! They love basking in the sun but shade must be provided. Ask questions and enjoy it. The tortoise has new growth but is pyramiding so try to aim for slow smooth growth. Calcium will help shell, beak and claw growth. If beak is over hanging visit a local reptile shop for claw and beak trim. Enjoy

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[Hollymacd63]

Roswell has been eating a ton and was probably chronically dehydrated. Found a turd in his enclosure this am and he did another during his soak. We seem to have a daily pattern. After soaking, he basks for a minute or two and then heads for his bowl and waits for me to fill it up and then goes to town. I feel like he still looks dehydrated even with daily soaks. His food intake is increasing and his active periods as well. One time he did pass a huge urates (if that’s the correct use of that term ) and now these are the first two bowel movements.

I guess I want to know how often all this “business” should be happening and when I should get worried? I’m just kinda keeping a diary because I don’t really know what to look out for in terms of impaction and such.

I want to plant seeds and grow broadleaf mix I bought but I’m not sure what I can use for soil. I was reading that straight coco coir is great for this and then Roswell could graze the plants safely in his enclosure for some natural grazing of live plants. He hasn’t really touched his calcium block except to crawl over it like a stepping stone and the topper puts him off the greens but it’s alllll store bought for me this year as I just ended up with Roz.

I like in New England. Weather permitting and I’m too afraid that I could find the wrong thing. Has anyone used coco coir for growing grazing plants? And I’ll attach a pic of the specific one I got. And what about this grass growing kit?? Thanks!