New to this

[NewTortMomma]

Hi, my son will be getting a Russian for his birthday and I'm having a hard time trying to get all the info I've been looking at straight, I've read so much in the last 6 hrs that it's almost to much. Now I'll probably be the one doing most of everything until he's out of school for the summer I need to know; does the tort need a routine, a bath, a scheduled feeding time, I know they will need basking time but for how long, and is there a good site where I can get a good idea for a enclosure, he'll be an indoor tort for the most part, does it need to hibernate, it's almost to much but my son has been reading and asking and getting ready for this since last summer when he rescued a wild one, so please help me out??

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi NewTortMomma:

Just calm down and take deep breaths! Its not as hard as you're making it.

Its always nice for there to be a routine about your tortoise-keeping, but its really not a necessity.

The soaking depends upon how big the tortoise is, adult or baby. Because we keep them under lights and heat, babies dry out (dehydrate) quicker than bigger tortoises, so babies need to be soaked every day. Adult tortoises seem to get by ok with just a waterer in the habitat...something they can climb into.

In the wild, tortoises usually come out in the morning, sit in the sun and get warmed up, then they wander over the land, walking, eating, walking, eating. So turn the lights on as soon as you get up, then in an hour or so, place the food in the habitat.

Take a look at russiantort.org. The fellow that keeps that site raises Russian tortoises and gives out pretty good information. But, feel free to come back here any time and ask questions.