xBapes
Active Member
Hi everyone,
Just wanted to introduce myself and my Russian tortoise, Stoli (like the Russian vodka ). I recently "rescued" him from Petco around the corner from my apartment. I normally don't support pet shop sales, especially after the video PETA surfaced about Reptiles by Mack that PetSmart involves themselves with. I just saw the little guy and felt absolutely terrible for him. He is my first Tortoise, as I usually have head other desert species like Beardies and leopard geckos. I've had a few aquatic turtles as well. So far he's been very healthy but I am taking him to the vet (in May) I take my dog to, who also specializes in exotics and birds just to make sure everything is ok. I started him out in a 40 gallon glass aquarium, but after research through these forums and others I found it was unsuitable since they couldn't tell where the glass was and would run into the panes. I decided to buy the tortoise house for Zoomed and am working to buy a second one to enlarge his habitat. He doesn't like any vegetable mixture but absolutely loves kale, but I mix it with collard greens, red dandelion, and swiss chard for variety. I add a couple pellets of Zoomed Tortoise Grassland formula for additional fiber and dust his food on Wednesdays and Saturdays with Rep-Cal calcium supplement. I decided to go with a substrate mixture of coir and play sand (70/30 or 60/40)to mimic what he live on in the wild. Yes, I understand the risks and how most people feel about any sand and the thought of impaction but I also feed from a dish and have some fist rocks around his food dish. I bought a couple of the potting plant bases to use as a water and food dishes. I recently placed a tortoise block in good enclosure in case he wants to file that break down. He burrows under his log hide at night and basks under his light most of the day. The humidity stays around 40-50% during the day and slightly increases to 60% at night. Ive been using the Zilla Slim Line Tropical T8 for UVB. I thought of the Powersun bulb but I've heard so many negative reviews. Once I buy the other addition to the enclosure, my goal is to add a ramp so he can climb a little, and some additional hides. My grandfather is currently building a couple custom stands for the enclosures before I buy the second house.
All has been well with Stoli so far. I love the little guy. He's definitely different than any other reptile I've owned before. If you guys have any suggestions on new hides, climbs, food, lighting etc.. Please feel free to reply, I'm very open to getting his care as perfect as I can. So, nice to meet you all!
[/IMG]
Just wanted to introduce myself and my Russian tortoise, Stoli (like the Russian vodka ). I recently "rescued" him from Petco around the corner from my apartment. I normally don't support pet shop sales, especially after the video PETA surfaced about Reptiles by Mack that PetSmart involves themselves with. I just saw the little guy and felt absolutely terrible for him. He is my first Tortoise, as I usually have head other desert species like Beardies and leopard geckos. I've had a few aquatic turtles as well. So far he's been very healthy but I am taking him to the vet (in May) I take my dog to, who also specializes in exotics and birds just to make sure everything is ok. I started him out in a 40 gallon glass aquarium, but after research through these forums and others I found it was unsuitable since they couldn't tell where the glass was and would run into the panes. I decided to buy the tortoise house for Zoomed and am working to buy a second one to enlarge his habitat. He doesn't like any vegetable mixture but absolutely loves kale, but I mix it with collard greens, red dandelion, and swiss chard for variety. I add a couple pellets of Zoomed Tortoise Grassland formula for additional fiber and dust his food on Wednesdays and Saturdays with Rep-Cal calcium supplement. I decided to go with a substrate mixture of coir and play sand (70/30 or 60/40)to mimic what he live on in the wild. Yes, I understand the risks and how most people feel about any sand and the thought of impaction but I also feed from a dish and have some fist rocks around his food dish. I bought a couple of the potting plant bases to use as a water and food dishes. I recently placed a tortoise block in good enclosure in case he wants to file that break down. He burrows under his log hide at night and basks under his light most of the day. The humidity stays around 40-50% during the day and slightly increases to 60% at night. Ive been using the Zilla Slim Line Tropical T8 for UVB. I thought of the Powersun bulb but I've heard so many negative reviews. Once I buy the other addition to the enclosure, my goal is to add a ramp so he can climb a little, and some additional hides. My grandfather is currently building a couple custom stands for the enclosures before I buy the second house.
All has been well with Stoli so far. I love the little guy. He's definitely different than any other reptile I've owned before. If you guys have any suggestions on new hides, climbs, food, lighting etc.. Please feel free to reply, I'm very open to getting his care as perfect as I can. So, nice to meet you all!