New tortoise mom!

[grandmasteroogway01]

Hi all, looking for some feedback! My boyfriend surprised me with this beautiful babe! Firstly, looks like a Russian tortoise, was labeled as testudo so just confirming it's a Russian? Wondering if you guys might have an idea of age? If old enough, I can tell if female or male, right? It weighs 11 oz. Depending the age I guess, how often to do feed? Is it more or less in the summer/winter? I'm in Wisconsin so I can't bring it outside yet! Also, does it's shell look dry? The temp on her slate is 85-90 for about 8-10 hours a day, then the lamp gets turned off. All suggestions and advice is appreciated!!! I have so many questions, just want to give me baby the best and most healthiest life

 

[zovick]

Hi all, looking for some feedback! My boyfriend surprised me with this beautiful babe! Firstly, looks like a Russian tortoise, was labeled as testudo so just confirming it's a Russian? Wondering if you guys might have an idea of age? If old enough, I can tell if female or male, right? It weighs 11 oz. Depending the age I guess, how often to do feed? Is it more or less in the summer/winter? I'm in Wisconsin so I can't bring it outside yet! Also, does it's shell look dry? The temp on her slate is 85-90 for about 8-10 hours a day, then the lamp gets turned off. All suggestions and advice is appreciated!!! I have so many questions, just want to give me baby the best and most healthiest life

It does appear to be a Russian Tortoise about 12-15 years old or so. From what I am able to see in the photo taken from the rear of the tortoise, the tail looks small, so it is most likely a female, but we could tell the sex with more certainty if you posted pix of the bottom shell and the tail area.

Feed it all it will eat daily. Remember that in the wild, these tortoises brumate in winter, so its appetite may decrease over the next month or two.

 

[grandmasteroogway01]

It does appear to be a Russian Tortoise about 12-15 years old or so. From what I am able to see in the photo taken from the rear of the tortoise, the tail looks small, so it is most likely a female, but we could tell the sex with more certainty if you posted pix of the bottom shell and the tail area.

Feed it all it will eat daily. Remember that in the wild, these tortoises brumate in winter, so its appetite may decrease over the next month or two.

Thank you!! Any suggestions on the shell? Why it looks so rough? I mist her 1-3 times a day and give her a daily soak!

 

[Tom]

Hi all, looking for some feedback! My boyfriend surprised me with this beautiful babe! Firstly, looks like a Russian tortoise, was labeled as testudo so just confirming it's a Russian? Wondering if you guys might have an idea of age? If old enough, I can tell if female or male, right? It weighs 11 oz. Depending the age I guess, how often to do feed? Is it more or less in the summer/winter? I'm in Wisconsin so I can't bring it outside yet! Also, does it's shell look dry? The temp on her slate is 85-90 for about 8-10 hours a day, then the lamp gets turned off. All suggestions and advice is appreciated!!! I have so many questions, just want to give me baby the best and most healthiest life

Hello and welcome.

The shell looks normal for the species. Nothing to worry about there.

Since you are not brumating the tortoise, the lights need to be on for at least 12 hours a day, and I would bump it to 14 to prevent the tortoise from wanting to brumate.

Daily soaks are for little hatchlings. It's also good to soak any new tortoise every day for a couple of weeks in case it was dehydrated before you got it. Daily soaks won't harm anything if you want to continue that way, but it isn't "necessary" for an adult. Once or twice a week is good enough under normal circumstances for a Russian.

Check this out for helpful info on diet and a breakdown of the lighting:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

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[Anastasia 22]

Hello and welcome!

 

[grandmasteroogway01]

Hello and welcome.

The shell looks normal for the species. Nothing to worry about there.

Since you are not brumating the tortoise, the lights need to be on for at least 12 hours a day, and I would bump it to 14 to prevent the tortoise from wanting to brumate.

Daily soaks are for little hatchlings. It's also good to soak any new tortoise every day for a couple of weeks in case it was dehydrated before you got it. Daily soaks won't harm anything if you want to continue that way, but it isn't "necessary" for an adult. Once or twice a week is good enough under normal circumstances for a Russian.

Check this out for helpful info on diet and a breakdown of the lighting:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

Thanks so much, Tom!! I wasn't sure how often to soak because she seems to only poop when we do baths. Maybe because it's her routine now? I'll be reading more of that article you shared later today. I have a list of good things written down! Appreciate your help!

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

Thanks so much, Tom!! I wasn't sure how often to soak because she seems to only poop when we do baths. Maybe because it's her routine now? I'll be reading more of that article you shared later today. I have a list of good things written down! Appreciate your help!

Soaking ever day does no harm, especially if you are worried about her not drinking on her own.

 

[grandmasteroogway01]

Soaking ever day does no harm, especially if you are worried about her not drinking on her own.

Yeah she likes to drink when I soak her other than that she doesn't drink much from what I can tell!

 

[grandmasteroogway01]

Thank you!! Any suggestions on the shell? Why it looks so rough? I mist her 1-3 times a day and give her a daily soak!

 

[grandmasteroogway01]

It does appear to be a Russian Tortoise about 12-15 years old or so. From what I am able to see in the photo taken from the rear of the tortoise, the tail looks small, so it is most likely a female, but we could tell the sex with more certainty if you posted pix of the bottom shell and the tail area.

Feed it all it will eat daily. Remember that in the wild, these tortoises brumate in winter, so its appetite may decrease over the next month or two.

It does appear to be a Russian Tortoise about 12-15 years old or so. From what I am able to see in the photo taken from the rear of the tortoise, the tail looks small, so it is most likely a female, but we could tell the sex with more certainty if you posted pix of the bottom shell and the tail area.

Feed it all it will eat daily. Remember that in the wild, these tortoises brumate in winter, so its appetite may decrease over the next month or two.

Based on this picture, it looks like a female? Does that sound about right!

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Based on this picture, it looks like a female? Does that sound about right!

You have an adult female Russian tortoiseshe’s a cutie! Glad you’ve made your way here! There’s a lot of misinformation out there, you can’t go wrong on the forum!

Basking temperature directly under the bulb needs to be reaching 95-100f. For a basking bulb you want an incandescent floodlight.

First up id suggest giving this thread a look over to double check you’re using the correct bulb types etc, it covers correct equipment(uvb, basking bulb, lighting etc), levels, sizing, appropriately maintaining the humidity, safe substrates, there’s lots of visual examples for everything and a really handy diet link to check out! During winter I’d up basking and ambient lighting time to 14hrs instead of 12.

Housing adult Russian and Hermans indoors

Hello there! In this thread I’m going to include some information an example of an appropriate indoor set up for an older Herman/russian. As much as it’s encouraged to have tortoises in a safe outdoor enclosure, I understand being from the uk myself, that some climates make it difficult to...

tortoiseforum.org

This includes some inspiration for an adult set up both indoors and out

Enclosure inspiration

Howdy folks! Hope everyone is well! As you all know, I’m a big fan of making threads that cater more towards visual learners like myself, I’ve really been wanting to create a thread full of adult enclosure inspiration for a while now, I’ve managed to find some great references over time! I do...

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Lastly, probably the most important, this one is also really good to familiarise yourself with, it’ll help you avoid the wrong bulbs, substrates, housing etc, I always encourage double checking purchases on the forum too before buying

Common keeping errors

Hello everyone! I’d been a long time lurker on this site long before joining just under a year ago now, over that time I’ve seen these husbandry issues come up time and time again, sometimes with dire consequences☹️ I thought this thread might serve as a good visual guide for these common...

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Hope they help! Always happy to try and answer any further questions once you’ve read them, welcome to the forum!

 

[zovick]

Based on this picture, it looks like a female? Does that sound about right!

Yes, it looks like a female. Good luck with her.