Hello I am hoping for advice from the experts here.
I am a long-term dog/cat rescuer, but no experience with reptiles, tho I have a neighbor with a rescue desert tortoise and always thought if the circumstance presented itself I would consider getting a tortoise myself. welp, I was recently contacted by a friend who had an elderly neighbor who needed to find homes for their woefully neglected tortoises. They were living wild in their backyard in Culver City, an area of Los Angeles. It was two Russian tortoises and a red foot. The Russians were originally acquired from a pet store I’m not sure where they got the red foot. They got them about three years ago, though I don’t have much more information than that. They‘ve had very little care in the last 6-10 months - no external heat, and just Spring mix greens and veggies occasionally tossed their way, plus wet dog food for the red foot. One of the Russians “disappeared”. Long story short, we got the owner to agree to give them up, and thru networking I got a great home right away for the red foot with an experienced owner.
I have taken in the Russian (about 4.5” long male) and I would very much like to give him a successful home and have done a lot of research but I am still struggling with creating the best solution for him. I’ve had him a couple of days now and until I can get a proper set up built he is in a commercial tortoise box (24”x40”) in my insulated garage. I have both a heat lamp and a UV lamp, but the cage also gets direct sunlight if I open up my garage door during the day. So far he seems to hate sunlight, always moves out of the sun into the hide area. I live in the Valley so I know it can get hot, but at the moment when he has access to sunlight it’s morning light and not very hot, even in direct sun 70s or 80s at most, but definitely hotter than the area of LA he used to live in. But nothing near the high temperatures he’s “supposed” to want to bask in. He does sit under the heat lamp tho, which is about 78-80 degrees. So I don’t know if im cooking him, or he just needs to adjust to a warmer climate than he’s used to.
Second, he definitely has not adjusted to the transition well, which as you can imagine was traumatic for him. He was SUPER stressed on the drive, apparently. Going crazy frenetic, pooping a ton, even bubbling at the mouth at one point. Now he’s not OVERTLY stressed, but He seems pretty grumpy, not very active, he’s eating a little bit, but not much. I think he is clearly missing his large garden. I know the space he is in currently is too small for him permanently, that said, I don’t know how long he can live in this small enclosure until I get something larger built for him (any advice on how long he can be in this smaller space is appreciated.)
I did bring him by my vet - who is NOT an exotic vet - but has some tortoise clients , he said he seemed overall healthy, but again not an expert. i think if he was in very poor health my vet would have seen it. I can’t say that means he’s he great healthy but I don’t think he’s in bad shape. (We did send a poop sample to the lab, waiting on results).
I have a couple of options for where to build him an enclosure, but I keep second guessing myself as to if it’s too hot and sunny… he’s never going to have a “giant” garden free reign with me as it’s not safe from predators, but I could give him a good 4x8’ “tortoise table” outside that would be super sunny (too sunny, too hot??) but enclosed from Predators; or walled in garden section on natural grass/lawn, but without as much sun and mostly not enclosed from the top. I had been thinking sun was better, but maybe not… maybe that’s too hot? also I’m not sure how long it will take before I can get the new space built.
In sum, I want to make sure I’m not causing him true harm in his current situation. I’d hate myself if I’m the cause of him dying a slow death from my ignorance.
any advice or suggestions would be appreciated!
-E
I am a long-term dog/cat rescuer, but no experience with reptiles, tho I have a neighbor with a rescue desert tortoise and always thought if the circumstance presented itself I would consider getting a tortoise myself. welp, I was recently contacted by a friend who had an elderly neighbor who needed to find homes for their woefully neglected tortoises. They were living wild in their backyard in Culver City, an area of Los Angeles. It was two Russian tortoises and a red foot. The Russians were originally acquired from a pet store I’m not sure where they got the red foot. They got them about three years ago, though I don’t have much more information than that. They‘ve had very little care in the last 6-10 months - no external heat, and just Spring mix greens and veggies occasionally tossed their way, plus wet dog food for the red foot. One of the Russians “disappeared”. Long story short, we got the owner to agree to give them up, and thru networking I got a great home right away for the red foot with an experienced owner.
I have taken in the Russian (about 4.5” long male) and I would very much like to give him a successful home and have done a lot of research but I am still struggling with creating the best solution for him. I’ve had him a couple of days now and until I can get a proper set up built he is in a commercial tortoise box (24”x40”) in my insulated garage. I have both a heat lamp and a UV lamp, but the cage also gets direct sunlight if I open up my garage door during the day. So far he seems to hate sunlight, always moves out of the sun into the hide area. I live in the Valley so I know it can get hot, but at the moment when he has access to sunlight it’s morning light and not very hot, even in direct sun 70s or 80s at most, but definitely hotter than the area of LA he used to live in. But nothing near the high temperatures he’s “supposed” to want to bask in. He does sit under the heat lamp tho, which is about 78-80 degrees. So I don’t know if im cooking him, or he just needs to adjust to a warmer climate than he’s used to.
Second, he definitely has not adjusted to the transition well, which as you can imagine was traumatic for him. He was SUPER stressed on the drive, apparently. Going crazy frenetic, pooping a ton, even bubbling at the mouth at one point. Now he’s not OVERTLY stressed, but He seems pretty grumpy, not very active, he’s eating a little bit, but not much. I think he is clearly missing his large garden. I know the space he is in currently is too small for him permanently, that said, I don’t know how long he can live in this small enclosure until I get something larger built for him (any advice on how long he can be in this smaller space is appreciated.)
I did bring him by my vet - who is NOT an exotic vet - but has some tortoise clients , he said he seemed overall healthy, but again not an expert. i think if he was in very poor health my vet would have seen it. I can’t say that means he’s he great healthy but I don’t think he’s in bad shape. (We did send a poop sample to the lab, waiting on results).
I have a couple of options for where to build him an enclosure, but I keep second guessing myself as to if it’s too hot and sunny… he’s never going to have a “giant” garden free reign with me as it’s not safe from predators, but I could give him a good 4x8’ “tortoise table” outside that would be super sunny (too sunny, too hot??) but enclosed from Predators; or walled in garden section on natural grass/lawn, but without as much sun and mostly not enclosed from the top. I had been thinking sun was better, but maybe not… maybe that’s too hot? also I’m not sure how long it will take before I can get the new space built.
In sum, I want to make sure I’m not causing him true harm in his current situation. I’d hate myself if I’m the cause of him dying a slow death from my ignorance.
any advice or suggestions would be appreciated!
-E
Attachments
Last edited:
