Newbie with questions.

allisonsmegatron

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Joined
Feb 11, 2014
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2
Hey everyone!

Im new to this tortoise thing, we're dog people. We found ours on our wedding day! His name is Megatron and he is a Russian.


I have questions, so if any of you could answer these, so find the links to a forum that would be great!

How much should I be feeding him? Hes about 7 inches from head to tail. We have been feeding him romaine lettuce, and when we can find dandelion he will get that too. Usually we give him one large leaf. Could I be over feeding him? Im noticing the rear of his shell starting to curl a little bit.

My second question...substrate.

He lives in a large rubbermaid bin. I use 50/50 Coconut coir/sand. I have a little half log so he can burrow under, water dish and a food dish.

My question...I am having a hard time keeping it moist. I live in Northern NY. I spray it down with a spray bottle everyday but the humitidty cant get above 20%. Im thinking of taking the lid and cutting it so I have a spot for the lamp and the rest would be covered....will it get too hot for him?


Thanks for taking the time to read this!
 

Yvonne G

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Hi Allison, and welcome to the Forum!!

Because your tortoise is full grown, he doesn't need the humidity you've been reading about. That's for baby tortoises. You really don't need to spray down the substrate. Just pour some water in a corner so it floods across the bottom underneath to moisten the bottom and let the top layer stay dry.

I put a big pile of food on the feeding tile once a day. I try to have enough so that there's some he can go back to throughout the day. What's left over tomorrow I just toss.

If you measured your tortoise in a straight line from front to back, then at 7", your tortoise might be female. Can we see a picture of the bottom including the tail?

Here's a good site for you to get a diet plan for your tortoise:

http://russiantortoise.net/russiantortoisediet.htm
 

allisonsmegatron

New Member
Joined
Feb 11, 2014
Messages
2
Ok. I read that if its too dry it will irritate their eyes. Should I still soak him? I worried that if I put water in the corner it wont reach across. I measured again from the front to the back of his shell and its 6 inches.

Feeding...so a few leafs of lettuce in the morning and what ever is left over just toss...ok!

So heres photos of him, the curling Im worried about and his enclosure.



Yvonne G said:
Hi Allison, and welcome to the Forum!!

Because your tortoise is full grown, he doesn't need the humidity you've been reading about. That's for baby tortoises. You really don't need to spray down the substrate. Just pour some water in a corner so it floods across the bottom underneath to moisten the bottom and let the top layer stay dry.

I put a big pile of food on the feeding tile once a day. I try to have enough so that there's some he can go back to throughout the day. What's left over tomorrow I just toss.

If you measured your tortoise in a straight line from front to back, then at 7", your tortoise might be female. Can we see a picture of the bottom including the tail?

Here's a good site for you to get a diet plan for your tortoise:

http://russiantortoise.net/russiantortoisediet.htm
 

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Tom

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Lettuce is not a great food, and those water bowls are literally death traps.

Its all in the care sheet...
 

mike taylor

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That disk type humidity gauge is probably your problem with humidity . They are useless they never read right . You can go to tortoise table .uk and get a good list of foods. Here is a picture of a good meter for ten dollars at Home Depot .
 

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