Our new tortoise Dexter

[Hollywood gjp]

Here's Dexter ! We got him last night . He's 8 mth old and just lovely . We gave him his first bath tonight . He doesn't appear to eat a lot but I'm changing his food every day to give him choice . Plenty of poos .
We're moving him into the living room on a night to protect him from the cold and putting him back in the conservatory during the day .

 

[Gillian M]

Hi @Hollywood gjp and a very warm welcome to the forum.

A cute tort. GOD bless.

Kindly note that torts do NOT like change. Moving your tort back and forth may irritate him.

Please read the "Beginners Mistakes" Thread and the care sheets available. There's a lot of useful info.

Any pics of his enclosure?

Where do you live and what's the weather like back there nowadays?

 

[Hollywood gjp]

Hi @Hollywood gjp and a very warm welcome to the forum.

A cute tort. GOD bless.

Kindly note that torts do NOT like change. Moving your tort back and forth may irritate him.

Please read the "Beginners Mistakes" Thread and the care sheets available. There's a lot of useful info.

Any pics of his enclosure?

Where do you live and what's the weather like back there nowadays?

We're only moving him because it's too cold in the conservatory over night at the moment , he'll stay in there from the spring. I'll attach a pic of his enclosure

 

[Gillian M]

We're only moving him because it's too cold in the conservatory over night at the moment , he'll stay in there from the spring. I'll attach a pic of his enclosure

Oh, sorry. I seem to have misunderstood you. I thought that you meant your are moving him back and forth daily. Are you?

 

[cmacusa3]

We're only moving him because it's too cold in the conservatory over night at the moment , he'll stay in there from the spring. I'll attach a pic of his enclosure

I move mine from inside to outside all the time with zero issues. I've never had one that had to adjust

 

[Gillian M]

I move mine from inside to outside all the time with zero issues. I've never had one that had to adjust

You are lucky, and so is your tort.

 

[cmacusa3]

You are lucky, and so is your tort.

I've never experienced this with any tort or turtles. And I have around 30 total.

Guess I'm extremely lucky

 

[Hollywood gjp]

Oh, sorry. I seem to have misunderstood you. I thought that you meant your are moving him back and forth daily. Are you?

Yes we are but it's literally a few steps from one room straight into the other

 

[Gillian M]

I've never experienced this with any tort or turtles. And I have around 30 total.

Guess I'm extremely lucky

Very lucky.

 

[TammyJ]

I feel SO very lucky to have found this wonderful site!!! Luckier than anyone else.

Anyway, I live in Jamaica in the hills and I can put my torts outside just about every day all year round. They come back in in the evening before 5 p.m. They have absolutely no complaints so far....luckily.

 

[Big Charlie]

Yes we are but it's literally a few steps from one room straight into the other

You mean you are moving his entire enclosure, not changing his environment? That shouldn't bother him.
Is that a coil uvb bulb? Those aren't good for their eyes. Are you providing any heat inside his enclosure?

 

[Hollywood gjp]

We're moving his whole enclosure . Yes it's a coil one and yes he has a heat bulb aswell

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Dexter's a darling, lovely tortoise.
Congratulations.
But you need to replace the coiled bulb.
Use either a UVB tube plus your basking bulb, or an MVB which provides heat, light and UVB in one.

 

[GingerLove]

Dexter is ADORABLE!!!!!!!!!! Russians are just so darn cute! That looks like a lovely indoor enclosure!!! I love the sunny/happy background! I would LOVE more pictures for my screensaver!!!!!!!!

 

[Hollywood gjp]

Ah ok . I'll have to see if it will fit in the socket ? Thanks

 

[Hollywood gjp]

Dexter is ADORABLE!!!!!!!!!! Russians are just so darn cute! That looks like a lovely indoor enclosure!!! I love the sunny/happy background! I would LOVE more pictures for my screensaver!!!!!!!!

He's just lush ! Tried him on strawberries today and he loves them ! Also changed the sawdust to substrate so he can have a good dig

 

[TammyJ]

He's just lush ! Tried him on strawberries today and he loves them ! Also changed the sawdust to substrate so he can have a good dig

Sawdust is a kind of substrate but it's a bad one for any animal or human being. Other kinds of substrate (the material at the floor of the enclosure) are newspaper, sand, earth, coconut husks/coir, leaves, straw, cypress mulch, sphagnum moss (peat moss), rocks, linoleum, etc. etc. etc. We have to choose a good one that works for the animal and does not present a problem for it or the owners.

 

[JoesMum]

Hello and welcome.

I'll echo concerns about substrate. It needs to be an earthy type that you can mix with water so it is damp and thus raise humidity. Humidity is very important for healthy shell growth.

Please read the following if you haven't already

Beginner Mistakes
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

Care of young Russian torts
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread...or-other-herbivorous-tortoise-species.107734/

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Don't feed fruit, it is bad for tortoises, strawberries should be fed as a very rare treat if at all.
Cooc coir, cypress mulch or orchid bark are the better substrates available.