Hi y’all, so this is a largely unnecessary post, but you gave me a lot of really great advice so I wanted to provide an update on my 12 year old Russian tortoise, Pepper. As I’ve shared in a previous post, Pepper was the victim of improper husbandry due to lack of research on modern best practices. In laymen’s terms: my partner got Pepper for my step daughter a couple of years ago and based her care on what he learned working at Petco 15 years ago. I thought he knew what he was doing, he did not, the situation has been rectified; Pepper is now living large in a 9’x12.5’ outdoor enclosure.
Anyway, so I took her to the vet today to get looked over, especially because it was pointed out to me that she may need a beak trim. The vet said that she was not quite at the point where a beak trim was necessary and that her eating on more varied surfaces would likely wear it down naturally. He said that he would like to see her bulk up her back legs a little bit more, but that with all the additional space and with how “bold, active, and confident” she is (she was zipping all over the exam table and had no problem being held and examined by him) and with the varied diet I’m feeding her, that that should be fixed in no time. He said her shell indicates a not so great diet/ inadequate UV in a couple spots, but that it was by no means extreme and that it’s of no harm to her. I guess it’s more a precursor to what could be more serious issues with the shell down the line if conditions had not improved. I don’t remember exactly what he said, but something about unevenness in how the keratin laid down? He did say that he doesn’t think she should brumate this winter, but that she would likely be good to go the following winter. Otherwise, everything else was good to go and there’s no permanent, life threatening, scary damage like MBD. I showed him my outdoor enclosure setup and he thought it was great (I’ll attach pics), and he gave me some advice on the 8’x4’ indoor enclosure I’m currently building, like having different substrates in different areas of the enclosure to spice things up for her. He was super knowledgeable and has 3 rescue tortoises himself (although he did say that his 3 legged tortoise is not his biggest fan and he thinks it’s because he’s the one that had to amputate her leg. Who can blame her?).
Onto the enclosure: like I said, it’s 12.5’x9’. I wanted something completely enclosed because, while we don’t really have a lot of predators in the city, I do sometimes see large birds like hawks. I wanted it to be a place I could come hang out, have a beverage with a friend, etc., so I added in a couple of zero gravity chairs and strung solar powered lights (which are off at night unless I’m out there). The patch of dirt (organic, fertilizer free) has been planted with a completely edible wildflower mix I made. I put the little fence there today because I have some shoots coming up and I want to give the flowers a second to grow before she mows them down, lol. The rock garden is just for vibes/variety and I put in a flagstone path to help keep her nails and stuff trim. I got a couple of pieces of 4’x8’ veneered plywood, cut it down, stained it, sealed it, and installed it with mending plates and corner brackets so there’s a visual barrier. You can’t really see in the pics, but on the outside of the enclosure, I have dig guards all around the perimeter that go 15” into the ground so she can’t dig her way out. I’ll be adding more tortoise safe greenery, but this is where we’re at for now!
Thanks again for all your advice! Pepper and I really appreciate it!
Anyway, so I took her to the vet today to get looked over, especially because it was pointed out to me that she may need a beak trim. The vet said that she was not quite at the point where a beak trim was necessary and that her eating on more varied surfaces would likely wear it down naturally. He said that he would like to see her bulk up her back legs a little bit more, but that with all the additional space and with how “bold, active, and confident” she is (she was zipping all over the exam table and had no problem being held and examined by him) and with the varied diet I’m feeding her, that that should be fixed in no time. He said her shell indicates a not so great diet/ inadequate UV in a couple spots, but that it was by no means extreme and that it’s of no harm to her. I guess it’s more a precursor to what could be more serious issues with the shell down the line if conditions had not improved. I don’t remember exactly what he said, but something about unevenness in how the keratin laid down? He did say that he doesn’t think she should brumate this winter, but that she would likely be good to go the following winter. Otherwise, everything else was good to go and there’s no permanent, life threatening, scary damage like MBD. I showed him my outdoor enclosure setup and he thought it was great (I’ll attach pics), and he gave me some advice on the 8’x4’ indoor enclosure I’m currently building, like having different substrates in different areas of the enclosure to spice things up for her. He was super knowledgeable and has 3 rescue tortoises himself (although he did say that his 3 legged tortoise is not his biggest fan and he thinks it’s because he’s the one that had to amputate her leg. Who can blame her?).
Onto the enclosure: like I said, it’s 12.5’x9’. I wanted something completely enclosed because, while we don’t really have a lot of predators in the city, I do sometimes see large birds like hawks. I wanted it to be a place I could come hang out, have a beverage with a friend, etc., so I added in a couple of zero gravity chairs and strung solar powered lights (which are off at night unless I’m out there). The patch of dirt (organic, fertilizer free) has been planted with a completely edible wildflower mix I made. I put the little fence there today because I have some shoots coming up and I want to give the flowers a second to grow before she mows them down, lol. The rock garden is just for vibes/variety and I put in a flagstone path to help keep her nails and stuff trim. I got a couple of pieces of 4’x8’ veneered plywood, cut it down, stained it, sealed it, and installed it with mending plates and corner brackets so there’s a visual barrier. You can’t really see in the pics, but on the outside of the enclosure, I have dig guards all around the perimeter that go 15” into the ground so she can’t dig her way out. I’ll be adding more tortoise safe greenery, but this is where we’re at for now!
Thanks again for all your advice! Pepper and I really appreciate it!
