). learned a lot from this community and wanted to share my love for my tort
I recommend changing that water dish to a shallow terracotta saucer, they are usually preferred by the tortoises and safer.wanted to hop on here and say thanks to some of the OG turtle lovers… you helped me educate myself and provided resources to give the best care. I've had plato for about three-four years and there has been a lot of trial and error’s with his enclosure. This set up has been the biggest and best by far (always ready to add more
Is this his permanent space or does he happen to have an outdoor area? I only ask as this does look a bit small/narrow for an adult Russian, though it’s wonderful you’ve been able to offer more space!wanted to hop on here and say thanks to some of the OG turtle lovers… you helped me educate myself and provided resources to give the best care. I've had plato for about three-four years and there has been a lot of trial and error’s with his enclosure. This set up has been the biggest and best by far (always ready to add more
tortoiseforum.org
tortoiseforum.org
tortoiseforum.org
it is a 165 gallon outdoor pond liner indoors, so it is not too small. but thank you for the advice! he does have a outdoor enclosure as well. this is a lot of information and a lot of money so this will happen throughout time but i will consider your recommendations with an open mind. my turtles basking area is the correct temp at all times, i need to invest in another ubv strip light, but other than that his diet is varied and he always gets fresh water (going to get the terracotta water dish today at the store). the rocks are no where near where he eats and ive never had a problem with him thinking the rocks are food, or ingesting them. Most of his substate is coco cor and a mix of other kinds of dirt, the rocks are for elevation in his enclosure. Maybe im misinformed but i thought russians natural habitat was rocky dry environments and that i should recreate that in his enclosure.Is this his permanent space or does he happen to have an outdoor area? I only ask as this does look a bit small/narrow for an adult Russian, though it’s wonderful you’ve been able to offer more space!
Another thing I do think worth mentioning though is that gravel really could do with removing and replacing with damp coco coir/orchid bark as soon as possible, tortoises can and have eaten small gravel pieces like that, leading deadly blockages. It’s one thing if they’re exposed to a few small stones in an outdoor space, but as an all over substrate, can be quite dangerous.
I second the comment about the water dish.
Don’t suppose you’ve checked this thread out before? this covers correct equipment(uvb, heating bulbs, lighting etc, stores often sell the wrong stuff so double check here), correct levels(double check these too), sizing(you can get away with smaller indoors if you can build a larger outdoor space when weather permits), appropriately maintaining the humidity, safe substrates, there’s lots of visual examples for everything, and a really handy diet link to check out!
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...
This includes lots of inspiration for an adult set up both indoors and out! The indoor bit has some good ideas to tackle indoor space whilst still providing the needed roaming room! Check comments too, I’m always adding to it. I know the recommended adult size is intimidating to some, especially if you’ve been lead into thinking he’ll be fine in a smaller set up(very common) but tortoises long term health really does rely on lots of roaming room. If you’re unable to go that big, perhaps some tweaks to this one
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...
Lastly, this one here can be really good to go over and keep on hand, 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...
Hope you like them!
Buying that today. Thank you!
Try to find one that he can completely fit in.
Why do you need another UVB strip light?
Also, it is winter time here in MI so it would be difficult for me to remove all the rocks right now. id have to scoop them up and poor them outside one cup at a time LOL. if its a severe problem i will take your advice and change it but would you have any advice on cheap alternatives to creating a slope steep enough and grippy enough for him to still climb up to his basking area? i dont want to remove the climbing aspect of his place and if i use only coco corand substrate he wont have enought room for the lower part of his area.Is this his permanent space or does he happen to have an outdoor area? I only ask as this does look a bit small/narrow for an adult Russian, though it’s wonderful you’ve been able to offer more space!
Another thing I do think worth mentioning though is that gravel really could do with removing and replacing with damp coco coir/orchid bark as soon as possible, tortoises can and have eaten small gravel pieces like that, leading deadly blockages. It’s one thing if they’re exposed to a few small stones in an outdoor space, but as an all over substrate, can be quite dangerous.
I second the comment about the water dish.
Don’t suppose you’ve checked this thread out before? this covers correct equipment(uvb, heating bulbs, lighting etc, stores often sell the wrong stuff so double check here), correct levels(double check these too), sizing(you can get away with smaller indoors if you can build a larger outdoor space when weather permits), appropriately maintaining the humidity, safe substrates, there’s lots of visual examples for everything, and a really handy diet link to check out!
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...
This includes lots of inspiration for an adult set up both indoors and out! The indoor bit has some good ideas to tackle indoor space whilst still providing the needed roaming room! Check comments too, I’m always adding to it. I know the recommended adult size is intimidating to some, especially if you’ve been lead into thinking he’ll be fine in a smaller set up(very common) but tortoises long term health really does rely on lots of roaming room. If you’re unable to go that big, perhaps some tweaks to this one
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...
Lastly, this one here can be really good to go over and keep on hand, 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...
Hope you like them!
i only have one and i feel like it doesnt have enough coverage in the whole tank.
UVB only needs to cover the basking area, so one is enough in your set up. LED lights are enough to provide ambient light for the whole enclosure. Use the ones in the 5000 to 6500 K color range.
The problem with the rocks is their size. We can't trust tortoises in captive management to not swallow the small rocks. A tortoise might want to eat rocks due to a mineral imbalance for example.
Would it be possible to keep most of it as coir/bark, and create an incline using concrete slabs maybe? Try and place them to make ‘steps’? Some folks get rid of broken ones for free on fb marketplace
