Purple kale

[babyshell]

Hey guys, hope all is well with you
I have organic purple kale for my little Russian, Andres.
Is it safe to feed ?
Different forums say different things

thanks

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Hey guys, hope all is well with you
I have organic purple kale for my little Russian, Andres.
Is it safe to feed ?
Different forums say different things

thanks

Hello!
Yes, kale is fine to feed. But it's not a staple food, so should not be fed in bulk daily (either in smaller amounts or 2-3 times a week).

Brassicas (I quote RosemaryDW here) are large part of Russian tortoises diet in the wild and kale has high calcium and iodine content so concerns about oxalates and goitrogens aren't really applicable.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Hello and welcome! Hopefully the above reply cleared that up

I don’t suppose you’d mind sharing how you’re keeping your tortoise? It’s really nice with new members

How are your temperatures? Ie basking temp(directly under the bulb)overall day temps, night temps?
What kind of lighting/heating are you using specifically? Packaging photos are good if you have any
Do you use indoor uv? If so what kind?
How’s your humidity? What do you use for substrate?

A photo of the full set up would be great if willing to shareAlong with one of your adorable Tort

 

[babyshell]

Hi, thankyou for the info re kale.
I grow his food for him, with the exception of what is most appropriate at the veg shop.
I live in the UK, up north so we don't have the hottest weather.
When it's warm enough he is outdoors, but I bring him in at night as I have a massive garden with lots of wildlife.
I even tuck him in when he goes to bed, I cover him with his coir and hemp. He does it himself but he misses bits so I help.
Hes a very happy boy, knows me, my voice, my smell, my tone, he hears my footsteps ..
He can be a little shy and enjoys ne singing to him.
He has his lamp and all his needs are met. He is catered for and very loved

 

[babyshell]

he's such a bloke
I swear if he could have a fag and a pint, he would !
He looks like quite prehistoric on those pics.
He has a large outdoor enclosure, which I have left wild and natural.
We spent all spring, summer and a little bit of autumn out there, but its too cold for him now. He just wants to have a quick forage then bury himself.
I like him to get as much natural light as possible. As much natural "everything" as possible !

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Hi, thankyou for the info re kale.
I grow his food for him, with the exception of what is most appropriate at the veg shop.
I live in the UK, up north so we don't have the hottest weather.
When it's warm enough he is outdoors, but I bring him in at night as I have a massive garden with lots of wildlife.
I even tuck him in when he goes to bed, I cover him with his coir and hemp. He does it himself but he misses bits so I help.
Hes a very happy boy, knows me, my voice, my smell, my tone, he hears my footsteps ..
He can be a little shy and enjoys ne singing to him.
He has his lamp and all his needs are met. He is catered for and very loved

He’s a very handsome chap I must say!

Yeah being from the uk too I know it can be a pain to get them out once our weather starts dropping! Tell me, do you brumate him over winter or do you keep him awake in an indoor set up?

If you wouldn’t mind, I’d love if you could check out this thread for the indoor set up side of things I made! I like passing it on to newer members, there’s SO much misinformation and outdated care out there outside of this forum! So it’s always good getting people to double check their equipment where possible!
I cover correct lighting&heating, including the correct UV which is a must in the uk, levels, substrates, sizing, appropriately maintaining humidity, there’s lots of visual examples for everything and a really good diet link to check out I think you’ll like!

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...

tortoiseforum.org

This one is also really good to familiarise with, it helps people avoid the wrong bulbs, substrates, housing etc and I always encourage double checking new purchases on here

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...

tortoiseforum.org

Hope you like them! It would be great if you let me know what you think/if you have any further questions on them!

 

[babyshell]

He’s a very handsome chap I must say!

Yeah being from the uk too I know it can be a pain to get them out once our weather starts dropping! Tell me, do you brumate him over winter or do you keep him awake in an indoor set up?

If you wouldn’t mind, I’d love if you could check out this thread for the indoor set up side of things I made! I like passing it on to newer members, there’s SO much misinformation and outdated care out there outside of this forum! So it’s always good getting people to double check their equipment where possible!
I cover correct lighting&heating, including the correct UV which is a must in the uk, levels, substrates, sizing, appropriately maintaining humidity, there’s lots of visual examples for everything and a really good diet link to check out I think you’ll like!

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...

tortoiseforum.org

This one is also really good to familiarise with, it helps people avoid the wrong bulbs, substrates, housing etc and I always encourage double checking new purchases on here

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...

tortoiseforum.org

Hope you like them! It would be great if you let me know what you think/if you have any further questions on them!

Thanks for all that info, I will have a look through it when get a chance. I have to consider increasing my torts indoor gaf as he's grown.
I'm quite inventive and already have ideas !
I would feel too anxious re brumating him. But I have observed that during the winter/colder months he slows down naturally anyway, so I don't interfere with that.
I've enjoyed growing his food. Its mostly weeds and flowers in large tubs. I leave the roots in the soil so they keep coming back.
I hate when he eats a slug and I say Andres NO !!!!!

He gives me alot of attitude and eats it anyway

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Thanks for all that info, I will have a look through it when get a chance. I have to consider increasing my torts indoor gaf as he's grown.
I'm quite inventive and already have ideas !
I would feel too anxious re brumating him. But I have observed that during the winter/colder months he slows down naturally anyway, so I don't interfere with that.
I've enjoyed growing his food. Its mostly weeds and flowers in large tubs. I leave the roots in the soil so they keep coming back.
I hate when he eats a slug and I say Andres NO !!!!!

He gives me alot of attitude and eats it anyway

No problem at all! Ooo sounds exciting! I love reading threads of folks new enclosure builds if you’re ever up for posting your ideas! My favourite to read!

Fair enough, lots of folks don’t do it. They do tend to notice the drop in temperature and want to slow down, the best way to combat this is having the ambient temp no lower than 75f in the cooler end during the day, making sure the enclosure is well lit and some increase their light cycle from 12-14 hours to ‘trick’ them into thinking it’s warmer longer summer days. Some still don’t like to be fooled though lol