Rescued russian tortoise

[Danajmc]

Hi I'm Dana

Just rescued Dora my new rusian tortoise today.. she was handed over to an animal sanctuary last week where I work..

They didn't know what to do with her and put her in nursery greenhouse.. no light..

She was very cold when I picked her and her skin is really shedding.. she's not eating so far and don't think she really eat all week...

Her housing was dry and dirty and had some insects crawing in her substrate.

I have never had a reptile before but I done alot of research...

I got her new substrate and cleaned her house.. soaked her 30 mins and cleaned her off with a soft toothbrush...

Any advice is welcome.. anything you think think I need to know as a novice owner...

Please give me the good and bad and let know what to do.. she is young maybe 5 to 10 years I plan to leave her in my will..

 

[wellington]

She needs a basking light, an incandescent flood bulb for this, usually a 65 watt works. If she can't bask under temps that reaches 95-100 she can't digest her food and things inside won't work right. Sounds like she hasn't had this since they got her so get that first thing or set her up outside
She needs uvb from a tube florescent unless you get her set up outside.
She needs temps during the day that ranges from 75-80 throughout the enclosure along with the basking. A 4x8 foot enclosure should be the minimum and an outside enclosure for summer months is best.
She needs a large clay saucer for water, one she can fit into.
Do not feed fruit but broad leafy weeds and you can add in arugula, escarole, dandelion, riddichio and spring mix without spinach.
Soak daily for about a week to get her hydrated.

 

[Danajmc]

Hi I'm Dana

Just rescued Dora my new rusian tortoise today.. she was handed over to an animal sanctuary last week where I work..

They didn't know what to do with her and put her in nursery greenhouse.. no light..

She was very cold when I picked her and her skin is really shedding.. she's not eating so far and don't think she really eat all week...

Her housing was dry and dirty and had some insects crawing in her substrate.

I have never had a reptile before but I done alot of research...

I got her new substrate and cleaned her house.. soaked her 30 mins and cleaned her off with a soft toothbrush...

Any advice is welcome.. anything you think think I need to know as a novice owner...

Please give me the good and bad and let know what to do.. she is young maybe 5 to 10 years I plan to leave her in my will..

I see not to hibernate her this year because she is new to me and most possible under weight..

And I don't really know if possible to do that because I live in Ireland and I'm to close to the equater..

Google I give me very confusing info

Dana xx

She needs a basking light, an incandescent flood bulb for this, usually a 65 watt works. If she can't bask under temps that reaches 95-100 she can't digest her food and things inside won't work right. Sounds like she hasn't had this since they got her so get that first thing or set her up outside
She needs uvb from a tube florescent unless you get her set up outside.
She needs temps during the day that ranges from 75-80 throughout the enclosure along with the basking. A 4x8 foot enclosure should be the minimum and an outside enclosure for summer months is best.
She needs a large clay saucer for water, one she can fit into.
Do not feed fruit but broad leafy weeds and you can add in arugula, escarole, dandelion, riddichio and spring mix without spinach.
Soak daily for about a week to get her hydrated.

Yes thank you going back to pet shop tomorrow and going to the garden center...

Any other suggestions I should get her..

Thank you for the fruit advice.. Google said I could give her apples raspberries and melon.

Is spinach bad for her?

Hi I'm Dana

Just rescued Dora my new rusian tortoise today.. she was handed over to an animal sanctuary last week where I work..

They didn't know what to do with her and put her in nursery greenhouse.. no light..

She was very cold when I picked her and her skin is really shedding.. she's not eating so far and don't think she really eat all week...

Her housing was dry and dirty and had some insects crawing in her substrate.

I have never had a reptile before but I done alot of research...

I got her new substrate and cleaned her house.. soaked her 30 mins and cleaned her off with a soft toothbrush...

Any advice is welcome.. anything you think think I need to know as a novice owner...

Please give me the good and bad and let know what to do.. she is young maybe 5 to 10 years I plan to leave her in my will..

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Thank you for the fruit advice.. Google said I could give her apples raspberries and melon.

Is spinach bad for her?

Definitely don’t feed any kind of fruit, Russians aren’t a fruit eating species, their systems aren’t made to digest the sugars.

If you click on the link below and go onto the wildflower section, there’s loads of hardy plants that grow well in our climate, you could buy seeds online and plant in safe organic soil(fertiliser free)to pick from as they grow😊

The Tortoise Table - Home

The Tortoise Table plant database and resource site for Tortoise owners

www.thetortoisetable.org.uk

Enclosure size is unfortunately too small, room to roam is absolutely vital to tortoise health, its aids in their digestion and builds muscle, Russians are very active and love to explore.
Go as large as you possibly can, I suggest you make some sort of base to fit a custom area, or some people take a large bookcase, lie flat and take the shelves out, or even a garden bed frame, for all these options line with some cheap pond liner, the lining going up the sides too, making sure those sides are high enough to prevent escape missions🥲

Is that hay stuff on the substrate intended for your tortoise to eat? I’d remove it as you don’t want to encourage them biting at the substrate, we personally feed our tortoise on a large serving slate, it’s great to naturally keep their beak in shape🙂
I’d also switch out the water dish for a large terracotta saucer, sitting flush with the substrate👍

For the basking bulb you want a incandescent floodlight(example attached) set on a 12 hour timer, I highly recommend you get yourself a temperature gun which you can get reasonable on Amazon, to check the temperature directly under the bulb, they’re also really good for scanning the parameters of a new set up and making sure your monitors are reading correctly.
Directly under the bulb should read 95-100, the rest of the enclosure 75-80, the smaller the enclosure, the harder it is to get the right temperature gradient.
You can hang some ambient lighting on the same 12 hour timer lighting the whole enclosure, create shady spots with safe plants and hides, this can just be a normal led light in the colour range 5000-6500k.

Avoid any lighting labelled mercury vapour or halogen and never use red lighting.

For uv it needs to be provided in the form of a t5 fluorescent tube light, the compact bulbs can hurt the tortoises eyes and don’t give out enough uv. Zoo med reptisun 10.0 or Arcadia 12% are recommended(attached below)set on a 4hour timer from noon.
I’ll also include a few photos on how people mount their uv and lighting for the kind of set up I’m recommending🙂

If your temps are dropping lower than 60’s at night(which I know our winters do and you aren’t planning to hibernate her, nor would I recommend to this year) you’ll need a CHE(ceramic heat emitter) which is a none light emitting heat bulb, this will need to be on a thermostat, simply set the thermostat for night time temperature and place the probe in the cool end, plug it into the mains and plug the CHE in, it will be plugged in 24/7 and the thermostat will only turn it on when the temperature drops(I’ve attached the kind of thermostat you need)

Also included info on why not to feed spinach👍

Hope all this helps🙂

 

[wellington]

You can keep her up this winter. I have a Russian and I don't brumate him at all.
She does need a much bigger enclosure. Look into a raised garden bed or portable pop up greenhouse, for indoor enclosure. They are usually cheaper then anything sold for tortoises and come in better, bigger sizes.
Do not use hay, sand or moss for substrate. Yes, no fruit at all.
A lot of info out on the internet is wrong.
Spinach in very small amounts occasionally is fine but not a lot or often.
Also get a digital thermometer, hardware stores have them cheap and put it at tortoise height. The puck like one you have is not reliable

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Hello, Dana!

First of all thank you for taking care of this beautiful tortoise. I hope Dora will thrive under your care!

Surprisingly, no one has posted links to this care sheet yet: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/info-for-new-people-please-read-this-first.202363/
That post (and temperate species care sheet at the bottom of it) provide wealth of information on tortoise care. It's really a long read but very handy to have it as a reference (what to feed, what lights, temperatures and equipement and such).

Feel free to ask questions, check shopping lists and brainstorm ideas.

 

[EppsDynasty]

Welcome to the Forum
Surprisingly no one has commented that you have the coolest and bestest name ever!
Yes I am a little biased as it is my name as well.

 

[Tom]

I see not to hibernate her this year because she is new to me and most possible under weight..

And I don't really know if possible to do that because I live in Ireland and I'm to close to the equater..

Hello and welcome!

Ireland is too close to the equator?

There is plenty of time between now and brumation time to get this tortoise healthy and hydrated. You can evaluate where you are at with this in the fall and make a decision then.

Tortoises can be brumated anywhere in the world. Proximity to the equator is not relevant.

I see little white bits in the substrate. Is that "Pets at Home" substrate? If yes, I'd remove that ASAP. There is more explanation on all of this in the threads that Alex and I linked for you.

That water dish is not suitable for tortoises. The sides are too high. Get a terra cotta saucer and sink it into the substrate for food and for water. Buy extras in case you break one at night on a holiday and the store won't be open the next day, because that seems to be the ONLY time you will ever break one. Ask me how I know this...

We are glad you rescued this little one, and we'd love to help you learn more. Here is the care sheet and the brumation thread for you. Questions are welcome.

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

Tom's Brumation Thread

Every fall we get bombarded here on the forum with all sorts of questions and problems regarding hibernation and tortoises "slowing down" for winter. The purpose of this thread is to talk about all aspects of this subject, to dispel some of the myths and mysteries, and give a "how to" list of...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[Danajmc]

Welcome to the Forum
Surprisingly no one has commented that you have the coolest and bestest name ever!
Yes I am a little biased as it is my name as well.

Thank you... she likes to explore my room and outside so it fits...

 

[Danajmc]

Hello and welcome!

Ireland is too close to the equator?

There is plenty of time between now and brumation time to get this tortoise healthy and hydrated. You can evaluate where you are at with this in the fall and make a decision then.

Tortoises can be brumated anywhere in the world. Proximity to the equator is not relevant.

I see little white bits in the substrate. Is that "Pets at Home" substrate? If yes, I'd remove that ASAP. There is more explanation on all of this in the threads that Alex and I linked for you.

That water dish is not suitable for tortoises. The sides are too high. Get a terra cotta saucer and sink it into the substrate for food and for water. Buy extras in case you break one at night on a holiday and the store won't be open the next day, because that seems to be the ONLY time you will ever break one. Ask me how I know this...

We are glad you rescued this little one, and we'd love to help you learn more. Here is the care sheet and the brumation thread for you. Questions are welcome.

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

Tom's Brumation Thread

Every fall we get bombarded here on the forum with all sorts of questions and problems regarding hibernation and tortoises "slowing down" for winter. The purpose of this thread is to talk about all aspects of this subject, to dispel some of the myths and mysteries, and give a "how to" list of...

tortoiseforum.org

Thank you for the advice... went to get one of those terracotta plates today but the garden centre didn't have them...

The substrate is Tortoise Life from pro pet.. a blend of loam, soft sand and limestone grit... pet shop told me it was good? I attacked a pic…


Still not eating alot for me but she seems to good roaming around my room and basking in the light..

Git lots of info off people here and I'm going to set up a bigger area for her in my room and one outside for warmer days...

 

[TammyJ]

Please get rid of that substrate the pet shop sold you because it can and will kill your tortoise. Use orchid bark instead or coconut coir packed down and moistened.

 

[TammyJ]

😜Welcome to the Forum
Surprisingly no one has commented that you have the coolest and bestest name ever!
Yes I am a little biased as it is my name as well.

So your name is Dora the Explorer? All righty then...🤨

 

[TammyJ]

@EppsDynasty , I don't know how to remove that 😜 stupid emoji from your "welcome" quote above or how it got there. Sorry 😟

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Yes as Tammy said, unfortunately the substrate they sold you isn’t correct, sand can cause lethal impactions in captive tortoises. The only safe substrates recommended are orchid bark(fir not pine), forest floor or damp, firmly packed down coco coir.
Try not to let the pet shop advise you otherwise, they don’t know what they’re doing half the time and are just following very outdated/ incorrect care🫤

 

[Tom]

Thank you for the advice... went to get one of those terracotta plates today but the garden centre didn't have them...

The substrate is Tortoise Life from pro pet.. a blend of loam, soft sand and limestone grit... pet shop told me it was good? I attacked a pic…View attachment 373173
View attachment 373174

Still not eating alot for me but she seems to good roaming around my room and basking in the light..

Git lots of info off people here and I'm going to set up a bigger area for her in my room and one outside for warmer days...

Neither soil nor sand should ever be used as tortoise substrate because both are potentially dangerous. Encouraging a tortoise to eat both sand and soil to satisfy its calcium cravings makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. I cannot understand who thought of this and why no one along the way told them, "Hey, you know tortoises are going to eat those limestone bits, and ingest sand and soil along with them..." This definitely does NOT go in the "Good Idea" file.

The thread that Alex left for you in post number 6 will explain what is happening here with the pet shop steering you wrong.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Thank you for the advice... went to get one of those terracotta plates today but the garden centre didn't have them...

Still not eating alot for me but she seems to good roaming around my room and basking in the light..

Hopefully you can grab a saucer soon🙂

I’d be very careful letting her free roam, it’s generally discouraged for numerous reasons.
Being away from their heat source means they’re being exposed to temperatures that are too low quite often.
If you have smooth surfaces like laminate flooring, it will wreak havoc on their hip joints over time.

Im not saying there’s not measures you can take to make it safer and always be sure to be in the room monitoring, I’d personally discourage it but I understand you wanting to let her stretch her legs more whilst she’s in that small tank.

There’s are things to bare in mind, harmful floor cleaners, foreign objects being swallowed, getting stuck under things they shouldn’t like shelving or sofas, low temperatures, no uv, getting hit by doors, one member has mentioned they knew someone who’s tort got their head crushed in a door jam😣, flipping hazards.. all reasons close supervision is key and why a free roam indoors should be limited.
They feel most comfortable in a place that best mimics their environment🙂indoor free roams over time isn’t good for them.

Ultimately a safe, large enough enclosure will be the goal, hopefully we can all help with any queries setting that up and follow your progress🥰
If you have a nice chemical free garden, perhaps you can set something up for her out there to enjoy during warmer days🙂as long as there’s lots of shady spots👍

 

[Danajmc]

Neither soil nor sand should ever be used as tortoise substrate because both are potentially dangerous. Encouraging a tortoise to eat both sand and soil to satisfy its calcium cravings makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. I cannot understand who thought of this and why no one along the way told them, "Hey, you know tortoises are going to eat those limestone bits, and ingest sand and soil along with them..." This definitely does NOT go in the "Good Idea" file.

The thread that Alex left for you in post number 6 will explain what is happening here with the pet shop steering you wrong.

Yes I'm changing that today... that's why I came on here to see if I'm doing good or harm to her.. poor thing was just left in that tank with no light for week and dirty substrate.

But ill do everything you guys tell me and double cheak with yous again and again until I get it right..

Thanks 😊

 

[Danajmc]

Yes as Tammy said, unfortunately the substrate they sold you isn’t correct, sand can cause lethal impactions in captive tortoises. The only safe substrates recommended are orchid bark(fir not pine), forest floor or damp, firmly packed down coco coir.
Try not to let the pet shop advise you otherwise, they don’t know what they’re doing half the time and are just following very outdated/ incorrect care🫤

Can I get them on amazon or at a garden center... I want to get it today if possible...

Can I put newspaper down for the time being or something.. going to get rid of it now.. that is what the last owner had in her housing so I taught it was the right stuff

 

[Tom]

Can I get them on amazon or at a garden center... I want to get it today if possible...

Can I put newspaper down for the time being or something.. going to get rid of it now.. that is what the last owner had in her housing so I taught it was the right stuff

A lot of the info given by pet shops, vets, breeders, YT, and FB is incorrect. Your substrate is just one example. I hope we can help you along the way. You should feel welcome and comfortable here. Feel free to ask all your questions. We are here to talk tortoises.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Can I get them on amazon or at a garden center... I want to get it today if possible...

Can I put newspaper down for the time being or something.. going to get rid of it now.. that is what the last owner had in her housing so I taught it was the right stuff

You can definitely get forest floor off Amazon or coco coir, I wouldn’t put news paper down but perhaps some plain paper towels just for one night won’t hurt, I wouldn’t leave it much longer than that, they can eat those too which could cause a problem, maybe the other members have a better temporary solution though