Russian enclosure

[Macy Fidler]

Okay Macy. You came here and asked for advice, so here it comes.
1. First and foremost, that enclosure is much too small. Two of those put together is still too small. Russians need room to move. Lots of room. You need to go bigger.
2. The light fixtures need to be hung from over head. What you have there is VERY dangerous. Not just for your tortoise, but you are in serious danger of burning your whole house down. I am not being overly dramatic here. Reptile heat lamps are a major cause of house fires. Ask any fireman. Any one who has been keeping reptiles with heat lamps for a while will tell you this too. We've all had close calls, and/or disasters. Hot bulbs resting on wood is a major fire hazard. Suspend those lamps from over head. This makes it easier to get the correct temperature under them too.
3. Your substrate is too dry and there is not enough of it. It also needs to be hand packed down. Too loose.
4. I can't see what you are feeding there, but it looks like Kale and possibly turnip greens? Grocery store foods are not the best for them. Try to find more safe weeds and leaves.
5. Regular light bulbs are fine. Use as many as you need, but watch those temperatures.

Your tortoise looks great. Very attractive carapace. These tips will help to keep him/her healthy.

I don't have access to finding other leaves really , and I took advice from this care sheet and I will keep taking advice from it.

 

[Tom]

I am thinking about taking it out for good though and doing daily soaks instead!! He never actually drinks from it, he just makes a mess in it.

I would not recommend this. The problem is that the enclosure is too small and he has nowhere to walk except in and through the water bowl. In a larger enclosure this will be less of a problem. Bowl placement matters too. I try not to place mine in high traffic areas, unless I want the tortoise to stumble into it frequently.

 

[Tom]

I cannot find a stand that will hold up the lamps.

Zoo Med makes one, or you can build your own. Figure something out. Ask for help if you need to. This is not a personal preference issue, this is a human safety issue. This is serious.

 

[Tom]

I cannot find a stand that will hold up the lamps.
And I read straight from a care sheet online that turnip greens and kale are great for russian tortoises.

Macy, you could go type up a care sheet right now and say anything you want in it. You can say that russian tortoises can only be housed with soil and rocks from the moon in your care sheet if you want. Doesn't make it right. Turnip greens and kale are not toxic. They are fine as a small part of a varied diet, but there are better foods. Grocery store greens lack fiber and it is not what a wild tortoise would naturally eat. Their diets in the wild consist of high fiber foods with a high calcium to phosphorus ratio. Weeds and leaves that we have growing around us simulate this better than grocery store greens.

 

[Tom]

View attachment 120103 I don't have access to finding other leaves really , and I took advice from this care sheet and I will keep taking advice from it.

You seem to be picking and choosing which advice suits you. Re-read the paragraph above the one about grocery store greens, and re-read the text leading up to the list of grocery store greens. The author of that care sheet is saying basically the same thing I'm saying. Weeds are best, but if you simply can't find or grow the right weeds, you can use the grocery store greens to get you through. That author also recommends amending the grocery store greens with hay or grass, as I do, to increase the fiber content. Tyler's herbal hay works too.

 

[Tom]

This thread might be of interest to you. Many very insightful and helpful posts.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/dont-ask-if-you-wont-take-the-advice.110935/

 

[Macy Fidler]

You seem to be picking and choosing which advice suits you. Re-read the paragraph above the one about grocery store greens, and re-read the text leading up to the list of grocery store greens. The author of that care sheet is saying basically the same thing I'm saying. Weeds are best, but if you simply can't find or grow the right weeds, you can use the grocery store greens to get you through. That author also recommends amending the grocery store greens with hay or grass, as I do, to increase the fiber content. Tyler's herbal hay works too.

Well I just said I can't find any weeds and greens.

 

[Macy Fidler]

I would not recommend this. The problem is that the enclosure is too small and he has nowhere to walk except in and through the water bowl. In a larger enclosure this will be less of a problem. Bowl placement matters too. I try not to place mine in high traffic areas, unless I want the tortoise to stumble into it frequently.

Cannot find a larger enclosure for my tortoise, and surely not getting him a glass one.

 

[Macy Fidler]

This thread might be of interest to you. Many very insightful and helpful posts.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/dont-ask-if-you-wont-take-the-advice.110935/

LOL

 

[leigti]

Definitely work on making the enclosure bigger, you can build a tortoise table or you can hook the totes together, two or three even. You could also get a large plastic kiddie pool. Or a bookshelf laid on its back in the shows removed. Check out craigslist or your newspaper, people have found great deals there. A bigger enclosure would solve the water bowl problem, right now your tortoise has nowhere to walk so he will walk through the water. Definitely don't put the water bowl in the corner. daily soaks going to work, but like I said it is not the general recommendation. Bigger is always better. The best of course is an outdoor enclosure but if you can't do that in the winter then you can't. That's okay I can't either. until you can buy a lamp stand try using A sturdy metal cooling rack to put the light on.that way it will not cause a fire by heating up the wood.
You can grow your own food, tortoise supply.com or Carolina pet supply.com offers Russian tortoise seed mixes that grow quickly. you can often find dandelion greens and cactus at your local supermarket. The key to the diet is variety. and until spring comes along and provides that variety for you you will just have to get creative at the grocery store. you can feed turnip greens for a few days, then change over to endive, then change over to dandelion greens etc. if you tortoise doesn't eat the food the first time, keep giving it for the next few days. He won't starve and he will learn to eat other food. or mix it together with food that he does like. My tortoise will drag his food around also, that's normal enough. When I notice it I just put it back on his food bowl. make sure there is no sand in your substrate because it can cause impaction. Check out the Russian care sheet here on this forum.

 

[Macy Fidler]

Definitely work on making the enclosure bigger, you can build a tortoise table or you can hook the totes together, two or three even. You could also get a large plastic kiddie pool. Or a bookshelf laid on its back in the shows removed. Check out craigslist or your newspaper, people have found great deals there. A bigger enclosure would solve the water bowl problem, right now your tortoise has nowhere to walk so he will walk through the water. Definitely don't put the water bowl in the corner. daily soaks going to work, but like I said it is not the general recommendation. Bigger is always better. The best of course is an outdoor enclosure but if you can't do that in the winter then you can't. That's okay I can't either. until you can buy a lamp stand try using A sturdy metal cooling rack to put the light on.that way it will not cause a fire by heating up the wood.
You can grow your own food, tortoise supply.com or Carolina pet supply.com offers Russian tortoise seed mixes that grow quickly. you can often find dandelion greens and cactus at your local supermarket. The key to the diet is variety. and until spring comes along and provides that variety for you you will just have to get creative at the grocery store. you can feed turnip greens for a few days, then change over to endive, then change over to dandelion greens etc. if you tortoise doesn't eat the food the first time, keep giving it for the next few days. He won't starve and he will learn to eat other food. or mix it together with food that he does like. My tortoise will drag his food around also, that's normal enough. When I notice it I just put it back on his food bowl. make sure there is no sand in your substrate because it can cause impaction. Check out the Russian care sheet here on this forum.

Thanks so much!!!
I have already been looking at tortoise tables such as this one but I haven't put my ideas into play yet. Thank you so much!!! A bookshelf is a good idea!!!

 

[leigti]

That's the general idea. Many people here say 4' x 8' is good for an indoor pen for a Russian. so a piece of plywood works good for the bottom because that is what size they come in. Then you can line it with a shower curtain or a pool liner to make it waterproof. That way the damp substrate will not hurt the wood. Check out the enclosures section to give you some ideas also. until then you can work on vary in the diet, and make the light safer.

 

[Yvonne G]

View attachment 120103 I don't have access to finding other leaves really , and I took advice from this care sheet and I will keep taking advice from it.

That care sheet doesn't tell you to choose one or two of the items listed. It tells you that ALL those foods are good to feed a s part of a varied diet. No one food should be fed all the time.

 

[Macy Fidler]

That care sheet doesn't tell you to choose one or two of the items listed. It tells you that ALL those foods are good to feed a s part of a varied diet. No one food should be fed all the time.

I'm feeding him a variety... I'm not just looking at one thing. But I am doing the best I can for not having all of these foods offered to my local store.

 

[weldorNate]

I grow a lot of different foods for my tortoises even weeds through out the winter I simply dig the weed up in the fall before it freezes and put them in a pot and put it next to the window