Russian or Greek? Not sure. Hello everyone!

[HJ1983]

I rescued my little guy from Petsmart yesterday. He was the bigger guy in the cage and didn't look too happy. I've wanted a tortoise for years now and when I saw him I had to bring him home. Today he seemed to be doing well exploring his new home and soaking in his water dish. And eating. ALOT. I am afraid he wasn't properly being fed at the pet shop since they had re-hydrated green mulch in a food bowl. Poor guy. His carapace seems a bit dry and is peeling a bit but I'm hoping with a new diet and his UV soaks he will be ok. I live in New York City in an apartment so I hope he thrives in his indoor home. And since we are currently experiencing snow and below freezing temperatures I don't want to risk taking him to the vet in this weather. Oh I forgot the most important part of the introductions! My name is Haydee and the little dude is Mr. K. Cecil. Buy all his close friends call him by his first name, Killer.

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hello Haydee welcome to the TFO from AZ . Cute Russian tort . We have a cold spell moving in and Saturday. And it's going to be cold here 68 degree high for Saturday !

 

[kimber_lee_314]

Killer is a cute Russian.

 

[wellington]

Hello and Welcome. He is a cutie. Be sure to give him a water dish 24/7 and get some humidity, about 30% and yes! give him a few soaks a week for a while! then you can cut back to a couple times a month! when you see he is using the water dish himself.

 

[HJ1983]

Thank you for the quick responses. He actually climbed (or tried to climb) into the water dish all by himself. I made a mistake and bought the repti-ramp water bowl and we have a very sad (but funny) video of him trying to unsuccessfully get inside, so we took his substrate and made a real ramp so he can get in. He's been with us a little over 24 hours and has soaked twice. Tomorrow I'm going to a flower shop and getting a planter bottom (for his voluntary soaks) and some slate for his enclosure. I do worry about his nights though. When the lights turn off the temperature goes down to 70 which I don't think is too bad, but I ordered a infrared ceramic heat emitter and plan on using it on nights when it's too cold, I don't want to get his cycle mixed up with light at night.

Only sad thing is that the people at Petsmart tried to tell me he's only a few months old. I haven't properly measured him yet but when I put the ruler next to him he's close to five inches long and his tail is to the side, which I've read is a mature tortoise trait. So I am just about sure he's not a baby. I'm hoping that the vet can shed some light for me when we go in a few weeks. I just hope he wasn't captured from the wild.

However, I plan on making him happy and he's a great addition to my two rabbits Shafan and Fufu.

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Hello Haydee welcome to the TFO from AZ . Cute Russian tort . We have a cold spell moving in and Saturday. And it's going to be cold here 68 degree high for Saturday !

68! That's amazing. The temperature went up to 49 degrees the other day and people pulled out their shorts and light Jackets. Right now it's 19 degrees out and we are getting ready for our 14th significant snowfall of 2014.

 

[Laura]

I think he looks like an older tort.. its a male.. mature.. NOT a baby.. and for the petstore not to know that Or what type... very sad.. gather info and go back and EDUCATE them.

 

[Jlant85]

I agree with laura! aside from that, he does look like he's a male russian tort =)

 

[HJ1983]

I think he looks like an older tort.. its a male.. mature.. NOT a baby.. and for the petstore not to know that Or what type... very sad.. gather info and go back and EDUCATE them.

Thanks for the reply.

They had him in a cage that simply said Testudo. I visited him twice before I brought him home and each time he was asleep with his face against the corner. I just hope he isn't too old so that he can have a good long life here with me.

He is also a little bit scarred and is missing a nail. But I love him, and all of his battle scars make his name more fitting.

 

[WillTort2]

Welcome, Im sure your Killer will appreciate the proper feeding and larger living space.

70 degrees is OK for night time; I like my Russians to drop down to about 65 at night and then have a basking spot of 95 during the day. The day time cool side should have a temperature of about 70 to 75 degrees. This range allows your Russian to self regulate his temperature.

Make sure you provide a variety of healthy greens; in a month long period during the winter I'll feed about a dozen different foods. In summer it will expand to maybe 2 dozen different foods.

Glad to hear you're change the water dish.

Good luck!

 

[Instinct]

Welcome to the forum fellow New Yorker! I live about three hours away from the city.

Killer is an adorable, little Russian tort! It sounds like you are doing everything right in order to make his life better.

As a Petsmart associate for my local store, I will honestly tell you that these employees do not have any idea on how old Killer is. The supplier sends the tortoises with just a label on what kind of tortoise it is and that is the only information given. The age just becomes a guessing game.

However, the associates should've known what type of tortoise it was. I feel that is unacceptable for them to not know.

 

[amanda0883]

Welcome from a fellow New Yorker! I live in Western New York near Buffalo though so I hear ya about the cold! We also have a Russian from Petsmart! Yours is very adorable and seems to be a lot more active than ours when we got him. Sounds like you are doing an awesome job! I also heard that they can have temps as low as 65 at night.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Haydee, and welcome to the Forum! Mr. K. Cecil is a russian tortoise (Testudo horsefieldii).