Angiecee22
New Member
- Joined
- Aug 6, 2014
- Messages
- 1
I've had my Russian 11 months now. Before I got him I did months of research and built him a 3'x4 tortoise table with a ramp for climbing, and a hide away underneath. He has a basking spot under his UVA&UVB lamps. At night he has an artificial moon light heat lamp to keep his table at the proper tempature. When I first got him we used substrate, but quickly "Gunner" began getting it stuck in his eyes and food, causing a digestive blockage and an eye infection. We switched to putting fabric on the bottom and a space filled with hay that he likes to sleep on and burrow in.
I did a lot of research on his diet, I didn't take advice from the store I got him (petsmart, which in my opinion has a better grip on things, and treats animals better than Petco). We feed him many different greens, and occasionally fruit like cantaloupe. We feed him in the morning and at night. I always have multiple greens for him in stock, so he isn't eating the same thing every day. Some of the things we give him are dandelions, kale, turnip greens, collard greens, bok choy, and mustard greens. We try to give him calcium supplement on his food but he refuses to eat it when we put it on. He poops on his table regularly, sometimes in the bath. We bathe him and let him soak his shell 10-15 min every week. He doesn't like the water very much.
He has grown a lot since I got him, my guess was he was still a rather young tortoise when I got him, he was about 4 inches long. I don't know if I'm doing something really wrong, sometimes its hard to tell because you ask 5 people the same question and you get 5 different answers. He seems very healthy, hes friendly and active. We live in New England so he can't go outside year round, but when its the summer and warm enough we'll let him run around in the grass for a little. I don't know if this shell growth is normal, I love this little guy and I want to make sure hes healthy.
The first two pictures are when I got him, the second two are more recent.
I did a lot of research on his diet, I didn't take advice from the store I got him (petsmart, which in my opinion has a better grip on things, and treats animals better than Petco). We feed him many different greens, and occasionally fruit like cantaloupe. We feed him in the morning and at night. I always have multiple greens for him in stock, so he isn't eating the same thing every day. Some of the things we give him are dandelions, kale, turnip greens, collard greens, bok choy, and mustard greens. We try to give him calcium supplement on his food but he refuses to eat it when we put it on. He poops on his table regularly, sometimes in the bath. We bathe him and let him soak his shell 10-15 min every week. He doesn't like the water very much.
He has grown a lot since I got him, my guess was he was still a rather young tortoise when I got him, he was about 4 inches long. I don't know if I'm doing something really wrong, sometimes its hard to tell because you ask 5 people the same question and you get 5 different answers. He seems very healthy, hes friendly and active. We live in New England so he can't go outside year round, but when its the summer and warm enough we'll let him run around in the grass for a little. I don't know if this shell growth is normal, I love this little guy and I want to make sure hes healthy.
The first two pictures are when I got him, the second two are more recent.