Russian Tortoise adoption S.O.S. Help?

[Jamberry]

Hello, first post. I just wanted to get that out of the way; I'll do an introduction later after I get the important stuff taken care of.

Alright, here we go.

In about a month I am going to be taking in an adult female Russian Tortoise. The owner apparently doesn't have time for her with their work schedule and was just going to give her to a pet store. Needless to say, that didn't sit well with me, so being me I told the girl that if she was willing to wait a little while I would take her tortoise. A kind of rescue.

Now I have never owned a tortoise, but I've been reading up on them obsessively the last few days, and trying to plan out an enclosure, diet, substrate, etc. for the little lady. That's the reason I requested some time. I own snakes and geckos, but this is a whole different field, and I need the time to prepare and educate myself.

I've read through www.therussiantortoise.org, and it's helped me out a lot, but I'd really appreciate some help and advice from people I can communicate with. I don't want to base this creature's new, and hopefully better life, on my interpretations about how her anatomy works and what it requires; I know what I think looks good, but I've got no experience to base my opinions on, lol.

Okay, so I need everything except a thermostat and hygrometer. A few things hindering my progress are:

-An outdoor pen in impossible. I live in Alaska. The daytime high has been -5F for over a week where I am; -49F highs a few hours away.

-I have a VERY limited array of hardware.

-I can't provide a 6'x anything pen just yet. I think I can fit something 4', though.

I've been thinking about the plastic tub enclosures, and have just viewed a few pictures of rabbit pens, and they seem to be my best bet. So what do you guys think?

Everyone on here seems to be very knowledgeable, and VERY polite compared to a few other forums, lol. I'd really appreciate any and all advice, ideas, experiences, tips, or tricks you could share with me. I go all out for my extended family, and want this new addition to be no different.

Just to help, my front-line concerns are: the enclosure, diet, humidity, and substrate.

I would love anything at all, but I figure if I tackle those things first I should be on a good path.

Thank you in advance!


-Brett

 

[tortania]

Hi Brett! Welcome to the forum , and congratulations on your upcoming tort adoption! I have four Russians myself! They are amazing creatures with personalities all their own . Sounds like the little lady is lucky that someone who is willing to take care of her properly!

As for an enclosure, a 4' would be fine for one tortoise. I have three of mine in a Land Water tub that measures 3 x 6 for winter time accomodations. You should provide her with a basking area that should maintain daytime temps from the low to mid 80's while on the other side the temps should be in the mid to upper 70s. This gives her the option of warming or cooling herself down. You will also need a UVB light for vitamin D synthesis. I use a top soil/playsand substrate mix (70% topsoil -30% sand), and I cover this with orchard grass. The humidity levels should be maintained around 50-55%. As for diet, Russians prefer broad leaf plants (no animial protein or fruit!!) grasses, and vegetables. I feed mine weeds I find in the yard, fescue grasses, clover, assorted flowers, curly endive, romaine lettuce (sparingly!), shredded carrots as well as butternut and acorn squash twice a week for vitamin A, radicchio, a occassionally collard and mustard greens. You may need to sprinkle her food once a week with a calcium powder (buy in your local healthfood stores) and if she is never going to be outside make sure it has D3 added.

This is a start anyway. There are a few wonderful Russian keepers on this forum (we've all had breeding activity the past week!). Enjoy your tort, and again welcome

 

[Jacqui]

Brett, first things first...take a deep breath and relax. Your going to do fine and so will she under your care.

Having an outdoor enclosure for part of the year is optimal, but they can live without it. Living in Alaska will make having a tort a bit more of a challenge then most others have to face, but still very workable. Aren't there a month or two every year where she could be outside, even if only for a couple of hours? Any little bit of time is a huge bonus.

The outdoor enclosure can be as simple as a plastic tote you take outside or better some small wire cage, where she can't dig out yet can graze on the weeds, but has a cover to keep her from climbing out. Just little time while your out there with her while you do yardwork? cook on the grill? sit and read a book in the warm sun? Or simply sit and watch her antics?

The plastic tubs or the rabbit cage is fine for now. It allows you time to really figure out what you actually need, have space for, and can make. You may decide to stick with the first one you use. My own inside winter enclosures are rubbermaid sheep water tanks, but the isolation pens are plastic storage tubs.

I run my hottest basking point higher than Tortania, use a mix of 50/50, and a slight difference in some of the food, but otherwise I pretty much go with what she has said. We all sorta take the same information and tweak it to what we think is best based upon our learning and our own experiences and needs. Your going to find you will do that too. Providing some of the food varieties might be a challenge for you, so you might have to do tweaking in areas like growing more of your own, having a shorter season you can provide weeds and base your diet more on what you can get locally.[/u]

 

[Jamberry]

Brett, first things first...take a deep breath and relax. Your going to do fine and so will she under your care.

Having an outdoor enclosure for part of the year is optimal, but they can live without it. Living in Alaska will make having a tort a bit more of a challenge then most others have to face, but still very workable. Aren't there a month or two every year where she could be outside, even if only for a couple of hours? Any little bit of time is a huge bonus.

The outdoor enclosure can be as simple as a plastic tote you take outside or better some small wire cage, where she can't dig out yet can graze on the weeds, but has a cover to keep her from climbing out. Just little time while your out there with her while you do yardwork? cook on the grill? sit and read a book in the warm sun? Or simply sit and watch her antics?

The plastic tubs or the rabbit cage is fine for now. It allows you time to really figure out what you actually need, have space for, and can make. You may decide to stick with the first one you use. My own inside winter enclosures are rubbermaid sheep water tanks, but the isolation pens are plastic storage tubs.

I run my hottest basking point higher than Tortania, use a mix of 50/50, and a slight difference in some of the food, but otherwise I pretty much go with what she has said. We all sorta take the same information and tweak it to what we think is best based upon our learning and our own experiences and needs. Your going to find you will do that too. Providing some of the food varieties might be a challenge for you, so you might have to do tweaking in areas like growing more of your own, having a shorter season you can provide weeds and base your diet more on what you can get locally.[/u]

Haha, you could tell I was freaking out a little, huh? Lol. *takes breath*

Well, in the summertime it's normally between 65-75F, and on rare occasions it will get into the 80s. I can definitely take her for little walks in the sun on the warmer days and let her forage around, but I haven't my own yard or anything, so I can't leave her out. It stays sunny for 18-20 hours a day in mid to late summer, so working some playtime in shouldn't be too much of an issue. Though the temperature starts going down in the evening(4-6p.m) regardless.

What is the minimum temperature I can take her out in safely? I'm not going to lie, the idea of taking her out to play in the grass is very exciting(very bad idea or my snakes and gecko).

Also, have you ever grown plants in your tortoise pens? Will having stuff they can munch on 24/7 mess with the schedule you feed them on? I'm just curious because it seems like growing Dandelions or Clover would be super-easy. I also saw some Aloe Vera at Home Depot and it got me thinking. I'm not sure how good Aloe Vera is for eating on their own, though.

I spotted some dried Hibiscus in the grocery store and snatched it. I don't know if Russian Tortoises will eat dried plants, but I know they like Hibiscus, and it was $.84 for a 1/4lb. That seemed like a good deal for something that will last half a year, and that I can just make into tea if the little miss doesn't care for it.

Anyways, thanks for the response and the patience to educate a newb like me, lol.

 

[Jamberry]

Hi Brett! Welcome to the forum , and congratulations on your upcoming tort adoption! I have four Russians myself! They are amazing creatures with personalities all their own . Sounds like the little lady is lucky that someone who is willing to take care of her properly!

As for an enclosure, a 4' would be fine for one tortoise. I have three of mine in a Land Water tub that measures 3 x 6 for winter time accomodations. You should provide her with a basking area that should maintain daytime temps from the low to mid 80's while on the other side the temps should be in the mid to upper 70s. This gives her the option of warming or cooling herself down. You will also need a UVB light for vitamin D synthesis. I use a top soil/playsand substrate mix (70% topsoil -30% sand), and I cover this with orchard grass. The humidity levels should be maintained around 50-55%. As for diet, Russians prefer broad leaf plants (no animial protein or fruit!!) grasses, and vegetables. I feed mine weeds I find in the yard, fescue grasses, clover, assorted flowers, curly endive, romaine lettuce (sparingly!), shredded carrots as well as butternut and acorn squash twice a week for vitamin A, radicchio, a occassionally collard and mustard greens. You may need to sprinkle her food once a week with a calcium powder (buy in your local healthfood stores) and if she is never going to be outside make sure it has D3 added.

This is a start anyway. There are a few wonderful Russian keepers on this forum (we've all had breeding activity the past week!). Enjoy your tort, and again welcome

Thank you for the welcome.

There has actually been a change in enclosure plans for now. I'm having to take her earlier than expected, and won't have time to make my original pen. So as a temporary pen, until about May, I'll be using a 50 gallon tote. But this may be for the better, since it will mean that I can more easily make an actual tortoise table or something of the like, because I won't be needing to spend so much money right now. $20.

What is orchid grass? When I was at Home Depot earlier today I saw "orchid bark". That isn't the same thing, I'm assuming? And is there a reason that top soil alone isn't good? Is it necessary for it to be cut with sand, or is it for giving the tortoise an environment that more closely resembles its natural setting alone?

Also, because of the limited space available, I'm thinking about getting a spot light that will double as a basking light and give the little lass the UV she needs, and then a CHE to keep the "pen" from getting too cold at night. Is there any reason you can think of that would make this set-up bad?

How much of a nighttime temperature drop should there be? Is there a nighttime temperature that is more beneficial?

Sorry for all the questions, they just keep popping up.

Thanks again!

 

[Josh]

i dont mean to interrupt the help you're getting here but i love alaska
where in alaska do you live?

 

[Jamberry]

i dont mean to interrupt the help you're getting here but i love alaska
where in alaska do you live?

Haha, no worries.

I live in Anchorage.

 

[Jacqui]

Those moments in the summer will work fine. Many folks only take their animals out for the daytime hours or under supervision because of predators and the like. Like I said any and all time outside is a benefit.

For the temps to take out, I can't give you a certain temp I use. It would be in the sixties, but not sure what exact temp. I go more by if the sun is shining and I can comfortable be out there in my t-shirt and barefoot (or close to it), which would vary for some folks..

All my outdoor pens have plants. I sometimes try putting plants in the inside ones, but the green thumb I have outside, does not follow me into the house. If I had a green inside thumb, then you had better believe inside enclosures would be teeming with lush green munchies. Those dead twigs I have hanging from the ceilings would instead be green and blooming. I would own a ton of inside hibiscus plants to keep a steady supply of blooms going. See those bare shelfs on all my windows? Visualize dandelions and the like being grown... okay back to reality, bau dang that was a nice dream moment...

Having free range food gives them something to occupy their time, allows them to behave more naturally, to eat something normally better for them, and allows them to pick and choose their menu. You might need to cut back on what your feeding her, if she eats a lot outside, but other then that, no it makes no real difference in their diet schedule

 

[Jamberry]

All my outdoor pens have plants. I sometimes try putting plants in the inside ones, but the green thumb I have outside, does not follow me into the house. If I had a green inside thumb, then you had better believe inside enclosures would be teeming with lush green munchies. Those dead twigs I have hanging from the ceilings would instead be green and blooming. I would own a ton of inside hibiscus plants to keep a steady supply of blooms going. See those bare shelfs on all my windows? Visualize dandelions and the like being grown... okay back to reality, bau dang that was a nice dream moment...

Hahaha. Yeah, I don't know if I have a green thumb yet, but I'll try it out. Having UV in the pen will probably make it pretty easy for some things. My family used to grow/breed roses, so maybe I inherited some form of gardening skill... Maybe.

Thanks again for all the patience, wading through my posts and giving me back all the info.!

 

[Itort]

Just note of reference, you realize that torts use uvB and plants use uvA. Therefore you need the two sources (i.e. a growlight and a repti-sun). I spent two years in Anchorage and know in summer you should have no problem growing or collecting food stuffs such as dandelions. I think a russian is a choice for your location and wish you luck. Keep researching and I think this tort will make you very happy.

 

[Jamberry]

Just note of reference, you realize that torts use uvB and plants use uvA. Therefore you need the two sources (i.e. a growlight and a repti-sun). I spent two years in Anchorage and know in summer you should have no problem growing or collecting food stuffs such as dandelions. I think a russian is a choice for your location and wish you luck. Keep researching and I think this tort will make you very happy.

I didn't know that, and am VERY glad you told me, lol. I'll definitely be looking for both UVA and UVB sources. Will UVA effect the tortoise at all, since they use UVB? I'm guessing no, but don't really want to go on a whim.

Yeah, dandelions and weeds are definitely not an issue. We also have tons of green houses and a botanical garden I can look at to try and find some flowers that are safe from toxins for her.

Have you ever grown any weeds indoors by chance, with limited light, like a bulb in the pen? It's something I'd like to do, but I don't know if I can get them to grow from seeds in a pen like the one I'm planning to make.

But thank you, I certainly hope to make the little miss happy!

 

[Itort]

Yhe uvA is just daylight to animals. I have never grown "weeds" indoors but have grown my share of herbs and salad greens under growlights. Remember the defination of a weed is a plant growing out of place. Where I grow up black susans and coneflowers were considered weeds and now you pay high buck for the plants my mom had me pulling from the garden. No I don't think you'll have any problems growing inside.

 

[K9KidsLove]

Be careful with the flowers that they haven't been dusted with toxins to kill bugs. Also, the soil/sand mix...use washed play sand...I get mine from Home Depot, and be sure there are no fertilizers in the soil. I use one labeled organic. Another suggestion...don't keep the tote on the floor...it would be colder than if it was on a desk or dresser or whatever. To keep the humidity down and have better ventilation, you might want to drill some large holes about 4" above your soil line.

Off topic...the girl who can't take care of a turtle who then wants an iguana should be reminded it takes a lot more care...and a huge cage which means huge lights & heaters and lots worse smells! And lots more time to tame. It is a daily process to keep them tame.

Good luck with your new girl.
Patsy

 

[Jentortmom]

I grow weeds, and other seeds inside, I just keep them by a window for the sunshine. If you can get the previously mentioned substrate you could always use Aspen. Also there are a few sites you can by seeds from they have russian blends, clover, dandelions, etc... turtlecafe.com , carolinapetsupply, you could also try reptileeats they ship food design specifically for the torts diet all you have to do is rinse and serve. I am not sure if anyone stated before but you need to get calcium powder to sprinkle on the food, I use repcal with a pink label, and you can put cuttlebone in there for her to chomp on. When my russians are inside, they are either in a rabbit cage or a rubbermaid tub, but you can go to www.reptilechannel.com and in there april issue they have a spread on tortoise tables - they look cool, or you can get the reptiles magazine. Everyday that it is over 60 deg and sunny my indoor torts go outside and play if that helps. Good Luck with your new tort.

 

[Fiddlerchick]

Hi there, and welcome!

Just wanted to chime in with the advice above and mention to try to give her at least 5" of depth in the substrate to burrow into, as the Russians love to dig!

Don't hesitate to ask any questions you may have, because the people on this forum are very knowledgeable, friendly and helpful. They got us through our first, somewhat bumpy, couple months with our little Farishta, who adopted us in early December.

By the way, Farishta enjoys very frequent, long (30-minute or so) warm water afternoon soaks, after which she gets to go outside to the tiny bit of yard we have access to at our central L.A. apartment, and mow down the portulacas planted there.

-Brenda K

P.S. Farishta is doing great these days - update coming soon!