Russian tortoise health questions

Qb12drew

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Nov 1, 2020
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Gilbert, AZ
Hello everyone,

My Russian Tortoise has been pyramiding so I’ve done my best to keep his humidity at 60% by getting a repti fogger. It’s helped but I still see that it drops to 40% at times. I soak him about 3-4 times a week for about 20 min. I mist his enclosure with a spray bottle regularly. I don’t believe that his pyramiding is getting worse but I don’t see it improving either. I just want to be sure he’s happy and healthy. Any tips would be great. I’ve taken a few pics of his enclosure. It is 45 inches long and 15.2 in wide. I have plastic wrap on about a quarter of the enclosure where his hides are and where the humidifier is. Temps are usually around 85 degrees Fahrenheit. I feed him spring mix most of the time. Ive put in an aloe Vera plant in that’s not in the pics. Also give him cactus pads occasionally. He’s about a year and a half old and pretty active in the morning but the goes in to his hide for most of the afternoon. He does come out randomly tho. His shell is hard and firm, eyes are clear, and tongue is pink. He’s poop is solid and toothpastey. Please let me know if you need more info. 1316EBED-7A53-4615-A671-9CAF1F3786BE.png03520B6D-709C-4374-BD63-D9A200B53E06.png536B4FDD-41D2-4CE0-B009-ED4D791996A7.jpeg19A93904-E0F6-4FD2-BCB2-1A76702C3243.jpeg
 

Maggie3fan

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This is just my personal opinion, and I mean no disrespect, you cannot keep humidity up with an open top like that. He needs constant ambient heat, consistent night time heat, and a better diet. I would soak him daily for about 10 minutes, adding a pinch of calcium w/d3 twice a week to his food.. Next time you go to the store get other weeds like, green leaf, kale, mustard, dandelion leafs, radicchio. Just add more leafy stuff as it's a variety that will keep him healthy. He is small so I always cut up the stuff smallish and mix it all around. His pyramiding will never go away or improve, but you can stop it now and his new growth will be smooth. Here's some reading for you

 

Qb12drew

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Nov 1, 2020
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Gilbert, AZ
Thank you for the reply. Yes I’m just trying to get some help. I live in Phoenix AZ and if I put him outside there’s no humidity outside either. So I’m keeping in the enclosure to try to provide humidity. I’m using plastic hides and soak the mulch on a regular bases inside them. Any suggestions to maintain humidity? For heat I’m using 2 flood bulbs and and night I use a night tome bulb. I’ll get the calcium powder. Also where can you purchase some of the weeds you mentioned.
 

harrythetortoise

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Thank you for the reply. Yes I’m just trying to get some help. I live in Phoenix AZ and if I put him outside there’s no humidity outside either. So I’m keeping in the enclosure to try to provide humidity. I’m using plastic hides and soak the mulch on a regular bases inside them. Any suggestions to maintain humidity? For heat I’m using 2 flood bulbs and and night I use a night tome bulb. I’ll get the calcium powder. Also where can you purchase some of the weeds you mentioned.
I saw one of the forum members utilize a "mini greenhouse" to cover the whole enclosure. You can get something like this from amazon, and there are many different sizes to choose from:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08W4W25R9/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20
This will keep nice overall humidity up. With the fogger, it is not recommended as it has a risk of aspiration of water into the lungs.

For the weeds if you cannot get from your garden, you can try buying from grocery stores (like raddicchio, mustard greens, escarole, endive, bok choy etc), and if you have any Asian grocery stores around you, check to see if they have dandelion leaves, mallows, chicory, cactus pads.
 

Qb12drew

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Nov 1, 2020
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Location (City and/or State)
Gilbert, AZ
I saw one of the forum members utilize a "mini greenhouse" to cover the whole enclosure. You can get something like this from amazon, and there are many different sizes to choose from:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08W4W25R9/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20
This will keep nice overall humidity up. With the fogger, it is not recommended as it has a risk of aspiration of water into the lungs.

For the weeds if you cannot get from your garden, you can try buying from grocery stores (like raddicchio, mustard greens, escarole, endive, bok choy etc), and if you have any Asian grocery stores around you, check to see if they have dandelion leaves, mallows, chicory, cactus pads.
That’s a great idea! Thank you I found one a bit smaller than the one in the link provided. Oh really so I should stop with the fogger. He seems to like it cuz he sits in the fog. But ok I’ll get the green house ASAP.
 

Lyn W

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He's too small to be outside full time yet but you could let him have some short supervised outdoor time in an enclosure safe from predators (including birds) with shade so he can get out of the sun of he needs to.
Is that a uvb tube in the white fitting across the tub?

The clamps you are using for his lamps are not entirely safe and have been known to fail and cause fires and/or burn torts so if you can hang them instead that will be safer and you can adjust the temps by raising or lowering them.

I'm not sure if you need 2 flood lamps in an enclosure that size. Keep an eye on your temps but I think you need a more reliable thermometer/hygrometer. Most of us use a digital t/h with a probe that can be placed at tort level and a digital temp gun is great for spot checking temps around the enclosure

I also don't know if you need the fogger for him, but someone who has raised babies will be able to help you more with that.

Most of the foods Maggie listed are vegetables that can be bought in stores, but if you can find a good chemical and fume free source of weeds like dandelions ,sow thistle, ribwort and broadleaf plantain you'll have free food.
www.thetortoisetable.org.uk is a good guide to tort safe foods.
The caresheet will help you get things right and ask as many questions as you need.
 

Maggie3fan

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Thank you for the reply. Yes I’m just trying to get some help. I live in Phoenix AZ and if I put him outside there’s no humidity outside either. So I’m keeping in the enclosure to try to provide humidity. I’m using plastic hides and soak the mulch on a regular bases inside them. Any suggestions to maintain humidity? For heat I’m using 2 flood bulbs and and night I use a night tome bulb. I’ll get the calcium powder. Also where can you purchase some of the weeds you mentioned.
The 'weeds' I mentioned are in the same produce section that the Spring Mix is in...weeds: green leaf lettuce, red leaf, mustard greens, it's all the "leafy" stuff.
 

KarenSoCal

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For heat I’m using 2 flood bulbs and and night I use a night tome bulb.

A night tome bulb...is that to be a night time bulb? Are you using a red bulb at night? Or any bulb that makes light?

If you are, get rid of it. They make everything look red to your tortoise, and red is a strong feed response color. He may start eating his red substrate. In addition, they follow the same day/night cycles that we do. It should be dark at night.

For heat with no light at night, a CHE is best. You run it through a thermostat that only turns the heat on when it's needed. Here is a link to an excellent t'stat.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08PC8NSB1/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

And here are CHE's. You can usually buy these in Petco or Petsmart also.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001F9CV7K/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

You need to use a ceramic socket for a CHE. You can use a dome that is ceramic, but be sure to get a dome with a 10 in diameter. Or just buy a ceramic socket and a heavy lamp cord and wire them together. Hang the CHE by the cord from the bar across the top of the greenhouse.
 

Qb12drew

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Joined
Nov 1, 2020
Messages
7
Location (City and/or State)
Gilbert, AZ
A night tome bulb...is that to be a night time bulb? Are you using a red bulb at night? Or any bulb that makes light?

If you are, get rid of it. They make everything look red to your tortoise, and red is a strong feed response color. He may start eating his red substrate. In addition, they follow the same day/night cycles that we do. It should be dark at night.

For heat with no light at night, a CHE is best. You run it through a thermostat that only turns the heat on when it's needed. Here is a link to an excellent t'stat.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08PC8NSB1/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

And here are CHE's. You can usually buy these in Petco or Petsmart also.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001F9CV7K/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

You need to use a ceramic socket for a CHE. You can use a dome that is ceramic, but be sure to get a dome with a 10 in diameter. Or just buy a ceramic socket and a heavy lamp cord and wire them together. Hang the CHE by the cord from the bar across the top of the greenhouse.
Great thanks for the advice and thanks for the links!
 

TaylorTortoise

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Mar 24, 2020
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Abington
Thank you for the reply. Yes I’m just trying to get some help. I live in Phoenix AZ and if I put him outside there’s no humidity outside either. So I’m keeping in the enclosure to try to provide humidity. I’m using plastic hides and soak the mulch on a regular bases inside them. Any suggestions to maintain humidity? For heat I’m using 2 flood bulbs and and night I use a night tome bulb. I’ll get the calcium powder. Also where can you purchase some of the weeds you mentioned.
I get my produce from a produce store. You can get mustard greens, collard greens, or see if they have a santa barbra mix that has escorole, and different types of greens that include fibrous diet
 
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