So I have had my female russian tortoise for a little over a year. I made the rookie mistake of feeding her a main diet of romaine lettuce, in an indoor habitat. She had been living like that with me for months, until i began to realize that she should have more fiber, not romaine lettuce, everything I have not been doing. So I built an outdoor enclosure thats 8 by 8 feet. I had got her in November, I put her in the new outdoor cage in august of the following year for about a month until it got colder. She had been eating 90% bahia grass. I thought that was great because it's high fiber and all that. She ended up growing growth rings after about a month in that habitat, on a main diet of grass. In the pictures, you can kind of see the growth rings but the main thing I am concerned about is how at the front of her shell, it became more vertical. The front scute had turned more upward. Her shell was not as smooth anymore.
Is this the result of the grass having too much protein, or not getting enough nutritional foods and good UV?
Also, can it be smoothed out as she grows more? She is five inches.
By the way, I keep her in the outdoor pen 24/7 now that it's warmer, and I pull all the grass seedlings out so they don't cover the whole pen and the weeds are able to thrive. Weeds are 80% of her diet, with spring mix, and flowers dusted with TNT for the other 20%. No more romaine lettuce in her diet.
Also, as a side note I can't stress it enough. Romaine lettuce is super bad for russian tortoises. It's not bad to eat, it is bad because they get addicted, picky, and only eat that and the owner (like me) will think that their new tortoise is super healthy because it has a voracious appetite. Then later they see how the shell becomes.
thank you so much for helping!!!!
Is this the result of the grass having too much protein, or not getting enough nutritional foods and good UV?
Also, can it be smoothed out as she grows more? She is five inches.
By the way, I keep her in the outdoor pen 24/7 now that it's warmer, and I pull all the grass seedlings out so they don't cover the whole pen and the weeds are able to thrive. Weeds are 80% of her diet, with spring mix, and flowers dusted with TNT for the other 20%. No more romaine lettuce in her diet.
Also, as a side note I can't stress it enough. Romaine lettuce is super bad for russian tortoises. It's not bad to eat, it is bad because they get addicted, picky, and only eat that and the owner (like me) will think that their new tortoise is super healthy because it has a voracious appetite. Then later they see how the shell becomes.
thank you so much for helping!!!!
