Russian Tortoise starter.

[Mr.Actorman]

Alright, So my good friends sister had a Russian Tortoise, however she just moved away to collage so there family decided to give the tortoise to me.

Long story short, I have a Russian Tortoise and am a bit clueless as for what needs to happen now.


I really need help with the lighting, heating and feeding.
I have a basking lamp over the box that i assume i will turn off at night(i have a good Tortoise box with an area that's dark and cool for her to get too should she need), and a black shiny ceramic heat emitter that does not get very hot at all but i assume i keep that on at night to keep the box warm? Is there a way, or some lamp i should be using to get the emitter hotter? its been going for about 2 hours now and it emitting a very faint heat. So, is this setup correct? what should i do about the Emitter? The box itself seems to be a bit on the cooler side... Whats a good light cycle for her?

And for feeding, i was given quite a few different pellets and foods.
My friend told me to feed her 1 time a day, and to giver her Romanian lettuce along with a small variety of the pellets... Now is this info good too? How will i get her to eat? when should i feed her? Also! I received Several "instant meals for reptiles", little cans of freeze dried foods, I don't trust them, but hey, do you guys thing its okay to feed her these? Again, how will i get her to eat them?

Thanks for the help.

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

Here's a great resource that we often refer people to:
http://russiantortoise.net/

As for diet, Russian tortoises are herbivorous animals, whose diet should consist primarily of leafy greens. Romaine lettuce is fine, but it should be part of a varied diet. Your Russian tortoise should be getting lettuce, dandelion, chicory, endive, escarole, arugula, kale, collards, mustard greens, and turnip greens, as well as edible garden weeds in the summer. You can also offer a quality commercial diet, like moistened Mazuri Tortoise Diet. Sprinkle a diet supplement powder onto the plants a couple times a week. This will provide calcium and vitamin D3, and with some products, other vitamins, too. There should also be a cuttlefish bone in the enclosure for the tortoise to gnaw on. This is will not only provide calcium, but it will also give him a chance to wear his beak down.

As for temperatures, ambient temperatures should be in the 70s in the daytime, and can dip down into the 60s at night. The basking spot should be about 95-100*F. Use an overhead fluorescent light (like the ZooMed Reptisun 10.0) to provide illumination UVA/UVB radiation. For the hot spot, you can use incandescent lamps, or a ceramic heat emitter (CHE), which is more expensive but lasts much longer.

For the substrate, I recommend coconut coir, which retains moisture to increase relative humidity, but allows your tortoise to dig. It also resists molding. Just wet it with some water to the point where it's moist but not damp, and your tortoise will really benefit from it. The top layer can dry out, but the under-layers remain moist for several weeks at a time.

Let us know if you have any other questions, and good luck!

 

[mainey34]

Hello and welcome ...I dont know a lot about Russians, but...you need to offer more variety of greens you can try spring mix. The CHE.. ceramic heat emitter that you have, is it a 60 watt? It depends on the watts. Or it could be old or defective. Could you post a pic of his enclosure?

 

[luvpetz27]

Welcome!!!

 

[pam]

Welcome

 

[kanalomele]

Welcome to you and your new tortoise! Russians are a great species. I have had mine for many years. One of the first things I always suggest to most new keepers is to do a search of your species and look through lots and lots of old threads. Many of the things you need to know has been discussed at great length on this forum. There is a huge wealth of information at your fingertips. Read! Read! Read! Whatever you need clarified please feel free to ask away.