Russian tortoise wild or not?

[Spazz_Attack24]

Ok so this might of been ask before, But what are the clues that you might have gotten a wild cought tortoise I brought 2 female russian tortoise form the pet store, and they dont seem to like to be inside they liek to be outside and run away, they eat better outside then they do when i have them inside, there incloser is 6ft long x 3ft wide with a big hide and a ramp to go to the sec floor, they just hide and sleep all the time inside, there size is 5 icnhes and 4 inches, not sure what im doing wrong, i got them aug, 26 2024 and i have not clue when they hatched cuz the pet store could not give me any infomation on that,

 

[Ink]

You should not keep them in pairs. Can you post a picture of them?

 

[wellington]

6x3 isn't big enough for one let alone two as they should not be kept in pairs. Housing in pairs causes a lot of stress. Thry are trying to get away from each other.
Pet stores chains usually only get WC. Usually their shell is more rugged looking then one that was not WC
They lie about their age usually and have no clue on how to care for them or they would have told you to not house them together.
Try to build each a 4x8 for indoor and seperate them both inside and out.

 

[Spazz_Attack24]

You should not keep them in pairs. Can you post a picture of them?

 

[Spazz_Attack24]

6x3 isn't big enough for one let alone two as they should not be kept in pairs. Housing in pairs causes a lot of stress. Thry are trying to get away from each other.
Pet stores chains usually only get WC. Usually their shell is more rugged looking then one that was not WC
They lie about their age usually and have no clue on how to care for them or they would have told you to not house them together.
Try to build each a 4x8 for indoor and seperate them both inside and out.

I brought them together cuz they were shipped together to the store they don't seem to be bothered to be together

 

[wellington]

I brought them together cuz they were shipped together to the store they don't seem to be bothered to be together

That's because the store doesn't know better and you don't know what to look for
There are hundreds of not thousands of threads/post about why tortoises should not be kept in pairs. The years of experience on this forum I think knows what they are talking about.
They need to be separated ASAP or one will get sick and or die, your choice.

 

[Spazz_Attack24]

Ok thanks for the information

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

As the others have said,
tortoise of any species should NEVER be housed in pairs under any circumstances, they’re incredibly territorial, behaviours that look cute to us really aren’t, following one another and sleeping huddled up is all bullying the the tortoise world, you’ll eventually see more extreme signs of aggression. Anyone who tells you pairs are fine, have no idea what they’re talking about.

Small groups are ok when there’s lots of land and the correct male to female ratio.

As adults they need a minimum of an 8x4 enclosure, roaming is vital to tortoise health, it aids digestion and strengthen their muscles.

I’m going to include some information below on an example of an appropriate indoor set up for when they’re needing to be inside, it includes the correct levels and equipment etc, including the appropriate indoor uv

Basking light should be an incandescent floodlight(example attached) on a 12 hour timer.

Basking temperature directly under the floodlight should be 95-100f. The rest of the enclosure should be ranging 75-80 during the day.

You may also wish to add ambient lighting on the same timer, providing shady areas with hides and safe plants.

Then CHE/CHE’s(ceramic heat emitters) always on a thermostat, for night heat if your house drops below 60’s at night. Set the thermostat for a night temperature place the probe in their cooler end, plug the che into it and the thermostat into the mains, it’ll be plugged in 24/7 but will only turn on when the temperature drops. You can check your night temps first to see if they’re necessary.

Wide large domes will help project heat down, just don’t reply solely on the clamps that come with them, always hang securely.

Indoor Uv should be a t5 fluorescent tube, avoid the compact and coil uv bulbs, they don’t give out enough uv and can hurt the tortoises eyes. The uv can be on a 4 hour timer from noon. I’ve attached examples of the two brands to go for and some examples of how to mount them. The Arcadia proT5 kit 12% comes with the reflector fitting, the reptisun needs it buying separate.

With lighting always avoid anything labelled halogen or mercury vapour.

For substrates, either coco coir, dampened and packed down by hand as a base, with a layer of orchid(fir not pine) bark or forest floor on top, or just the orchid bark/forest floor. Never use anything with sand mixed in, no top soils and no kinds of moss. The problem with top soil is unless you’ve composted it yourself, you don’t know what kind of plants have gone into it, it could be something toxic. Sand can irritate the eyes and be an impaction risk, moss is an impaction risk too.

You want to aim to have the bottom layer of substrate damp, to do this pour lukewarm water into the corners, not loads but enough to dampen the entire bottom layer. To stop that top layer getting a little too dry/dusty, mix the substrate now n then. Check your monitors and substrate to do the pours as and when needed.



I’d personally recommend you make your own base to go as big as you possibly can for the space you have. The closer you can get to an 8x4 size the better, if they each have a large outdoor enclosure they spend most of the year, you may get away with slightly smaller indoors, but they still need roaming room.

When making your base, just make sure the material is safe, some use flower beds, or take a large bookcase, take out the shelves and lie flat, or just make their own, for all these options I’d line with cheap pond liner to protect the base, making sure the liner goes up the sides too and make sure those sides are deep enough! They can be professional escape artists😂

I’ve also included examples of stands people make/buy to hang their lighting, use a temperature gun to determine how high the basking bulb needs to be, the uv I suggested needs to be mounted 18-20 inches from the substrate(the Arcadia uv)

For a water dish a shallow terracotta saucer is considered safest, they have grip in the event your tortoise flips themselves, most pet store options are a known hazard.

I’d also always recommend getting your hands on a temp gun, they’re SO handy when setting up a new environment or for checking your monitors are correct🙂

For the diet side of things, perhaps you’ll find this link below useful, not fruits for these two, leafy greens and weeds are the way to go here! Perhaps you could buy seeds online and plant your own in organic soil(no fertilisers or anything) in planters the tortoises don’t have access to, forage them as they grow😊

The Tortoise Table - Home

The Tortoise Table plant database and resource site for Tortoise owners

www.thetortoisetable.org.uk

Hope this helps! Any further questions please ask🥰

 

[TammyJ]

Hi and welcome! Your tortoises are beautiful. But they will be both beautiful and happy when you do the right thing and separate them from each other!

 

[Spazz_Attack24]

the thing is if i separate them i would have to get to rehome one, cuz i don't have the room to make there encloser smaller we spent $1500 on a custom encloser that we bult and all sealed together we were told it was ok to house them together if they were born and raised together, i emailed different breeders and what not, so im not sure what i can do i let them go outside and roam my front yard witch is not very big, but then i have a small house . they are both females, and there about 5 yrs old, they eat together and sleep in different spot, there never together except for breakfast then they go there separate ways

 

[TammyJ]

It's a very, very difficult thing to do to actually convince human beings, who are social animals, that some other species of animal do not want or need any "companionship". Tortoises do better, and in fact, are safer, on their own, in their own properly set up habitat, or sometimes in workable groups... never in pairs. There is no amount of excuses or stories that will make keeping tortoises in pairs be ok for them. Maybe for their owners, but not for them.