Russian tortsie Advice

[Troyk45]

Hi everyone, I have a 4–6 year old Russian tortoise and I’m looking for advice or improvements to his care. I currently use an automatic mister twice a day, a heat bulb on all day, and a UV bulb on for about 17 hours daily. He has multiple hiding spots, a basking rock, calcium block, coconut fiber and reptile mulch bedding, and a water bowl for soaking. Any tips on enclosure setup or general care would be appreciated. I just want to make sure I’m doing everything correctly.

 

[zovick]

Hi everyone, I have a 4–6 year old Russian tortoise and I’m looking for advice or improvements to his care. I currently use an automatic mister twice a day, a heat bulb on all day, and a UV bulb on for about 17 hours daily. He has multiple hiding spots, a basking rock, calcium block, coconut fiber and reptile mulch bedding, and a water bowl for soaking. Any tips on enclosure setup or general care would be appreciated. I just want to make sure I’m doing everything correctly.

How long have you had your tortoise? Photos of the tortoise itself would be helpful in determining if what is being done for it is good or bad.

The open screen top of your habitat is, unfortunately, a possible detriment. Also misting doesn't take the place of a humid habitat.

 

[Troyk45]

How long have you had your tortoise? Photos of the tortoise itself would be helpful in determining if what is being done for it is good or bad.

The open screen top of your habitat is, unfortunately, a possible detriment. Also misting doesn't take the place of a humid habitat.

I have had him for just over a year now. I attached a few photos of him

 

[Tom]

Hi everyone, I have a 4–6 year old Russian tortoise and I’m looking for advice or improvements to his care. I currently use an automatic mister twice a day, a heat bulb on all day, and a UV bulb on for about 17 hours daily. He has multiple hiding spots, a basking rock, calcium block, coconut fiber and reptile mulch bedding, and a water bowl for soaking. Any tips on enclosure setup or general care would be appreciated. I just want to make sure I’m doing everything correctly.

Start here:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

You will find lots of things you need to work on in that thread, and this thread is specific to your species:

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[zovick]

I have had him for just over a year now. I attached a few photos of him

The tortoise doesn't look bad at all, and it is of a size where the humid environment is not as necessary to prevent pyramiding as it would be with a younger tortoise. Hence, it appears that you are doing a good job taking care of your tortoise.

The only other concern at this point might be the size of the enclosure. How big is it? I think 4' by 8' is the recommended optimum size, but many people are not able to provide that large a space. In the case of your tortoise being a smaller species, it is probably not overly critical.

 

[Troyk45]

The tortoise doesn't look bad at all, and it is of a size where the humid environment is not as necessary to prevent pyramiding as it would be with a younger tortoise. Hence, it appears that you are doing a good job taking care of your tortoise.

The only other concern at this point might be the size of the enclosure. How big is it? I think 4' by 8' is the recommended optimum size, but many people are not able to provide that large a space. In the case of your tortoise being a smaller species, it is probably not overly critical.

He's not that large maybe 5" shell, and he has an outodoor enclosure thats much larger in the summer.

Start here:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

You will find lots of things you need to work on in that thread, and this thread is specific to your species:

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Hi everyone, I have a 4–6 year old Russian tortoise and I’m looking for advice or improvements to his care. I currently use an automatic mister twice a day, a heat bulb on all day, and a UV bulb on for about 17 hours daily. He has multiple hiding spots, a basking rock, calcium block, coconut fiber and reptile mulch bedding, and a water bowl for soaking. Any tips on enclosure setup or general care would be appreciated. I just want to make sure I’m doing everything correctly.

Hello and welcome! So glad you’ve made your way to the forum for advice on improving your tortoises carethis place has all the best up to date information!

There are definitely some suggestions I’d make, we don’t tend to recommend misters as they aren’t really doing anything for your humidity other than temporarily boosting the levels by getting the surface area wet, the evaporation effect can cause temperature fluctuations too.
What kind of heat bulb is it you have? If it’s light emitting, it shouldn’t be on all day.

For the uvb, 17hours is too much,
with the uv timing, every other source of information will tell you 12hours of uv. This is essentially an old fashioned rule that has stuck with a lot of keepers, it stems from the presumption that once the basking light or ambient lighting is on, ie the ‘sun’, that uv must coexist the same amount of hours. Fact is, uv rays only peak for a few hours a day, anyone with a uv meter will confirm this. No tortoise is blasted with 12 hours of uv in the wild, therefore it’s not necessary in captivity. Whilst not necessarily dangerous, it’s potentially annoying to the tortoise to have 12hours on uv in the enclosure.
The right uv bulbs are much more expensive to replace once their uv strength diminishes, so it’s definitely best having it on a 4 hour timer that provides them with all the uv they need, saving your bulb life.
Then some cheaper led lighting for your ambient 12 hour light cycle as well as the basking light on the same 12hrs, your ceramics(if needed) will run 24/7 on a thermostat, hope that all makes sense
The most recommended up to date indoor uv option is t5 tube fluorescent bulbs, they disperse the uv light over a much wider area. Recommended brands are Arcadia proT5 kit 12% or zoo med reptisun t5 10.0(hood usually sold separate)

As well as Toms links, hopefully these will help you out!

This thread covers correct equipment(uvb, heating bulbs, lighting etc, definitely double check bulb types, folks unfortunately sold the wrong ones often), correct levels, appropriately maintaining the humidity, safe substrates, there’s lots of visual examples for everything, and the tortoise table link

Housing adult Russian and Hermans indoors

Hello there! In this thread I’m going to include some information an example of an appropriate indoor set up for an older Herman/russian. As much as it’s encouraged to have tortoises in a safe outdoor enclosure, I understand being from the uk myself, that some climates make it difficult to...

tortoiseforum.org

This includes lots of inspiration for an adult set up both indoors and out! The indoor bit has some good ideas to tackle indoor space whilst still providing the needed roaming room! Check comments too, I’m always adding to it, I have a huge back log I need to add. An appropriate sized enclosure is vital to a tortoises long term health

Enclosure inspiration

Howdy folks! Hope everyone is well! As you all know, I’m a big fan of making threads that cater more towards visual learners like myself, I’ve really been wanting to create a thread full of adult enclosure inspiration for a while now, I’ve managed to find some great references over time! I do...

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Lastly, this one here is probably most important to go over and keep on hand, it’ll help you avoid the wrong bulbs, substrates, housing etc, I always encourage double checking purchases on the forum too before buying

Common keeping errors

Hello everyone! I’d been a long time lurker on this site long before joining just under a year ago now, over that time I’ve seen these husbandry issues come up time and time again, sometimes with dire consequences☹️ I thought this thread might serve as a good visual guide for these common...

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Phew! Really hope this all helps! I know it’s a lot to go over sorrybut take all the time you need! They’ll always be folks to help with any further questions! We can break things down bit by bit, and help step by step. Welcome to the forum