Shell deformity?

[Tom]

She eats grocery store stuff now that it’s too cold to forage.. red and green leaf lettuce, mustard greens, and dandelion greens. Obsessive over the lettuce. When it’s warm and I can forage she eats dandelions and their leaves, clovers, and was eating pansies maybe once a week so I wasn’t decimating my garden. I bought prickly pear this fall but she won’t touch it!

Temps remain the same at all times

What I'm seeing is a metabolic/growth issue. The answers to my questions confirm this.

Temperate species, like Russians, need a cool down at night. You need a thermostat that does different day and night temps, or an analog thermostat set on a timer to turn your ambient heat off at night. I'd set it to 70 at night for a while, and eventually let it drop into the 60s after a week or two.

Grocery store greens do not meet the nutritional needs of a tortoise. They must be amended in one of many ways. Calcium would be one of the amendments, but hey also need fiber and much variety added. Lettuce serves as a fine vehicle to get the good stuff into your tortoise. These two threads both contain diet info that should help you, and all your questions are welcome.

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

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

Be aware that dietary changes will need to be made gradually, and it will take time for the tortoise to accept the new foods and changes.

 

[lemon_moon]

What I'm seeing is a metabolic/growth issue. The answers to my questions confirm this.

Temperate species, like Russians, need a cool down at night. You need a thermostat that does different day and night temps, or an analog thermostat set on a timer to turn your ambient heat off at night. I'd set it to 70 at night for a while, and eventually let it drop into the 60s after a week or two.

Grocery store greens do not meet the nutritional needs of a tortoise. They must be amended in one of many ways. Calcium would be one of the amendments, but hey also need fiber and much variety added. Lettuce serves as a fine vehicle to get the good stuff into your tortoise. These two threads both contain diet info that should help you, and all your questions are welcome.

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

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

Be aware that dietary changes will need to be made gradually, and it will take time for the tortoise to accept the new foods and changes.

She does get calcium sprinkled on her food about once a week which she has no problem eating.

I’ll read these two threads, thank you so much. I wouldn’t have thought diet.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Thank you all for your input and also thank you for being so kind (I was nervous to post.)

I’ll get back to more soaks for sure and stay more on top of keeping the substrate damp.

Thanks so much

Bless you, don’t ever worry posting here! We understand everyone’s circumstances are different and just want to help improve things wherever possibleglad Tom checked temps with you, they definitely do need a slight drop at night
I think with all the suggested tweaks, you’ll be on the right track!