Shell Health

[TortoiseMan15]

Hi all,

Fairly new to tortoise keeping and still getting the ropes. I have had my 2 year old Russian Tortoise for 5 months now and I love keeping him. I was just wondering if anybody is able to advise me on him and his shell. Does he look healthy? I have a mercury vapour bulb on 12-14 hours a day and keep him on a diet of store bought Baby Lead Salad, Watercress, Kale, Sping greens with packets of flower boost dandelions and occasional slices of cucumber. I also bathe him once a week for around 20 mins. He comes out some days around 1-2pm and spends them climbing and roaming but others he hides all day until I physically get him out and wake him up. Is there anything else I can do to ensure my torts well being? I have attached photos of him and the table. Any advise on getting him to wake up earlier will also be greatly appreciated! Many thanks all!

 

[TammyJ]

He is dry looking, to me. What is the humidity level? He is pyramided. What's the substrate? Trying to help, but not an expert, just going by what I have learned here from those more knowledgeable.

 

[TammyJ]

He should be soaked more often.

 

[Ray--Opo]

Welcome, I am not to knowledgeable about RT's. The substrate looks suspect, it looks like dirt. The dirt or sandy soil can give them digestive problems. You should use Reptibark. Find the caresheets for RT's here on the forum. I wish I knew had to copy and paste for you.
When reading the caresheets you will find that Russians need at least a 4ft x 8ft enclosure.
Most members don't use mercury vapor lights anymore. A lot of us use UVB light fixtures from a brand called Arcadia. They look like flouresnt tube lights. Look for a HO 5.0 light.
At night for heat you can use a CHE( ceramic heat emitter) Your tort needs total darkness at night.
You can Google those items to find.
Hopefully a member who knows more about Russians will chime in soon.
I will keep watch to see if you get responses soon.
Good luck!

 

[TortoiseMan15]

Hi all,
Thank you for getting back to me. I keep his humidity levels between 50-70% and he’s on a blended Mediterranean tortoise substrate (photos attached). I will be bathing him more regularly and may add a different substrate. Any tips on luring him out of his hide so he’s under the lights more?

 

[Tom]

You have received and followed the usual incorrect tortoise care advice. I say these things not to be mean, but to tell you what is wrong so you can fix it.
You have:
1. The wrong type of enclosure. Its difficult to maintain the correct heat and humidity for a baby with an open topped enclosure. Large vivariums, aka: closed chambers, work much better for babies.
2. Wrong lights. MVBs cause pyramiding, and their UV levels are all over the map. Sometimes way too much, and sometimes none at all after a two or three months of use, even though they still light up.
3. Wrong substrate. They should never be on soil or sand, and putting bits of calcium in sandy soil, which encourages a tortoise to eat it, is a terrible idea. This literally kills tortoises by causing sand impaction.
4. Your diet needs much improvement. Grocery store foods alone do not meet tortoise nutritional needs. It is best to use an assortment of broadleaf weeds and leaves to feeds your tortoise, along with some flowers and succulents. If you must use grocery store fodder, it needs to be amended to make it better for your tortoise.
5. It is much too dry in that enclosure. Babies need a moist environment for proper shell development and growth.

All of this and more is explained in detail here. Read this at least twice:

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

Here is a more concise lighting breakdown:
There are four elements to heating and lighting:

1. Basking bulb. I use 65 watt incandescent floods from the hardware store. Some people will need bigger, or smaller wattage bulbs. Let your thermometer be your guide. I run them on a timer for about 12 hours and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. I also like to use a flat rock of some sort directly under the bulb. You need to check the temp with a thermometer directly under the bulb and get it to around 95-100F (36-37C).
2. Ambient heat maintenance. I use ceramic heating elements or radiant heat panels set on thermostats to maintain ambient above 80 degrees day and night for tropical species. In most cases you'd only need day heat for a temperate species like Testudo or DT, as long as your house stays above 60F (15-16C) at night. Some people in colder climates or with larger enclosures will need multiple CHEs or RHPs to spread out enough heat.
3. Ambient light. I use LEDs for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most bulbs at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. Strip or screw-in LED bulb types are both fine.
4. UV. If you can get your tortoise outside for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. In colder climates, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. 5.0 bulbs make almost no UV. I like the 12% HO bulbs from Arcadia. You need a meter to check this: https://www.solarmeter.com/model65.html A good UV bulb only needs to run for 2-3 hours mid day. You need the basking bulb and the ambient lighting to be on at least 12 hours a day.

Your questions are welcome. There are usually several when people reach this point in their tortoise keeping journey and discover that the pet shop and the internet led them the wrong way.

 

[Lyn W]

Hi and welcome.
Looks like you had some bad advice starting out but its easily put right if you follow Tom's advice above and most of us have had to make changes to make sure our torts thrive.

A couple of things I spotted that you could change.

• the clamp for the lamp you have have been known to fail and injure torts and even cause fires. Lamps are better hung so that you can adjust temps by raising or lowering.
• your water dish has quite steep sides so could be a tipping and drowning hazard for a little tort. Many of us use cheap terracotta plant saucers. They have gently outward sloping sides, good traction and when sunk level with the substrate are safer and easier for torts to access and exit.

There's a lot to learn but you're in the best place to do that. Ask as many questions as you like there's always someone around to help.