snailpeekoutofshell
Member
Hello again!
A couple weeks ago I posted about my Russian tortoise (Beans) that I found in my backyard and couldn't find the original home of. Since then, I've been working on building an enclosure for him in my backyard, but it's definitely taking quite a bit of time. For a majority of the time, he was in a large cardboard box (about 2x3 ft) because I thought I would very quickly be able to build his enclosure. It's taking significantly more time than I thought to plan out because of the odd shape so I've been trying to figure out the best way to close it off to predators (birds and neighborhood cats, but mostly my dogs). My dogs got to him a few days ago and I really wanted him to have a slightly more permanent home inside that could be upgraded, so I went out and got literally the only Christmas tree storage bin I could find. This is the one, and it's still quite small (4'x15") and if anyone is wondering the wheels truly suck. In the future it'll be what he's in only if I have to bring him in for bad weather or bring him in to sleep, but ideally I'll be able to combine it with a second one so he has more exploration space.
At this point, Beans is actually burrowed in the substrate almost all day, even when it's not very hot anymore. Previously he didn't even have substrate in his box just a towel and a hide, so maybe I'm just not used to how much he's burrowing. When he's out, he's moving around fine and he's active and alert and eats a good healthy amount but once he finishes basking and eating, he usually goes right back to sleep. His poops and urates have been normal and consistent, and actually today was the first urate where I haven't been worried about how hydrated he's been since I found him. Considering he's injured and in a new (and small) enclosure, is him being burrowed for most of the day normal or something I should be concerned about?
I've been trying to set up an appointment with a vet, but the number for the one on the forum list isn't working and I got in contact with one that I was hoping would be good yesterday, but they transferred me to a vet to chat with to set up an appointment and she simply said "I'll have them call you back to schedule an appointment. " and I felt hopeful but then I haven't heard from them since. Today's Saturday, so I was going to wait until Monday to try calling places again.
If anybody could offer some advice, I'd really appreciate it. My situation right now is temporary.. but I would like to make sure he's okay even before I can get him set up outside. I'm also concerned that I've been handling him way too much, although as long as I'm not holding him for too long he usually just kind of hangs out. Since calming down after the dog attack, he doesn't hide in his shell unless I accidentally move too right above him, but I'm always very careful to tap him gently or make some noise or move slowly in front of him so he knows what's going on and doesn't feel unsafe.
Also, is it safe to completely close the lid on his enclosure? And if so, for how long?
I've been closing it for just long enough to amp up the humidity, and then i'll leave it open until the humidity lowers again... but it's quite hard to keep it humid and I haven't decided where I want to drill holes into it yet.
Right now the routine is:
7-8am
9:30am
10:00am
12:00pm
2-3pm
6-7pm
Heating and Lighting
A couple weeks ago I posted about my Russian tortoise (Beans) that I found in my backyard and couldn't find the original home of. Since then, I've been working on building an enclosure for him in my backyard, but it's definitely taking quite a bit of time. For a majority of the time, he was in a large cardboard box (about 2x3 ft) because I thought I would very quickly be able to build his enclosure. It's taking significantly more time than I thought to plan out because of the odd shape so I've been trying to figure out the best way to close it off to predators (birds and neighborhood cats, but mostly my dogs). My dogs got to him a few days ago and I really wanted him to have a slightly more permanent home inside that could be upgraded, so I went out and got literally the only Christmas tree storage bin I could find. This is the one, and it's still quite small (4'x15") and if anyone is wondering the wheels truly suck. In the future it'll be what he's in only if I have to bring him in for bad weather or bring him in to sleep, but ideally I'll be able to combine it with a second one so he has more exploration space.
At this point, Beans is actually burrowed in the substrate almost all day, even when it's not very hot anymore. Previously he didn't even have substrate in his box just a towel and a hide, so maybe I'm just not used to how much he's burrowing. When he's out, he's moving around fine and he's active and alert and eats a good healthy amount but once he finishes basking and eating, he usually goes right back to sleep. His poops and urates have been normal and consistent, and actually today was the first urate where I haven't been worried about how hydrated he's been since I found him. Considering he's injured and in a new (and small) enclosure, is him being burrowed for most of the day normal or something I should be concerned about?
I've been trying to set up an appointment with a vet, but the number for the one on the forum list isn't working and I got in contact with one that I was hoping would be good yesterday, but they transferred me to a vet to chat with to set up an appointment and she simply said "I'll have them call you back to schedule an appointment. " and I felt hopeful but then I haven't heard from them since. Today's Saturday, so I was going to wait until Monday to try calling places again.
If anybody could offer some advice, I'd really appreciate it. My situation right now is temporary.. but I would like to make sure he's okay even before I can get him set up outside. I'm also concerned that I've been handling him way too much, although as long as I'm not holding him for too long he usually just kind of hangs out. Since calming down after the dog attack, he doesn't hide in his shell unless I accidentally move too right above him, but I'm always very careful to tap him gently or make some noise or move slowly in front of him so he knows what's going on and doesn't feel unsafe.
Also, is it safe to completely close the lid on his enclosure? And if so, for how long?
I've been closing it for just long enough to amp up the humidity, and then i'll leave it open until the humidity lowers again... but it's quite hard to keep it humid and I haven't decided where I want to drill holes into it yet.
Right now the routine is:
7-8am
- Turn on the lamp, pick him out of his burrowing spot and place him to bask for 30-60 minutes
9:30am
- Soak Beans for about 20-45 minutes in a large terracotta saucer
- Very gently brush off bits of substrate (ReptiChip)
- Usually either carefully with my fingers (clean hands!), or VERY gently with a soft bristle tooth brush, or simply by cupping water in my hands and letting it run over his back
- I wouldn't typically do this, but it sticks on some because of the Neosporin
10:00am
- Gently dry Beans off with a towel and apply a small amount of Neosporin to his injuries
- Bring him out to his tub outside
- Beans basks for about 10-15 minutes before going back into his burrow
12:00pm
- Beans spends about 30 minutes eating and then sometimes basks for about 10-15 minutes before returning to burrowing
2-3pm
- If the temperature is good, I'll usually pick him out of his burrow one more time and he'll hang out and eat a little more and maybe bask for a bit before going back to burrowing
6-7pm
- If the ambient temperature is colder outside than it would be inside, I bring him inside and turn on the lap to let him bask
- Usually after basking, he burrows and doesn't come out again so I turn off the light and let him stay burrowed until I wake up the next morning
Heating and Lighting
- Inside
- Beans is indoors from the afternoon to the morning (typically 7pm-10am).
- Ambient: 73-76 F, Basking: 85-90 F (I only use this to warm him up in the morning before I soak and move him outside)
- 65 Watt Flood Bulb
- After basking, I soak him for 20-45 minutes in 85-95 F bath water
- Outside
- After soaking, I place his bin outside (typically 10am-7pm)
- 10-2pm
- Ambient: 85-95 F, Basking 95-110 F (if it's getting hotter than 100, I mist everything down)
- Some areas get to be about 120 F, so Beans stays burrowed for most of this time where it's about 80-90 F
- 2-6pm
- Ambient: 75-85 F, Basking: 85-95 F
- After letting him bask for about 30-60 minutes to warm up in the morning, I soak him for 20-45 minutes
- Bath water: 85-95 F (I change it out whenever it gets to 85 F or if he poops/urates)
- I usually only see him drink water during his soaks, so I occasionally mist his food
- Humidity is typically in the 20-70% range but most often it's 30-50%
- I'm actually pretty concerned about him being dehydrated, but I've only recently had him have proper humidity since I got this new tub (having the lid on helps a ton!!)
- Beans is eating a good amount every day aside from the two days my dogs had got to him. On those days, he ate about half as much.
- Spring mix with the occasional supplement of cuttlefish bone or TNT from Carolina Pet Supply 3 times per week.
- I just today added in some mustard greens, but the grocery store we go to only sells big bags of greens and they always go bad before he can eat even half of them
- Today I also attempted to see if he liked carrot because we happened to have some, but he completely ignored it which is honestly for the best LOL
- It'll take some weeks but I'm currently working on a garden of:
- Flowers: coneflower, snapdragon, poppy, zinnia, and cosmos
- Greens: tetsudo mix (TortoiseSupply), romaine lettuce, "all lettuce blend," emerald oak lettuce, summer thyme, and arugula
- Please let me know if there's anything else you think I should grow, or if this sounds like a varied enough diet