Stanley & Dorothy

[Julie Godfrey]

That is a beautiful new tortoise. Now you need three enclosures!

Looks like you've gotten some of the typical bad pet store advice. That substrate is dangerous and its too dry too. Encouraging tortoises to eat their sandy substrate to satisfy their calcium cravings with those limestone bits is a horrible idea. You should change that ASAP. I prefer coco coir for smaller Testudos and fine grade orchid bark for larger ones.

GIve these a read through for more helpful info:
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/

Hi Tom

Many thanks, can I use the coco coir peat for all tortoises?

 

[Tom]

Hi Tom

Many thanks, can I use the coco coir peat for all tortoises?

I find the coco coir to be too messy for larger tortoises and even babies of some species. I like the coir for baby Testudo species and for baby CA desert tortoises, but I prefer fine grade orchid bark for baby stars, sulcatas and leopards, as well as for older larger tortoises of any other species.

 

[William Bjerglund]

WELCOME Stanley i hope you have a good time on here you know i have 2 Russians which if i am not mistaking yours looks to be 2 and i would not worry so much about age and food my only general rule for food is they have it until there shell starts to show deformation then no food but i have never experienced any problems like dat mine are a little deformed sadly still but that is because the guy i bought them from were not feeding them correctly and keeping like 100 tortoises in a way to small area so i hope you have a good time now enjoy it

 

[Julie Godfrey]

Thank you, William. Can I feed hf and Ibera spur thigh on alive Vera. Looked on tort table but unable to find

 

[SweetGreekTorts]

Thank you, William. Can I feed hf and Ibera spur thigh on alive Vera. Looked on tort table but unable to find

Aloe vera is a safe feed. It's also like a laxative for tortoises so I only feed it to mine as a treat.