- Joined
- Sep 21, 2013
- Messages
- 11
Okay, I got some more pictures of Sasha. We found her as a stray in our backyard a few weeks ago. I'm guessing we have an adult female Russian tortoise - anyone have another idea?
I have her set up in a 50 gallon Rubbermaid tote. The best thing I could find for a hidey spot is a dishpan with one side cut off - it's big enough for her to fit in and turn around inside (and sit on, obviously). Today I picked up a few tiles with a rough surface to put her food on. Actually, I've been putting her food in a binder clip and wedging it between a rock and the side of the container. I haven't been cutting up her greens (clover, dandelion, plantain, kale mostly) because she does fine with eating them and I figured it would help wear her beak down. The substrate is 2 coir bricks and about half as much sand mixed together. I'd like to find some bark or something a little less messy - any suggestions?
The weather here is still fairly warm so I've been putting her out in my fenced garden for an hour or two most afternoons. Today I was doing yard work so I let her walk around the backyard. She's pretty active! It's interesting to see what she eats when she has a choice - in my garden, she eats kale, dandelions (oops), a small underripe green pepper, a summer squash, the zucchini plant, a cherry tomato. In the yard she ate a mushroom, a small feather (?), dandelions, and was interested in a pumpkin but decided it was too big! Oh, and she LOVES squash blossoms.
I have been soaking her every 2 or 3 days for 20 minutes or so. I don't have water in her cage because it would just get filthy.
I only know one other person with a Russian so I don't have much experience, but I think she's pretty big...at least she's about 3x the size of the Russians at the pet store. Is there ANY way to make a guess on age?
I do plan to make her a bigger cage at some point, but for now this will have to do. At least she won't freeze outside when winter hits!
I have her set up in a 50 gallon Rubbermaid tote. The best thing I could find for a hidey spot is a dishpan with one side cut off - it's big enough for her to fit in and turn around inside (and sit on, obviously). Today I picked up a few tiles with a rough surface to put her food on. Actually, I've been putting her food in a binder clip and wedging it between a rock and the side of the container. I haven't been cutting up her greens (clover, dandelion, plantain, kale mostly) because she does fine with eating them and I figured it would help wear her beak down. The substrate is 2 coir bricks and about half as much sand mixed together. I'd like to find some bark or something a little less messy - any suggestions?
The weather here is still fairly warm so I've been putting her out in my fenced garden for an hour or two most afternoons. Today I was doing yard work so I let her walk around the backyard. She's pretty active! It's interesting to see what she eats when she has a choice - in my garden, she eats kale, dandelions (oops), a small underripe green pepper, a summer squash, the zucchini plant, a cherry tomato. In the yard she ate a mushroom, a small feather (?), dandelions, and was interested in a pumpkin but decided it was too big! Oh, and she LOVES squash blossoms.
I have been soaking her every 2 or 3 days for 20 minutes or so. I don't have water in her cage because it would just get filthy.
I only know one other person with a Russian so I don't have much experience, but I think she's pretty big...at least she's about 3x the size of the Russians at the pet store. Is there ANY way to make a guess on age?
I do plan to make her a bigger cage at some point, but for now this will have to do. At least she won't freeze outside when winter hits!