- 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!
How far did she go with pumpkin interest? Did she try eating it? Bet that was cute to watch.
