Weight, length, age and sex?

[NewLilTortie]

Hi, I got a Russian tortoise a few days ago. We were told he’s a male and around 3 years old.

I weighed him today and he’s weighing 278g and has a straight she’ll length of approx 4cm, I will attach some photos.

Does he look healthy? Seem the correct weight for his size and age etc?

Thanks in advance

 

[wellington]

See what others say, I will tag a couple. @Tom @Yvonne G.
To me it looks like a female, raised poorly as its pyramided which means raised very dry, which all could have affected its sexual maturity rate, which means could possibly turn male. It's one back leg looks larger then the other and she may possibly have MBD.
Hard to say if its size is correct with being 3 years as the care was poor and could have affected its size and growth rate.
She will need a minimum of a 4x8 foot enclosure. Russians are small but still need enough room as they travel a lot of ground in the wild.

 

[DoubleD1996!]

Definitely looks like a girl

 

[Tom]

Hi, I got a Russian tortoise a few days ago. We were told he’s a male and around 3 years old.

I weighed him today and he’s weighing 278g and has a straight she’ll length of approx 4cm, I will attach some photos.

Does he look healthy? Seem the correct weight for his size and age etc?

Thanks in advance

The carapace growth doesn't look right, and the different sized back legs are an indicator of something seriously wrong. He or she is small for his or her age, and the carapace is oddly domed.

I suspect that the diet, lighting, and temperatures were not correct. Here is the correct care for the species:

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

 

[NewLilTortie]

See what others say, I will tag a couple. @Tom @Yvonne G.
To me it looks like a female, raised poorly as its pyramided which means raised very dry, which all could have affected its sexual maturity rate, which means could possibly turn male. It's one back leg looks larger then the other and she

The carapace growth doesn't look right, and the different sized back legs are an indicator of something seriously wrong. He or she is small for his or her age, and the carapace is oddly domed.

I suspect that the diet, lighting, and temperatures were not correct. Here is the correct care for the species:

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

hi, thank you both for your response, does he need to be seen by a vet then or can I just care for him properly from here on out?

 

[wellington]

A vet won't know what to do most likely. Most are not educated on tortoises.
They might do more harm then good.
I would set her up to exactly how she needs to be cared for in Tom's caresheet he posted for you and give her the very best diet possible and enjoy her.
I would never let her hibernate.

 

[Tom]

@NewLilTortie
That is a judgment call. Most vets don't know jack about tortoise care and do more harm than good, and then charge you a whole bunch for the disservice. If you know of a good tortoise vet that really knows what they are doing, and isn't going to suggest a "vitamin injection" and send you on your way, then yes, a vet visit might yield some benefit.

Personally, I would get the tortoise set up correctly, meet all of its needs, and see how it progresses. There really isn't much a vet can do for previous long term poor care. Current good care is the solution for that problem.

 

[NewLilTortie]

Amazing! Thank you so much for your help both! I’ve already changed it’s environment, he was in a viv sprinkled with substrate and had a cut up cardboard box as a hide and that was all, I’ve added a better hide, filled the viv as deep as I can with substrate, added some slate, bits of wood and given him a calcium block, going to start foraging for foods for him, I have the tortoise table app to know the good plants, we’ve also added a heat mat to the side to ensure the temperature stays up.

The heat lamp is on a thermostat and the heat mat is on constant and his light comes on at 10am and off at 6pm.

 

[Tom]

Amazing! Thank you so much for your help both! I’ve already changed it’s environment, he was in a viv sprinkled with substrate and had a cut up cardboard box as a hide and that was all, I’ve added a better hide, filled the viv as deep as I can with substrate, added some slate, bits of wood and given him a calcium block, going to start foraging for foods for him, I have the tortoise table app to know the good plants, we’ve also added a heat mat to the side to ensure the temperature stays up.

The heat lamp is on a thermostat and the heat mat is on constant and his light comes on at 10am and off at 6pm.

The heat lamp should be on a timer, not a thermostat. You don't want the "sun" turning on and off all day.

Heat mats should not be used under little tortoises in indoor set ups. Its not safe.

Unless you want him to brumate, you'll need to set the lights and heat to come on for at least 12 hours. Most people set them for 13-14 if not intending to brumate a temperate species. 8 hours of "sun" is not enough.

Please read that care sheet that I left in post number four. You have received all the typical wrong pet shop info. Most of the care info found online and from pet shops is all wrong. Its the same wrong info that has been repeated for years. Here is the my lighting info 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.