WHAT AM I????

[LBSKUNK]

Good Morning,
A friend of mine found a tort about a week ago. She put signs up all over her neighborhood in search of the owner and no luck so she is keeping it. I ned help in identifying the species before we begin. It's either a Sulcata or a Desert Tort but I can't tell cuz his shell looks a little damaged; maybe the previous owner had a lamp on him that was too hot. He, She whatever it is is real cute and very active. He's not dehydrated and I'm assuming he's been burrowed somewhere for a long time because he was very muddy (mud was all caked on) when they found him. Anyways, here are some pics of the mystery tort... I am guessing it is a Sulcata...

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I also should mention, he seems very healthy and like I said he is extremely active. Pooping healthy, eating grasses, dandelions and hibicus. He is super cute. He is 4 1/2 inches long.

 

[Meg90]

You have what looks to be a male russian tortoise! so he probably will not get much bigger than that. Nowhere near a sulcata or a desert lol.....

Can you post a clearer pic of his head?

 

[egyptiandan]

It is a male Russian tortoise, like Meg said

Danny

 

[Yvonne G]

You're getting to be pretty good at i.d.ing these guys, Meg!

Yvonne

 

[LBSKUNK]

You have what looks to be a male russian tortoise! so he probably will not get much bigger than that. Nowhere near a sulcata or a desert lol.....

Can you post a clearer pic of his head?

Wow really! You know I was just loking at a picture of a russian tort on here and was thinking they looked similar. How cool! So not much bigger huh? Awe he's a mini. I will be back after lunch with more pictures. I'm going to take some with my good camera, not my phone.

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I'm excited now that we have identified him ... ok so he is 4.5 inches. How old do you think he is and what kind of enclosure should we start him off in? I own two 10 year old DT's, but I don't know anything about russians. However I do want to help educate my friend about proper tort care, and I am excited to learn more about a different species.

 

[Millerlite]

yeah, they stay pretty small, good save

 

[LBSKUNK]

Ok here are 2 more clearer pictures of the russian. His shell is a bit damaged, either from too much lamp light from the previous owners and a few dog bite scratches. Some of his scutes have white patches where it looks like its missing shell. How can we improve his shell aside from a good diet?

 

[Millerlite]

he shell looks fine, IT just wear and tear from the years. Nothing you can really do besides just have him in a good enclosure and stuff

 

[tortoisenerd]

He looks good to me. I wonder if he was wild caught? I would start with russiantortoise.org to get his enclosure set up (outdoor is best if possible).

Please find a proper tort vet to get him checked over for general health and parasites (bring in a fecal sample). It's also good to have one set up in case of an emergency because once you know you need one it's too late to start looking--you can also get in quicker if you are established there. Expect to pay about $50-100. Let us know your location if you need help finding a qualified one.

You probably want to weight and measure him for records, and keep track of that monthly. Look up on this site how to measure Straight Carapace Length, and weigh with a kitchen scale in grams. Here's a growth chart to see how he's doing:

I'd feed on a slate tile to hopefully help the beak not get any more overgrown, although it's not too bad yet. Don't want to have to get it trimmed if you can avoid that.

Please report back once you're read over russiantortoise.org! We'd love a progress update, and will be glad to answer all your questions. I don't want to go into too much detail because that's really a great site to get him set up right, and I'd end up repeating a lot from there.

You're doing well on diet so far. Just make extra sure no pesticides have come in contact with the greens. It's great if he can subsist just off weeds, but if you need to, spring mix from the produce section (organic) is about the best you can get in a grocery store for the money. The weeds are definitely better though! Just wanted to mention that as for some reason a lot of the sites mention various grocery store greens to buy, but never to get the spring mix which has so many of them together. No spinach though.

Soak every few days for a couple weeks and then you can cut back if you see the tort drinking and soaking in the water in the enclosure.