What is my Russian doing?? Never heard her doing this before...

arami25

Member
Joined
Jan 25, 2019
Messages
33
Location (City and/or State)
Atlanta, GA
Hi y'all,

I've had Sunshine since last October. She hasn't been sick while I've cared for her and has been eating pretty well! However, I caught her doing this strange noise and digging her tail in the dirt. I attached a video recording of it for y'all to see. And she opens her mouth and makes this small hissing noise, not a squeak like a male russian tortoise trying to mate, but could it be that she wants to make babies? Is something wrong? Her stool is solid and brown in color, no blood. Please let me know as soon as possible.
Here is the google drive link to my video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DEshgAON5WNLO9ElleOjfWFiJqnXlhem/view?usp=sharing
Many thanks,
Amanda
 

Yvonne G

Old Timer
TFO Admin
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
93,390
Location (City and/or State)
Clovis, CA
Have you had her checked for parasites recently?
 

arami25

Member
Joined
Jan 25, 2019
Messages
33
Location (City and/or State)
Atlanta, GA
No not recently, she did have some after I bought her but I gave her her medicine according to the vets orders. The vet said she had pin worms and something else that I can't think of off the top of my head. I will look for the receipt and get back to you on that. I'm going to soak her and watch her right now.
 

Maro2Bear

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
May 29, 2014
Messages
14,712
Location (City and/or State)
Glenn Dale, Maryland, USA
Greetings. I can’t hear anything in the short video clip. One thing i do see is a very very dry substrate. Can’t see the food or watering dish, I’m guessing they are out of view.

I would add some orchid bark mix or cypress m7lch that is first soaked, remove the plastic rose and add in some pothos vines for nibbling and cover.

Are your temps and lighting alright?

Try to upload a pix of the entire enclosure, that might help ppl see any other issues.

Good luck.
 

arami25

Member
Joined
Jan 25, 2019
Messages
33
Location (City and/or State)
Atlanta, GA
Greetings. I can’t hear anything in the short video clip. One thing i do see is a very very dry substrate. Can’t see the food or watering dish, I’m guessing they are out of view.

I would add some orchid bark mix or cypress m7lch that is first soaked, remove the plastic rose and add in some pothos vines for nibbling and cover.

Are your temps and lighting alright?

Try to upload a pix of the entire enclosure, that might help ppl see any other issues.

Good luck.
It's a very faint hissing noise, I have my volume cranked up to 100 and I can hear it at 0:03 seconds.
Here are the photos of her place. I went ahead and re-wet her substrate (coconut coir). I've been hesitant about cypress mulch because I can't seem to find one that is organic or not sprayed a certain color. I will look into orchid bark if that's necessary. Where would you recommend getting pothos vines that are safe for nibbling? She used to have a water bowl that I would sink in the ground for her to easily get into but she never touched it. I just soak her frequently to make sure she's drinking and has good bowel movement. Her food tray is a tupperware lid I don't use anymore.
Temps: basking temps are 100-105*F, elsewhere 75*F.
Lighting: Arcadia UVB bulb 12% place about 18 inches above the ground, and fluorescent light.
 

Blackdog1714

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jul 30, 2018
Messages
4,666
Location (City and/or State)
Richmond, VA
I love the repurposing of the pool. Live plants are awesome because it allows for nibbling. Also you can add an LED Light in the 5000K range since it will be white like daylight. I like the coco choir under and put orchid bark over the top. The coco choir holds the moisture and the orchid bark stay dry and is way cleaner. My Russian drug it through everything. Looking Goog hope you two get along- russians are known to be grumpy but lovable
 

Blackdog1714

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jul 30, 2018
Messages
4,666
Location (City and/or State)
Richmond, VA
Sorry-also saw the clip lights- the clips fail and lights fall. need to use chain to hange of your PVC. @Yvonne has the pvc on the outside and goes under the eclosure so you have a more stable base. Cause russians will for sure bump/push/explore everything
 

arami25

Member
Joined
Jan 25, 2019
Messages
33
Location (City and/or State)
Atlanta, GA
I love the repurposing of the pool. Live plants are awesome because it allows for nibbling. Also you can add an LED Light in the 5000K range since it will be white like daylight. I like the coco choir under and put orchid bark over the top. The coco choir holds the moisture and the orchid bark stay dry and is way cleaner. My Russian drug it through everything. Looking Goog hope you two get along- russians are known to be grumpy but lovable

Thanks for the feedback :) I do have an LED light that I bought. I got it from Pangea Reptiles website. When I bought her the sellers told me it was a female. Can you help me confirm that? Here's a quick photo
 

Attachments

  • IMG-2031.JPG
    IMG-2031.JPG
    1.2 MB · Views: 47

Blackdog1714

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jul 30, 2018
Messages
4,666
Location (City and/or State)
Richmond, VA
WHAT!!? OMG MY SUNSHINE IS A BOY! so...maybe HE was trying to mate with the soil? hahaha! I guess I'll have to change his name to Little Foot (from the Land Before Time)
Thank you so much for the help!
HAHA I syill have my original Gund Little Foot from when I was a lot younger!
 

TechnoCheese

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Feb 20, 2016
Messages
4,505
Location (City and/or State)
Lewisville, Texas
I actually planned on doing something like that with one of those pools! Glad to see it works :)
 

Jackie Cramer

New Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2017
Messages
8
Location (City and/or State)
Allen,Tx
Hi y'all,

I've had Sunshine since last October. She hasn't been sick while I've cared for her and has been eating pretty well! However, I caught her doing this strange noise and digging her tail in the dirt. I attached a video recording of it for y'all to see. And she opens her mouth and makes this small hissing noise, not a squeak like a male russian tortoise trying to mate, but could it be that she wants to make babies? Is something wrong? Her stool is solid and brown in color, no blood. Please let me know as soon as possible.
Here is the google drive link to my video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DEshgAON5WNLO9ElleOjfWFiJqnXlhem/view?usp=sharing
Many thanks,
Amanda
Hi, can you check inside her mouth and see if she has a yellowish cottage cheese look in there?
 

Miniman8

New Member
Joined
Oct 10, 2018
Messages
13
Location (City and/or State)
Wantage UK
Hi Amanda, just seen your original post on tail dragging, we have an adult who we think is at least 20 years old, who is called lightning & he does just the same thing of dragging his tail thru his substrate, it looks quite strange & leaves a distinct line in the substrate in between the lines of his feet, looks a bit like a fifth leg ha ha, lighting can be really grumpy if you disturb him & will hiss really loudly, when I put him to bed at night outside he is quite happy for me to pick him up & I don’t get any hissing, he does something quite interesting recently & that is while I hold him he will push his back leg out against my hand just like he is making sure I have hold of him properly, they are great pets & so entertains. Enjoy yours.
Tom
 

arami25

Member
Joined
Jan 25, 2019
Messages
33
Location (City and/or State)
Atlanta, GA
Hi, can you check inside her mouth and see if she has a yellowish cottage cheese look in there?
Hey,
Checked his mouth (turns out Sunshine is a male haha) and I don't see anything but a pretty pink mouth and tongue. What is that symptom for? I'm curious. It sounds like a fungus..
 

arami25

Member
Joined
Jan 25, 2019
Messages
33
Location (City and/or State)
Atlanta, GA
Hi Amanda, just seen your original post on tail dragging, we have an adult who we think is at least 20 years old, who is called lightning & he does just the same thing of dragging his tail thru his substrate, it looks quite strange & leaves a distinct line in the substrate in between the lines of his feet, looks a bit like a fifth leg ha ha, lighting can be really grumpy if you disturb him & will hiss really loudly, when I put him to bed at night outside he is quite happy for me to pick him up & I don’t get any hissing, he does something quite interesting recently & that is while I hold him he will push his back leg out against my hand just like he is making sure I have hold of him properly, they are great pets & so entertains. Enjoy yours.
Tom
Hi Tom!
Thank you for sharing your experience with me. Now I know that I'm not the only one seen my tortoise doing that :D. I checked his mouth right before he was getting ready for bed and he probably hates me now. I just felt so bad but I knew it was for his own good. He's okay though. Maybe he just reached maturity because when I got him he looked pretty small and wasn't as heavy and didn't do that tail digging stuff. Now he's a hefty baby :tort::p
 

Russiantortylady

Active Member
Joined
Dec 16, 2018
Messages
113
Location (City and/or State)
Vermont
Here is something to help you :
HOW-TO-TELL-BETWEEN-MALE-AND-FEMALE-RUSSIAN-TORTOISE-SEXES.jpg
 
Top