What your opinion

[groutmanshaun]

Hi all, I am new to the forum and tortoise keeping. 2 days ago I bought my first tortoise (tank) he is a 10 month old horsefield hopefully I'm going to attach pics so give me your views on whether it looks correct or what you would do differently
Cheers

Shaun

 

[wellington]

Hello and Welcome He looks pretty good. Some pyramiding though. I would get rid of any coil bulbs (cfl)you may be using. They have been known to cause eye problems and we are still seeing it. I would,also replace the lighter substrate and add some coconut coir with a little humidity, around 30-40% this will help with further pyramiding.

 

[groutmanshaun]

Hi thanks for that I run a spot heat lamp and tube uv I had heard about coils so avoided them. He has plenty of calcium powder do I'm hoping to stop pyramids now. Although they ate very slight I think the shading on his shell makes the pyramiding look worse

 

[pam]

Welcome Russians are awesome

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Shaun, and welcome to the Forum!

Pyramiding isn't caused by calcium. In order to stop the pyramiding you need to add moisture to the habitat.

I'm not a fan of those Tortoise House thingeys. They're just too small. However, your tortoise is small too, so it's ok for the time being. But you need to moisten the substrate and add some moist sphagnum moss in the hiding area. It would help also if you cover or partially cover the habitat.

We have a pretty good care sheet for Russian tortoises. You can find it at the top of the Russian section.

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hello Shaun welcome to the TFO from AZ . Great looking RT !


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[Jabuticaba]

Hi. Welcome to TFO. Cute RT!

I have 2 Hermann's tortoises. Theyre very similar in many ways, including their environmental and dietary requirements. I don't mean to scare you, but here's info on broccoli: http://m.thetortoisetable.org.uk/m/plants_19.asp?st=true&mode=main&catID=622

Be sure to post lots of progress pictures. Cheers!


May, Aussies, & THBs
IG: @AUSSOMEAUSSIES

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Welcome!

 

[johnsonnboswell]

You need to change the substrate to one that holds moisture. Coconut coir or fine soil with no additives is good.

 

[lismar79]

Hi and welcome. Please look at the care sheet. Diet should be broad leaf weeds mostly with very little veggies. Your tort looks pretty good, I would take out the wood chips and add coir for moisture.