What substrate would you recommend? It sounds like I have swapped pellets for something as bad super stressed tortoise owner over here! Spent ages looking for the right stuff today and then got it wrong!
Would it be better to spray this stuff down?
And I am injecting him with antibiotics every other day. I have also soaked him once a day but thinking of upping that. I'm most concerned about the not eating. I've inly had him since Wednesday so don't know what I am doing really. I hope I'm not inadvertently making him worse!!
My recommended substrates are in the care sheet.
WHAT are you injecting him with? What is the name of the medicine?
Spraying the substrate's surface will only add a little evaporative cooling to your enclosure. It needs to be damp all the way through. Lightly damp, not wet. Before you do this though, you need to have the proper heating and lighting elements in place to maintain warm temperatures. Adding moisture can cool things and that would be bad for your baby right now. Being overly dry while sick and on antibiotics is bad too. You need moderate humidity, but warm temps day and night right now. Temps for a healthy normal russian are one thing, temps for one fighting illness are another.
Don't worry about the eating. They can go weeks with no food. The appetite will come back when the HEALTH comes back. Warmer temps will help the health come back sooner. The baby food soaks Yvonne has recommended will also help in the short term.