baby russian tortoise

[taytay3391]

Hey all! My name's Taylor and I'm from Iowa. I just got about a two month old russian tortoise from the pet store with my boyfriend. We had a painted turtle from a local lake. He was an adult and very scared so we took him back to his lake and decided to buy a captive-bred tortoise. We read up a lot on them and then bought the stuff for the tank. We got lucky because this month the reptiles were all fifty percent off so it was a sign! We bought the one we found active and healthy. (Nose was dry with no noises, shell looked good, active and alert). We got her just before feeding time so we fed her this morning. We fed her some red leaf lettuce with some ReptoCal on it. She LOVED it! Now she's under her hide-a-log thing. I'm so excited this is my first ever turtle/tortoise and I've been obsessed with turtles for AGES! Her name is Tortue which is French for tortoise. I found this website because she excreted some white pasty stuff which i had read about but was concerned so I looked it up again. It's not dry or gritty so she's fine, yes? I don't know what else to say... so yes! Can't wait to learn some more!

xxx Taylor

 

[Jacqui]

Hi Taylor! Sounds like you are off to a great start. Yes, your correct the urates are fine like your tortoise has them. Had you decided on a Russian before you went to Petco?

 

[wellington]

Hello and WELCOME I am glad you put the wild one back where it belonged. Good for you. Now, where are the pictures of your little new one. We like pics

 

[pam]

Welcome Russians are awesome

 

[Jacob]

Welcome to the forum, sounds great always nice to see someone researching before buying
Russians Are Rad.

 

[dmarcus]

Hello Taylor and welcome to the forum...

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Welcome!

 

[Arizona Sulcata]

Welcome!

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Taylor:

Welcome to the Tortoise Forum!!

 

[taytay3391]

Thanks for all the warm welcomes! I'll have to get pictures of her within the next couple of days. And I wanted to get a russian about a month ago but didn't know too much. Then I did the research and REALLLLLLLLLLLY wanted one.

As for the wild one I had, he climbed about an acre from the lake to my dad's house where my miniature dachshund started attacking it. So I was thinking I was saving him by taking him home to my place... but he just wanted his icky lake lol.

 

[Jacqui]

... but he just wanted his icky lake lol.

Yeah, some turtles just lack good taste.

 

[taytay3391]

So I was reading a bunch of the posts in the Russian Tortoise part of the forum... Do you suggest soaking Tortue everyday until she gets a bit older or only three times a week?

 

[Jacqui]

Does she have a water dish and does she ever use it? I myself, might soak mine a couple of times a week at most. I know others in here swear by doing it atleast once a day.

 

[taytay3391]

She has a nice ramp water bowl. She can easily get in and out and it's not filled too high. I've seen her get in it by herself only once. (Then again, we've only had her for two whole days now..) I soaked her last evening (5pm) and again this morning just before her "breakfast."

Also... I noticed a white spot on her shell. It's really making me nervous. We're taking her to the local vet (who is a rep vet too) for her first check-up. I'm just afraid she has a spot of shell rot I don't know what to do. Petco said they gave her ReptoCal on their food I think three times a week. And there was a UVB light in their tank. Isn't shell rot from a lack of calcium? I'm just worried ma pauvre Tortue est malade (my poor Tortue is sick).

 

[taytay3391]

Attached there is a photo of her whole shell then just the spot I'm talking about.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Taylor:

First of all, Tortue is NOT a couple months old. It is more than likely about 5 or 6 YEARS old. Pet stores are notorious for telling buyers that Russian tortoises are younger than they really are.

Secondly, the spot you are worried about is a chip out of the top layer of keratin with the bone showing through. That little bit of bone dies, turns white, then slowly, every so slowly gets lifted above the current layer of keratin as the new bone and keratin grows under it. Takes a long, very long time for this to happen. Wild caught Russians go through a pretty hard time being caught, stored then shipped to your pet store. What you see is perfectly normal for a wild caught Russian tortoise.

 

[taytay3391]

Hi Taylor:

First of all, Tortue is NOT a couple months old. It is more than likely about 5 or 6 YEARS old. Pet stores are notorious for telling buyers that Russian tortoises are younger than they really are.

Secondly, the spot you are worried about is a chip out of the top layer of keratin with the bone showing through. That little bit of bone dies, turns white, then slowly, every so slowly gets lifted above the current layer of keratin as the new bone and keratin grows under it. Takes a long, very long time for this to happen. Wild caught Russians go through a pretty hard time being caught, stored then shipped to your pet store. What you see is perfectly normal for a wild caught Russian tortoise.

Yea, I figured that out (the age) after reading that on here and then looking up what an actual 2month old tortoise would look like... My bad. I forgot to correct that.

But she is NOT a wild caught russian. She's captive-bred....

 

[Zamric]

Welcome to the Forum!

 

[Niki]

I saw that picture and had to agree... She looks like my RT ( mines a tad bigger ). My RT is around 5 yrs old and has the same white chip on her shell. She seems ok though. Cute tort you have!

 

[TORTOISEMAN1]

Very cool