Help meee Russian Tortoise Enthusiats Pleaseee

[Dimitri the II]

Hello My fellow tortoise lovers!! I recently was given a male tortoise for my birthday (2days ago) and I am a little concerned on how he should be acting. All he wants to do is hide under his log. No food no water in the 2 days I have been monitoring him. I have the fun set up with a day cool light a day basking light and a night light. He walks all over his food with no interest just looking for his place to sleep. He does this all day. I took him outside earlier for a few hours he also walks a few inches borroughs and back to bed! I plan on taking him tomm to a vet for a fecal exam as I am concerned. I just attempte to hand feed him a tiny piece of carrot after 20 minutes of staring at my hand he finally ate this tiny piece of carrot and retured back to his log. What shoukd i do? I just want to make sure hes is okay. I dont want to return him in which i now have 12 days to do so. Hes my little russian thusfore Dimitri the II. I also put him in shallow lukewarm water earlier where he submerged his head and opened his mouth in what appeared to be an attempt in drinking water. He still isnt eating nor is active at all. What can i do? Thank you for reading this.

Yours truly,

Dimitri and I

 

[dmmj]

Most likely he is going through re-adjustment.
What temps is he (?) being kept at?

 

[Dimitri the II]

I did hear you had to let him be for 3 days so he can adjust to his surroundings. I am just concerned as I havent seen him move from under his log at all. During the day his cool side is 78 F his basking spot is 93 F and at night he has a 75F. I am using cypress mulch as bedding. Which I may consider changing as I dont want him to hurt his eyes. I just dont know which is the best kind of bedding?

 

[dmmj]

It usually takes longer than 3 days. Once he re-adjusts you will probably ask how you can settle him down . I recommend time and patience.

 

[Dimitri the II]

Really? They are that active?? Oh my so after a few days no acttivety then what lol?

 

[Gillian M]

Welcome to the forum. I totally agree with dmmj: torts need a lot of time to adjust to a new environment, place, home etc. Please be patient. Good luck.

 

[WillTort2]

I find that it varies from one Russian to another as to how long it take to adjust to their new environment. I like to start mine with a few dandelion leaves, stems and flowers. Then add other things into a well varied healthy diet.

Give each tortoise some alone time, they do not need to be watched by bigfoot!

For substrate I like a blend of coco coir and topsoil. Holds moisture better than most other substrates.

Your daytime cool end could be a little lower and your basking spot could be a little higher. I like 95 for the basking temperature and 70 for the cool end with night time temps dropping to around 65. With the small range of temperatures you listed, you may want to go to a longer enclosure. Bigger is better for Russians, they feel the need to explore and wander.

Beware, they are master climbers and diggers.

Good luck.

 

[Yellow Turtle01]

Hi, welcome to TFO!
This'll cover you- http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/ - a nice diet sheet- http://russiantortoise.net/edible_plants.htm - and I must say please please PLEASE do not ever leave your tort alone with your dog! They maybe both be small, bu tortoises are living rawhide and terrible things can happen! Always supervise.

 

[Dimitri the II]

Thank you so much your feedback guys. I will keep an eye out and see when he starts to act like a "normal tort"

 

[smarch]

Alright, Hello I'm Sarah I too have a Russian, he didn't have adjustment issues per-say but he was terrified of me specifically.
You got him as a gift, where is he from Petco/Petsmart? If that's the case he was from the wild crammed in a little dark box and sent to a strange place with strangers he doesn't want to be around then picked up again and placed in another new place by a giant (you). My Franklin is from petco so I know exactly what happened with him to get here and its sad to think about, if he is from one of the stores he'll take a while to warm up to you, just let him be and get used this new home. Scope it out, what was the store he came from feeding him? Pet stores often don't feed good tortoise foods, but the tortoises come to see that as food (if from the wild their first meal served on a plate would have been that junk) mix in what the petstore foods were with foods he should eat, and eventually cut off the "bad" foods. Franklin came with an addiction to tomatoes, he still gets an occasional piece as a treat and it'll be gone in seconds!