I have had our russian tort Henry for almost 2 years. We got him at a petco. We had some trouble with him banging the tank when he was in glass aquarium so I got him the wooden turtle crate. He has been fine for about a year now but the last 3 nights he has scratched the walls of the box. He is eating fine, actually really well. I feed him twice a day usually kale, carrots, zucchini and broccoli. I usually take him out of the crate every other night and let him walk around for an hour or so. He seems more alert too. Any ideas?? I don't have a lot of room for another crate but I will do it if neede. Also I don't know exactly how old it is. Not sure of the sex either. How big do they get?
help with stress scratching
- Thread starter Dianemb
- Start date
Although russins are small, they roam a big area in the wild. One of those tortoise crates is way too small for them. The to get him something bigger, add on to the one you have or even put a second level on it.
Heather H
Well-Known Member
Welcome Hi have you read the tortoise care sheets? If you post pics someone can give you ideas about why he is doing this. Pics of his top and bottom may help finding out his sex if he is old enough.
welcome to the forum! russian tortoises spend there days roaming around there territory looking for food and protecting there territory from intruders. the minimum cage for a russian is 4ft by 8ft. how big is your enclosure? small enclosures cause stress for tortoises. the diet you are providing him needs to change, the stuff you are feeding him right now should be only fed as treats. most of the tortoises diet should be large varieties of nontoxic weeds you can find outside and other broad-leafed plants. he is more alert when you let him outside because its a new area that could have predators, so the tortoise is just making sure he doesn't get eaten. petco russian tortoises are wild caught, so the age of your tortoise will be impossible to determine. if you post some tail pics i can tell you the gender.
Hello and welcome. Looks like everyone else already said it all, but you need:
1. A much bigger enclosure.
2. A better diet.
3. To stop letting him run loose in the house. That is very dangerous.
Here are some threads with some tips for you:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread...or-other-herbivorous-tortoise-species.107734/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/semi-underground-russian-box.98590/
1. A much bigger enclosure.
2. A better diet.
3. To stop letting him run loose in the house. That is very dangerous.
Here are some threads with some tips for you:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread...or-other-herbivorous-tortoise-species.107734/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/semi-underground-russian-box.98590/
Hi Diane, and welcome to the Forum!
The way I see it, you are doing two things that are leading to the problem - you've let him out of the habitat and now he knows that there's a bigger world out there, and the "wooden turtle crate" is too small.
In my opinion, your tortoise should be set up outside in a large, well-planted outdoor habitat. He can roam and graze to his heart's content, just like he was born to do. It's pretty much impossible indoors to give a Russian tortoise enough space to satisfy his roaming instinct.
Another thing - most tortoises go into their hiding place in the evening then dig and scratch, trying to modify it for satisfactory sleeping. This is something they do no matter where they are, indoors or outside.
The way I see it, you are doing two things that are leading to the problem - you've let him out of the habitat and now he knows that there's a bigger world out there, and the "wooden turtle crate" is too small.
In my opinion, your tortoise should be set up outside in a large, well-planted outdoor habitat. He can roam and graze to his heart's content, just like he was born to do. It's pretty much impossible indoors to give a Russian tortoise enough space to satisfy his roaming instinct.
Another thing - most tortoises go into their hiding place in the evening then dig and scratch, trying to modify it for satisfactory sleeping. This is something they do no matter where they are, indoors or outside.
Its already been said exactly what I was going to say, letting your tort out of its pen to roam the floors tells him there's a large world outside his box and he wants to roam it.
My Russian Nank used to go crazy in his small tank when I first had him because I was mistakenly letting him out to roam thinking he needed exercise when in reality I was just showing him how small his home was when I put him back in.
And like Tom said its dangerous since they can get crushed or eat something they shouldn't get into, even when being watched closely these things happen trust me its posted about all the time.
If you have the space for a bigger enclosure why not add on, if you're talking about the cage I think you are its too small. The more space that can be given is always better.
Also is he scratching at corners? Corners usually have to be capped off since tortoises don't entirely understand them and will scratch at them for hours.
My Russian Nank used to go crazy in his small tank when I first had him because I was mistakenly letting him out to roam thinking he needed exercise when in reality I was just showing him how small his home was when I put him back in.
And like Tom said its dangerous since they can get crushed or eat something they shouldn't get into, even when being watched closely these things happen trust me its posted about all the time.
If you have the space for a bigger enclosure why not add on, if you're talking about the cage I think you are its too small. The more space that can be given is always better.
Also is he scratching at corners? Corners usually have to be capped off since tortoises don't entirely understand them and will scratch at them for hours.
