Horsefeilds

[Pinkfish23]

Hi I'm looking for some general insite really to the best care for my 4yolds. I like keeping them indoors as are still only bbys and I feed them a varied diet with vitamin supplements they just don't seem to be very heavy for ther size slightly worried I'm missing something? Do they generally eat alot? Is ther anything I can do to increase weight?

 

[ileoyu]

Are you keeping a pair together?

 

[Lyn W]

Hi and welcome!
There is a good caresheet for Russians under the Species Specific section, which will help you with diet, temps humidity and substrate etc. The Beginners Mistakes thread will also help you avoid problems experienced by others. (link below) and the Enclosures thread has some great ideas.
What are you using for uvb?
If you can post pics of your enclosure members can see if theres anything that could be affecting your torts.
You should be aware that keeping torts in pairs is not recommended because they are territorial and do not like company so one wil become dominant and bully the other causing stress and illness, Russians are quite scrappy so be prepared to separate at the first signof pushing/following one trying to flip the other over etc.

This link may help you inderstand the sort of behaviour pairs exhibit

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread...together-a-lesson-learned-the-hard-way.94114/

 

[Pinkfish23]

Are you keeping a pair together?

I am they came as a pair and I thought they just would be content with each other after the 2 years they had been previously owned for! I've had them together for the past year and they are usually happy enough but go through phases where the female become dominant..
I have USB strip light and heat light within the viv
Thanks for the heads up on the links I'll have a look now as the viv is still in a very basic standard as didn't want to overcrowd it.

 

[ileoyu]

Please separate them into different enclosures asap. And I recommend zoomed's powersun 100 w mvb for both uv and heating. Horse fields usually eat up a storm. If you notice one eats more than the other, it's most likely one of them being a bully.

 

[Pinkfish23]

I've partitioned off the viv so the turts have their own separate space which is sufficient I believe! This is a temp solution until I get alternative. Unfortunately it's ment that I now have empty viv as everything I have in it before was of double size for sharing but is something I can fix in time. Thanks for the heads up though I'll keep them separate from now on. Question though how would I go about breeding the pair in the future once they've grown that is if there not to be together?

 

[Pinkfish23]

This is the viv now

 

[ileoyu]

Believe it or not, they can actually lay eggs without mating.

 

[dannylozano10]

Believe it or not, they can actually lay eggs without mating.

So if they do lay eggs without mating those eggs won't produce baby's if you incubate them???

 

[Cheryl Hills]

I would think, if they don't mate, the eggs would not be fertile

 

[ileoyu]

Lol, nah no babies will come out if she's never been with a male. But if she have mated with a male in the past, there is a chance of hatching a baby tort since they can store sperm for a long long time.

 

[Yvonne G]

Eventually, it would be best to make them an outdoor yard. Your breeding operation would work much better outside. Then you would be able to have a large enough space with sight barriers and you can keep them together.

 

[Pinkfish23]

Eventually I'd love to have them outside permanently! Not sure how that works with the good old British weather thou? As would never want to make them uncomfortable or unhappy. As you see i still have a lot to learn as still rather new to this concept but look forward to every stage

 

[Lyn W]

I think they would hibernate over winter if outdoors all the time in the UK. If you do a search you will probably find advice on how to make sure they are healthy enough to survive that and what temps you have to keep them at etc.
Which part of the East Midlands are you in? The BATK is based in Leamington Spa and there is a good tortoise club in Leics area (Blaby). They have vets in in the Autumn to check the torts over before they hibernate to make sure they are OK.