How does he look?

[rmchug2]

I've had this guy for a few months and I want to make sure that I am taking care of him correctly. I have been feeding him a mix of Grassland Tortoise food pellets and fresh escarole and mustard greens. I am growing some more appropriate fresh greens now but the are still seedlings. The substrate I have been using for the past few weeks in Eco earth and I keep it moist. I was really worried about humidity and have a fogger that goes off for 15 mins every hour. He has a basking light and a UVB light. It is usually 70 degrees on the cool side and 90 on the warm side under the basking light. He is really active and comes right to me whenever I open his enclosure. He has been doing this strange thing when when he is under the basking light, he rests on his shell and raises up a front leg or a back leg or both back legs. Is he just stretching out under the light or is this an indication that something is wrong?
I've been generally worried about the condition of his shell and nutrition. I didn't realize that I couldn't really fix the existing damage to his shell on the top. He looks like he has some new growth or dry rot. I can't really tell. This guy is amazing and I just want to make sure I'm giving him the best home possible. (And I think it is a female, even though I refer to it, Torty, as a him)

 

[diamondbp]

She looks good from what I see...she . But hopefully some Russian experts chime in

 

[kassijo3432]

You can usually tell if it's a boy or a girl by the tail and the stomach. Girls tend to have more rounded stomachs for reproduction and a shorter straight tail. The mails stomachs dip in a little and have longer tails the curve to the side. I would definitely say that you got a girl. Which is great. Lol I'm on the hunt for a girl to reproduce with mine. But ya I think she looks pretty good. Have you tried kale or spinach leaves? Those are very high in nutrition. The darker the greens the better.

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Also female tortoises tend to be more expensive in stores just because they reproduce the eggs. Lol

 

[rmchug2]

I started off with baby kale and baby spinach and he loves them. I didn't know if they were okay or not since they were such a common choice for human consumption. I'll mix them in.

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I started off with baby kale and baby spinach and he loves them. I didn't know if they were okay or not since they were such a common choice for human consumption. I'll mix them in.

Should I be expecting her to lay eggs?!

 

[kassijo3432]

Ya kale and spinach even romaine lettuce are all great. Dandelions as well as long as you know that they haven't been fertilized or anything. But you would have to consult a vet on the pregnancy. I highly doubt anyone would sale you a pregnant tortoise without telling you. Annual check ups for your tortoise would also be good. You can get helpful tips on here but when it comes to more sever things like injuries or finding out if she's pregnant you'd have to take her in. Because they don't expand like human woman do so it's harder to tell. Ha ha

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi rmchug2, and welcome to the Forum!

I think you're little Russian is female.

The way you care for her seems quite ok to me, however, because she's almost full grown, you don't need the heavy humidity a baby would require. I think a semi-damp substrate underlayer, with a dry top layer is quite enough. And if she takes drinks out of the waterer in her habitat all by herself, then you only need to give her a forced soak maybe once a week, or less often.

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hello Russian torts ( males belly 's are ) flat just like females. And a female tort can carry sperm long pass the mating . And to find if a female has eggs be gental but if you take your thumb and for finger and place them in the shell by the rear legs you can feel the eggs . But be gental . Good luck with your RT

 

[WillTort2]

Your tort looks fine. Add more variety to your selection of greens. Try radicchio, endive, Belgian endive, escarole, red leaf lettuce, and others for your winter diet. For summer go with a wide variety ow healthy weeds, grape leaves, mulberry leaves, etc.

Good luck.