Need an ID pls, taking in this tortoise
- Thread starter Careym13
- Start date
Russian (male)
Thanks. Does he appear to be full grown? I guess I need to measure him.
Russian! Cute boy.
Thanks! I know nothing about this species so I'm trying to learn as fast as I can.
Herbivorous like your leopards but from temperate climate. He maybe fully grown I think. They stay pretty small. Yvonne will know. I only know bits and pieces that have bounced off my ears being on this forum for the past 2 yrs
Where is he? How soon are you getting him?
Thanks! He was living on grassland pellets so I'm trying to introduce weeds and greens.
I already have him. He was originally from a pet store.
I think the adults of this species need some night time temp drops but you know what I thing Tom has really good Russian care sheets here somewhere. I'm sure you'll get pretty exhausting info there. What I do clearly recall is that they are climbers and people have to cup off corners of their tort tables to keep those buggers from climbing out and falling. Oh, and they are also known to be aggressive to their own species and best to be kept alone
Pearly - are you saying Tom is "exhausting" LOL!!
Hahaha!!! Right!
I was actually just reading it! I have to admit, the simplicity is kind of appealing compared to my Leopards. Not trying to imply they don't need the proper set-up and temps, it just seems like it is more straight forward than for the desert species. So do most people hibernate their Russians or not so much?
I don't think so. I think with hibernation you get into lots of technicalities and unless you really know what you're doing you can make your tort really sick. From what i understand it is not required or even "not recommended"
Good to know, I'd rather not do it so I'm glad to hear that!
So I'm obviously housing this tortoise separate from the Leopards, and I realize I need to have a quarantine period and sanitize in-between caring for the different species, but is there any benefit from having the tort checked by a vet since it was a pet store tortoise and could be wild caught? Or is a quarantine period sufficient?
If you got your tortoise from a pet store it's been hibernating for three or four years. So it might be a hard habit to break. Ours popped underground and hibernated within a few days of our first finding her. She was clearly going to do it again last year; we fridge hibernated her very successfully and were glad of it; her burrow flooded this year with all our rain.
If you are going to be keeping him inside, I'm sure someone can help you advise on the specifc lighting and heat to keep him awake. But fridge hibernating was pretty straightforward. She came out of it faster and with more energy than she did with her previous short hibernation in our mild and damp climate. (Sure, I was anxious as anything to do it but that's how I work!)
If you are going to be keeping him inside, I'm sure someone can help you advise on the specifc lighting and heat to keep him awake. But fridge hibernating was pretty straightforward. She came out of it faster and with more energy than she did with her previous short hibernation in our mild and damp climate. (Sure, I was anxious as anything to do it but that's how I work!)
@Yvonne G, what are your thoughts?
It is full of parasites. They do just fine with a lot of parasites in the wild; our vet didn't think it was critical (she wouldn't poop at her first visit). They gave us wormer this year when I took her in for something else.
So did you end up treating for the parasites?
