New Russian tortoise. food question

[stephrs818]

Hello we just came back from a reptile show and we bought our first Russian tortoise. We have no experience on reptiles so the guys at the show helped but I keep coming up with new questions. One how often are we supposed to feed them And how much? I read romaine lettuce is OK but not often. So I'm a lil confused on that. Second where should they uvd and baskin light be? In the middle or the corner of the tank? And water, is regular bottled drinking water OK? Please help lol I'm so new at this! Super excited thoigh! He is great super friendly!! His name is Bowser thanks!

 

[weldorNate]

I feed mine once a day. how much depends on the tortoise I usually give enough till there is a little bit leftover from the day before. Should feed them a variety of greens. I would advise against a coil uvb better to use a tube type bulb there's been reports of the coil ones causing problems with there eyes. Basking bulb position is up to you but should have the area under the bulb reach into the nineties and a cool end that stays in the seventies.

 

[crimson_lotus]

How old is the Russian? I feed my tortoise daily, about as much greens as her shell. I figure in the wild if they see something they want to eat, they aren't going to think, "man, I just ate, I need to wait until tomorrow!"

Have you seen this care sheet? The guy who wrote it really knows his stuff:

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/

I would put the heat lamp on one end of the enclosure so they have a cool side to escape to if they get too hot. You could buy a mercury vapor bulb that has both heat and UVB, or you could get a UVB tube as weldorNate mentioned and maybe have a ceramic heat emitter as well (it doesn't emit light so it's great for night time use)

I use bottled water for my tortoise since our water well has some weird stuff in it...

 

[lismar79]

You want a good variety diet of safe broadleaf weeds. This is a good site:
http://m.thetortoisetable.org.uk/m/plants_19.asp
If you live where they are not groing you can buy from a storee. I use a mix of three or so and swithc the next week : raddichio, endive, escrole, kale, collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, and spring mix salad. Romain is fine but its really only good for water content not nutritional. I use it to put calcium powder on and vitamins.

 

[Tom]

Please read these. Everything you need to know is in there.

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread...or-other-herbivorous-tortoise-species.107734/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

Russians eat broadleaf weeds. Romaine is lacking in nutrition and fiber. Here are some suggestions to get you started:
Mulberry leaves
Grape vine leaves
Hibiscus leaves
African hibiscus leaves
Blue hibiscus leaves
Rose of Sharon leaves
Rose leaves
Geraniums
Gazanias
Lavatera
Pansies
Petunias
Hostas
Honeysuckle
Cape honeysuckle
Leaves and blooms from any squash plant, like pumpkin, cucumber, summer squash, etc...
Young spineless opuntia cactus pads

Weeds:
There are soooooooo many...
Dandelion
Mallow
Filaree
Smooth Sow thistle
Prickly Sow thistle
Milk thistle
Goat head weed
Cats ear
Nettles
Trefoil
Wild onion
Wild mustard
Wild Garlic
Clovers
Broadleaf plantain
Narrow leaf plantain
Chick weed
Hawksbit
Hensbit
Hawksbeard

Other good stuff:
"Testudo Seed Mix" from http://www.tortoisesupply.com/SeedMixes
Pasture mixes or other seeds from http://www.groworganic.com/seeds.html
Homegrown alfalfa
Mazuri Tortoise Chow
ZooMed Grassland Tortoise Food