New Russian Tortoise

[rinconmike]

Hi. We just got my 12 year old son a Russian Tortoise for his B-Day. The pet store said is around a year old. This is our first tortoise. We had an iguana that liver for around 14 years that died several years ago so I understand the challenges of reptiles. We also have salt water fish (150g Display, 55g QT, and 29g Biocube), a bunny, and a swiss mountain dog.

I have been reading about the Tortoise for on the last few days and we plan on building a indoor table top enclosure in the next few weeks. For now, we are went with a 30 gallon breeder tank that is 36"L x 18" wide x 12" deep. We did jump into this quickly and really did not do enough research to get an initial setup.

I read aquariums are not best but figured a low 30 gallon breeder would be ok for a couple of months. I want to make sure we have this current setup ok.

The setup includes:

1. Cyprus for the substrate
2. A 100W Exo Terra bulb for Heat in a 8" Dome Housing. I put a thermometer in there and we are around 99 degrees directly under the bulb on the substrate.
3. Exo Terra 13W Reptile UVB 150 in a Exo Terra Compact Top
4. Half Log for shelter
5. Screen on top (lights are sitting on the screen)
6. Then some small bowls for some water and fresh food
7. Cuddle stone

We keep the room around 68 to 72 degrees during the winter, warmer in the summer.

We plan on misting daily and soaking 3 to 4 days a week for 15 to 20 minutes each time.

I ready the aquariums are not great since it offers little privacy, so I am going to block off the sides, back and a small section of the front next to the shelter.

Here are some questions:

1. Is this habitat ok for a couple of months?
2. Is the hot area hot enough at 83 degrees?
3. Is the UVB bulb strong enough? It is in a compact fixture and not a longer typical fluorescent type.
4. How much should we mist?
5. How big should the soaking bowl/pan be?

thanks for the help.

Mike

Edited, corrected temp under hot lamp.

 

[wellington]

The tort has to warm up to past 85 degrees to properly digest its food. The tort most likely is more like 5-6 years old as most pet stores sell older wild caught russians, not sure why they always lie bout the age. The aquarium will not be good for an adult for that many months. Although they are small, in the wild they cover a lot of ground. I would get him in a large enclosure sooner if possible. Do not use any of the coil,type bulbs, which it sounds like you may have. They have been known to cause eye problems in the past, so,don't take the chance. The uvb is being block by the screen. Cut a hole in the screen so,the bulb has nothing blocking it. If he is an adult, he needs a humidity of around 30%, younger needs a high humdiity. Post a pic and we should be able to see if he is actually a yearling or older.

 

[rinconmike]

Thank you. I went ahead and checked the temp under the light on the substrate and it is 99 degrees. He started to go to the sensor so I moved it out. Not sure if it is much hotter there.

I measured him and the shell is around 3" long and 2.5" wide. They did have smaller ones they were calling hatchlings, but said they may be tougher to take care of at first so we went with the larger one.

Here are some pictures.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/tja1vsx9r5cfumc/2014-11-01 16.20.56.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/v3dkqulqft5jl8s/2014-11-01 16.21.23.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/dll7sw0hlj28x18/2014-11-01 16.21.30.jpg?dl=0

Do I even need a screen? If not, I will return that and also swap out the bulb.

thanks again,

Mike

 

[russian/sulcata/tortoise]

welcome to the forum! if you have any questions just ask. please post some pics of your tort and its enclosure.

 

[dmmj]

Salutations, wellington covered it pretty well. FYI your tortoise is more than likely a WC adult and older than a year.

 

[rinconmike]

thanks. What is WC? I just searched and saw something about WC and CB but could not find what those are.

Wild Caught?

 

[dmmj]

Sorry
WC = wild caught
CB= captive born.

 

[rinconmike]

thanks again.

So at 3" L x 2.5" W how old do you think he is?
At what age are they considered adults?
Is there anything we should look at being WC over CB (we did not think to ask of they knew)?
Would we be better off getting a smaller one that they noted as hatchings?
Last question, when I build the cage, how big should it be?

I can probably do next over the next two weeks. Do we need screens on top?

 

[rinconmike]

Temp under the light is 93. I put it back to check. Must of had a bad reading before.

 

[russian/sulcata/tortoise]

can you post some pics of the tort and the enclosure?

 

[rinconmike]

Are these good shots?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/v3dkqulqft5jl8s/2014-11-01 16.21.23.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/tja1vsx9r5cfumc/2014-11-01 16.20.56.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/dll7sw0hlj28x18/2014-11-01 16.21.30.jpg?dl=0

 

[russian/sulcata/tortoise]

yea its a good pic. i would replace the water bowl with something a big more flat like this.

 

[rinconmike]

ok. What diameter is recommended?

 

[russian/sulcata/tortoise]

i usually get ones that the tort can fit there entire bodies in.

 

[dmmj]

nice looking tort, 4 inches looks like a WC to me. get a good tail shot (cloaca) and we can sex it.

 

[rinconmike]

ok. At the petstore they said not to so they do not soak in it so that is why we stayed a little smaller. But then again, some of their info has not been great either.

 

[rinconmike]

dmmj, i measured the shell from front to back as 3". when you say 4" do you account for more than just the shell?

 

[russian/sulcata/tortoise]

ok. At the petstore they said not to so they do not soak in it so that is why we stayed a little smaller. But then again, some of their info has not been great either.

yea most of the time pet stores have very out dated info about tort care.

 

[dmmj]

Looks like just under 4 to me, but like most men I am very protective of every inch. tail to nose length.

 

[rinconmike]

All, thank you or your comments. We are learning quickly. I am going to return the compact UVB and get a long.

I measure the shell as 3" long x 2.5". I may be hard to see in the picture.

I still have some other questions that hopefully someone can help out on.

1. So at 3" L x 2.5" W how old do you think he is? Or is that impossible to really tell?
2. At what age are they considered adults?
3. Is there anything we should look at being WC over CB (we did not think to ask of they knew)?
4. Would we be better off getting a smaller one that they noted as hatchings?
5. when I build the cage, how big should it be? Is 2' by 5' big enough? Does it need a screen top? I can probably do next over the next two weeks.
6. With regard to water in the tank, should the shallow bowl be deep enough for him to soak in? From above that sounds like yes.
7. Is soaking 3 days a week for 15 minutes good? How much should we mist daily. Just a few sprays?

thanks to all again.