Newly Adopted Russian Tortoise

[jrood]

I just adopted a Russian Tortoise. He eats and is very active but why does he never use his water? And he is always trying to dig out or escape even with his view blocked.

 

[Rachel Sobran]

ya, so does mine and i have only had him for 2 months so far. Russians dont drink much, they get most of their moisture from their food and they just use the water as a toilet. And russians LOVE to dig so be sure to take him outside once a week (with supervision)

xoxo and good luck,
Rachel, schoolgirl and fellow tortoise lover

 

[Rachel Sobran]

have fun with your new tort!!!

 

[Rachel Sobran]

do u mean adopt as in from a rescue?

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Hello and welcome to tortoise forum jrood, Rachel and your Russians.
Russians need a lot of space and love to climb and dig so make sure your enclosures are big enough.
Go the Mediterranean tortoises forum here and the the Russians section and read the caresheets pinned to the top.
As you are new, it might be an idea for you both to go to the Introductions forum and introduce yourselves and your torts, with pics of the animals and their enclosures if possible.Many experienced members have more knowledge than I and will see you there.
Soak your tortoises in water regularly once a day if young and a couple of times a week if older. They need this for hydration. Make sure the water is not too cold or deep.
Rachel , if you want to start a private conversation with jrood, then click on your Rachel Sobran name in the black bar at the top of the screen to the left of where it says Inbox and Alerts. Then click Conversations, then enter jrood in the space provided, enter and you can begin a private discussion.
Good luck

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi jrood, and welcome to the Forum!

I am a proponent of the soak-your-tortoise method. I believe that young tortoises need to be placed into a tub of warm water that comes up to the middle of his sides, and allowed to sit there for about 15 minutes. Once the tortoise is closer to full grown, you can let him get his own drinks.

Another way to make sure he's getting some hydration is to spray water over his food when you feed him.

The tortoises that live in dry climates tend to get bladder stones. It's a painful way for them to die. Just to help them stay hydrated, 15 minute soaks daily work.

 

[jrood]

Another question I've seen things saying feed your tortoise as much as it can eat in 20 mins to as much in 4 hours so what do you guys usually do?

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

I just change the food in the mornings and give clean water and wash and rinse the bowls.
I leave a bunch of stuff for her to eat when she wants and feed her by hand when I feel like it, or if I'm giving her a treat.
She does the rest.

 

[jrood]

How much do you feed him?

 

[jrood]

My tortoise usually eats almost everything in his bowl with just some left over.

 

[Jodie]

I feed mine every morning and go to work. If they have eaten most of it by the time I get home, I give more fresh stuff for the evening. I throw any left the next morning out. This way they have food available all day. In the wild they graze all day.

 

[jrood]

Ok my tortoise eats all his leafy vegetables in 1 sitting then snacks on his tortoise pellets the rest of the day.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

If he eats all his food quickly then he's not getting enough, I think.
He should have enough to graze at all day, so the quantity depends on the age, size and species.
That's what I do anyway. as long as they get healthy food and exercise they won't get fat.
Don't know much about the pellets.

 

[Rachel Sobran]

My tortoise won't eat his pellets but if you fill his bowl with food he likes he will leave the same amount every time. For example, if it's half full, he leaves the same amount he does if it's full. Caesar also won't eat most foods and will usually only eat Romaine. I am worried for his diet and health. And he hates water and doesn't defecate often, sometimes not even in the soak! Any advice?

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

As long as you keep soaking him, he will drink. He is also getting lots of water from the Romaine (very apt for Caesar) but not much in the way of nutrients. Keep filling up his bowl so he will always eat down to his level and replace the romaine with appropriate broad leaved greens and weeds.
he will sulk and then eat them when he's hungry enough.

 

[Rachel Sobran]

thanks adam, that is actually why i named him caesar. that and he eats everything we don't use in our caesar salads at home

 

[Gordi]

Do you have access to dandelions and other salad leaves, Russians are generally good doers. In the wild they will be in hibernation or aestivation for upto nine months of the year !! So they tend to eat a lot if it's available. If the torts on a table indoors I would not feed daily. And ruskies are not big on bathing as mentioned but do persist. If you have the stamina and can wait it out giving him other foods he will give in and eat other leaves too :0)

 

[Rachel Sobran]

Thank you and welcome to the forum! Caesar gets fed twice a day, because he will only eat fresh food (generally only eating Romaine and other greens) and I think it would be nice to spoil him because he was taken from the wild and abused and still doesn't trust anyone. I got him on 2/1/15

 

[rhondak]

I give mine a handful of fresh food in the morning along with water. He normally eats early in the morning but sometimes feeds on it throughout the day so I leave it for him and than give him fresh food in the morning again. I am able to get dandelions from our local grocery store so he gets occasionally. His favorite is green/red leaf lettuce and Radicchio. I give him yellow squash about once a month. A small one usually lasts for about a week. I am going to but some chia seeds and plant them to feed him. I have an Aloe plant that I pull a leaf off about once a month to give him as a treat.
I soak him once a week.
If you take him outside, you really have to watch him. You wouldn't think they would move fast enough for us to lose track of them but they do! Just last weekend we took ours outside since it was a warm beautiful day (in a long time). My boyfriend was suppose to be watching him and when I asked him where he was, he didn't know. It took us a few minutes to find him but he had found a small pile of leaves by our neighbors tree and had nestled in them. lol.
Good luck with him and enjoy. They are very interesting little creatures.