Jrob
Member
My name is Jerry and recently acquired several Russian Tortoises.
I have always been an animal lover as evidence with my dogs, cats, lionhead rabbits and bearded dragon. However, always had a soft spot for tortoises, since I had plenty as pets as a kid.
I received a beautiful baby from Carol S a few weeks ago and the baby is doing great. Lucky ( my youngest named all the tortoises) loves to bathe daily and enjoys being outside in the sun. Yesterday, it was almost 90 in San Antonio and Lucky was loving it. I keep the hide humid normally between 60-70% and Lucky likes to dig in for the night.Coconut Coir is the substrate. The inside home is a Christmas Storage box and the outside home is a raised garden bed 4 x 4 with a screen top.
I will be redoing the backyard next month with all new grass seed and in the cages for the tortoises the Russian tortoise mix. I have some already growing in tubs and planters to swap out in the cage also.
The other three tortoises I received from AZSulcata. The male was sluggish when first received, but after a bath, Mr. Squeaky has been an active eating machine. The two females are doing great also. They are eating my old grass and weeds while outside currently. The outside home for these guys is cement block 8 x 8 home currently with several hiding places. When I redo the yard will make a couple of nice size caves. I want to keep them outside as much as possible, but this year will be bringing in at night.
I have a temp gun and will be using it in the yard to get various readings for next year which I will build permanent cages outside for the tortoises. I use the gun for their inside homes to see the readings at various spots especially where they like to go
Currently, I use TNT 3 times weekly and a little bit of calcium once a week. The tortoises have a cuttlebone in their enclosure if more calcium is needed. I just received Herbal Hay from Tortoise Supply and will be adding that one day a week and using TNT two days weekly.
What I learned from my Bearded Dragon, natural sun light makes a huge difference to them. The Bearded Dragon is much more alert and better eater after going outside for extended periods of time.
I am still in the process of messing with my cages, but will have pics once I am satisfied with the setup. I do have a few pictures of the Tortoises.
I have learned plenty from posters on this forum already and look forward to expand my knowledge to give my Russians the best life possible.
I have always been an animal lover as evidence with my dogs, cats, lionhead rabbits and bearded dragon. However, always had a soft spot for tortoises, since I had plenty as pets as a kid.
I received a beautiful baby from Carol S a few weeks ago and the baby is doing great. Lucky ( my youngest named all the tortoises) loves to bathe daily and enjoys being outside in the sun. Yesterday, it was almost 90 in San Antonio and Lucky was loving it. I keep the hide humid normally between 60-70% and Lucky likes to dig in for the night.Coconut Coir is the substrate. The inside home is a Christmas Storage box and the outside home is a raised garden bed 4 x 4 with a screen top.
I will be redoing the backyard next month with all new grass seed and in the cages for the tortoises the Russian tortoise mix. I have some already growing in tubs and planters to swap out in the cage also.
The other three tortoises I received from AZSulcata. The male was sluggish when first received, but after a bath, Mr. Squeaky has been an active eating machine. The two females are doing great also. They are eating my old grass and weeds while outside currently. The outside home for these guys is cement block 8 x 8 home currently with several hiding places. When I redo the yard will make a couple of nice size caves. I want to keep them outside as much as possible, but this year will be bringing in at night.
I have a temp gun and will be using it in the yard to get various readings for next year which I will build permanent cages outside for the tortoises. I use the gun for their inside homes to see the readings at various spots especially where they like to go
Currently, I use TNT 3 times weekly and a little bit of calcium once a week. The tortoises have a cuttlebone in their enclosure if more calcium is needed. I just received Herbal Hay from Tortoise Supply and will be adding that one day a week and using TNT two days weekly.
What I learned from my Bearded Dragon, natural sun light makes a huge difference to them. The Bearded Dragon is much more alert and better eater after going outside for extended periods of time.
I am still in the process of messing with my cages, but will have pics once I am satisfied with the setup. I do have a few pictures of the Tortoises.
I have learned plenty from posters on this forum already and look forward to expand my knowledge to give my Russians the best life possible.
