Kay8605
New Member
Hello all,
I'm a newbie member here on the forum, glad to have found you all! Let's get down the business:
I have a Male Russian tortoise who has been through a period of malnourishment and neglect. I am a new to tortoises, but do have some basic understanding of husbandry, preferred diet, and enclosure types for tortoises. After browsing through online photos of Russians, I am concerned with the over black appearance of his skin. I have attached a few photos of him below:
He seems to be perkier than he was initially, I've been feeding him daily or every other day depending on the amount he ate the previous day. He seemed pretty dehydrated, but I've been soaking him about twice weekly which he seems to enjoy.
His shell seems to be in overall good condition, but like his skin it is dark or black on the bottom. He has been housed in a wooden tortoise box with a hideaway portion. The substrate was and is coconut fiber. Not sure whether or not he was getting a lamp/uv light.
Any thoughts as to what may be going on with his skin? We really appreciate the advice!
I'm a newbie member here on the forum, glad to have found you all! Let's get down the business:
I have a Male Russian tortoise who has been through a period of malnourishment and neglect. I am a new to tortoises, but do have some basic understanding of husbandry, preferred diet, and enclosure types for tortoises. After browsing through online photos of Russians, I am concerned with the over black appearance of his skin. I have attached a few photos of him below:
He seems to be perkier than he was initially, I've been feeding him daily or every other day depending on the amount he ate the previous day. He seemed pretty dehydrated, but I've been soaking him about twice weekly which he seems to enjoy.
His shell seems to be in overall good condition, but like his skin it is dark or black on the bottom. He has been housed in a wooden tortoise box with a hideaway portion. The substrate was and is coconut fiber. Not sure whether or not he was getting a lamp/uv light.
Any thoughts as to what may be going on with his skin? We really appreciate the advice!