Russian tortoise

[jackieramirez3762]

Habitat

 

[jackieramirez3762]

I recently bought a one year old baby Russian Tortoise. I'm running into alot of problems unfortunately. I would really appreciate any advice for the problems I'm running into. I bought Benjamin at the pet store they only had glass aquariums. So I bought Benji one. I thought it was to small for him. It was 18×18×12.

So then I bought him a tortoise wood house from Dr. Foster and Smith website 36x48

. My Fiance told me he would be more than happy to make him a tortoise wood table 8 feet long 4 feet wide. So we got pine wood sheets at home depot.He did a wonderful job making the tortoise table. After he made the wood tortoise table. I read on the Internet that pine woods toxic to Russians Tortoise. My fiance did seal the pine wood.
Is pine wood toxic to Russians Tortoise if sealed? What's a good substrate for my russian tortoise? I read on the Internet that play sand and coil bricks would be good substrate. Or would multch be better? Well the humidity be able to be in the 40-60 in a pine wood tortoise table

 

[jackieramirez3762]

 

[Jodie]

I do not think Pine is toxic. Cedar is. Ditch the sand. It can cause impactation if ingested. Coir or Orchid bark are both great. To raise humidity you would probably need to cover it. For an adult Russian though, I would just make a humid hide, and soak frequently. Few times per week.

 

[Jodie]

Welcome to the forum by the way.

 

[dmmj]

if you bought your Russian at a pet store I seriously doubt he's only a year old. salutations by the way

 

[jackieramirez3762]

Thank you Jodie.

 

[Yvonne G]

If you're still using the screen top, with lights on top of the screen, you should be advised that small screen filters out the beneficial UVB rays.