The more I read the more questions I have

[Gizmo7702]

Ok I'm searching a lot and reading a ton of threads to find all my answers. But I still have some questions. Please be patient and kind with me as we are so new to this.
We bought Shelly from the only reptile store in our area. We didn't want to buy from the pet chains. Just looking at them in Petco you could tell they looked sickly. We were told she was bred locally. I'm doubting this now as I have been looking at pictures of wc vrs bred locally. My guess by the her coloring she is wc.
We have her in a 40 gallon tank. I'm changing her water dish to a terracotta tomorrow vrs the store bought one he sold me. I have a powersource light hanging from a stand. She has a hide log and the tortoise block from zoo med. Her substrate is a mix of the eco earth and forest flooring. The basking side is 92% and the cool side is 70%. Don't know about humidity as I didn't know it had to be a certain level.

I was told I could change the substrate every 2 weeks if I give her soaks about 3 times a week. Was told to feed her in the morning and only leave food out for 20-30 mins or feed her and leave food out for 2 days (so feeding her every 2 days essentially).

I don't have a pic to post right now of her enclosure as she is in our daughters room and well, they are sleeping. Will post tomorrow.

So looking for advice here.
1 Is substrate adequate
2 Do I only change every 2 weeks?
3 What is the best feeding method i.e. How long and how often?
4 3 soaks a week?? Less, more?
5 Posting her pic, is my assumption wc accurate?

Any help is appreciated. She is a gift for our 7 yr old who is in love with her and we want to do what's best.

I will add, outdoor enclosure isn't feasible. Hopefully one day. I was led to believe a 40 gallon was adequate.

 

[Jodie]

Welcome to the forum. I totally understand and felt exactly this way. Cute kid and cute tortoise. WC or CB not sure. Substrate is good. Spot clean daily and add water every few days to keep it moist. Making in 6-8 inches deep will give him room to burrow, so he can control his humidity level better. change when you feel necessary. I change mine about every 6 months. Some never actually change, just add when needed. If I was selling you substrate I would want you to change every two weeks. Lol.
Feed every day. I feed again in afternoon if they ate it all. Tortoises graze all day long in the wild. Which brings me to the bad news. They cover a lot of territory. An adult Russian needs at least a 4' X 8' space. Look in the enclosure section for a lot of options. Double deckers with ramps are a great way to save space, and still provide adequate room.
3 soaks a week is good.
Did you mean power Sun, as in UVB bulb? Your temps are good, and humidity is not critical for adult Russians.
Figuring out a way to get him outside would be really great. They do best with sunlight and grazing.
Unfortunately pet stores sell the stuff that makes them money, and they rarely know very much about tortoises.

 

[Gizmo7702]

Welcome to the forum. I totally understand and felt exactly this way. Cute kid and cute tortoise. WC or CB not sure. Substrate is good. Spot clean daily and add water every few days to keep it moist. Making in 6-8 inches deep will give him room to burrow, so he can control his humidity level better. change when you feel necessary. I change mine about every 6 months. Some never actually change, just add when needed. If I was selling you substrate I would want you to change every two weeks. Lol.
Feed every day. I feed again in afternoon if they ate it all. Tortoises graze all day long in the wild. Which brings me to the bad news. They cover a lot of territory. An adult Russian needs at least a 4' X 8' space. Look in the enclosure section for a lot of options. Double deckers with ramps are a great way to save space, and still provide adequate room.
3 soaks a week is good.
Did you mean power Sun, as in UVB bulb? Your temps are good, and humidity is not critical for adult Russians.
Figuring out a way to get him outside would be really great. They do best with sunlight and grazing.
Unfortunately pet stores sell the stuff that makes them money, and they rarely know very much about tortoises.

Yes, I meant power sun. Lol. Good to know about the substrate. I think I will definitely need to add more because we don't have 6-8 inches. I will be checking into the double decker. Never though to go up.

 

[AnimalLady]

Hello Welcome! Cute pix!

I will mention~ Your watering dish is also known as "the death trap". Pet stores often sell these for torts but they are not the best. Your tort can flip him/herself over and it can be a drowning hazard. Ive read some horror stories on here and its so sad and easy to prevent. I recommend a plant saucer dish, super cheap and safe for them!

I feed my guy a good large handful in the morning. IF by the time I get home from work its gone, I give him another good size handful. This is normally enough for him I feed daily, i dont skip days ever.

WC or CB? Hmm, not sure. 99.9% of torts from pet stores are wild caught though. My guy is from Petco. He's wild caught and its more than obvious he is due to the condition his shell is in. He has little dings and dents in it. Here's a pic of my guy, so that you can compare, you can see his shell isnt "perfect", but he's still handsome

 

[Tom]

Ok I'm searching a lot and reading a ton of threads to find all my answers. But I still have some questions. Please be patient and kind with me as we are so new to this.
We bought Shelly from the only reptile store in our area. We didn't want to buy from the pet chains. Just looking at them in Petco you could tell they looked sickly. We were told she was bred locally. I'm doubting this now as I have been looking at pictures of wc vrs bred locally. My guess by the her coloring she is wc.
We have her in a 40 gallon tank. I'm changing her water dish to a terracotta tomorrow vrs the store bought one he sold me. I have a powersource light hanging from a stand. She has a hide log and the tortoise block from zoo med. Her substrate is a mix of the eco earth and forest flooring. The basking side is 92% and the cool side is 70%. Don't know about humidity as I didn't know it had to be a certain level.

I was told I could change the substrate every 2 weeks if I give her soaks about 3 times a week. Was told to feed her in the morning and only leave food out for 20-30 mins or feed her and leave food out for 2 days (so feeding her every 2 days essentially).

I don't have a pic to post right now of her enclosure as she is in our daughters room and well, they are sleeping. Will post tomorrow.

So looking for advice here.
1 Is substrate adequate
2 Do I only change every 2 weeks?
3 What is the best feeding method i.e. How long and how often?
4 3 soaks a week?? Less, more?
5 Posting her pic, is my assumption wc accurate?

Any help is appreciated. She is a gift for our 7 yr old who is in love with her and we want to do what's best.

I will add, outdoor enclosure isn't feasible. Hopefully one day. I was led to believe a 40 gallon was adequate.

Hi. Looks like you got a mix of good and bad advice. Lets straighten out the bad.

Your questions:
1. Substrate is fine. I prefer the orchid bark for older Russians and you can get it much cheaper in bulk from garden centers. Orchid bark is called Reptibark in the pet store and like the ones you already bought, they charge an arm and a leg. Do a search for the "Beginner Mistakes" thread. It will help you.
2. You don't ever need to change it. Spot clean daily and leave it alone. Over time it will compact and bits will get thrown out with leftover food and when changing the water. Add more as needed. I add more once or twice a year.
3. Put out a pile of the right foods, broadleaf weeds and leaves, and let the tortoise eat. There should be no time limit.
4. Two or three soaks a week is a good way to continually assess the tortoises health and keep it hydrated.
5. I can't see the shell too well in your two pics, but WC is likely.

I know its not what you want to hear, but that tank is way too small. Four of those tanks would be too small. Russians need room to move. Once all the furniture (water dish, humid hide, half log, food dish, any rocks or logs, etc...) is added, there is hardly any room to walk. They need to walk, much like a horse, to help move things along the GI tract. Confinement in spaces that are too small is really bad for tortoises. I'm sorry you were not given the correct info from the start, but now you know. I recommend 4x8' for indoor Russian housing, and at least two or three times that outside.

Check out all the care sheets and threads at the top of the Russian section for more info and more thorough explanations.

 

[Gizmo7702]

Thanks for the advice Tom! As we live in a smaller home we are working out what we can do to make Shellys habitat larger. It is quite annoying at all the WRONG information out there. But Shelly is now apart of our family and we want her to live as comfortably as we do.