Young RT eating problems

[brodiethert]

Hello, I recently bought my first tortoise, Brodie the RT, from Petco. They said she is 8-9 months old.
I have her in a 36'' wide, 18'' deep, and 17'' tall glass habitat with a top sliding mesh screen. I used repti-bark for her substrate and have a 150 watt basking lamp with a dimmer as well as a (I believe) 100 watt UVB lamp resting on top of the mesh screen at opposite ends of the enclosure. I have had her for 2 and a half days now and I keep the temperature at 80-90 degrees during the day and at night when I turn off the lights the temperature drops to 65-70 degrees. (The humidity fluctuates between 35 and 70% according to the gauge) I keep the lights on 13 hours a day. She has a half-log to hide in, a water bowl with a ramp, a branch to climb on, as well as stones underneath the heating lamp for her to bask on and an artificial plant.
The first day I fed her arugula along with radish greens and a little bit of carrots and she took a while to start eating but then she seemed to eat a normal amount (except for the carrots). Her poop was white that day but after some research I found that it was normal. The next day I attempted to feed her Mazuri Tortoise food (pellets) and she wouldn't touch it. I then tried feeding her greens sprinkled with reptivite powder which she again refused, then I tried greens with nothing on them whatsoever and she now won't touch those either. She just walks right over them. She seems to be quite active in and out of her enclosure, (walking around, extending her neck and looking around) but she just doesn't seem to walk to eat. Am I doing something wrong? I am new to taking care of Tortoises so I don't know if this is normal behavior or not.
Thanks in advance.
P.S. I was told by Petco to feed her greens every day, Pellets every other day, and the powder supplement twice a week.

 

[wellington]

Hello and Welcome. Your enclosure is way to small for a Russian that's is probably more like 4-5 years old. Unless your Petco is different from all the rest, their Russians are wild caught sub adults. Your enclosure is way too small and in turn your day time temp is too hot. Russians should have temps of Ambient daytime, 70s to low 80s. Basking 95-100 and Nighttime, preferably in the 60s.get a larger enclosure and adjust your temps, provide water 24/7, feed a variety every day, soak every day until things get to where they should be and calcium once a week.the humidity should be around40% for the size I am assuming he is. Post a pic of him next to say a dollar bill so we can better judge if he is infact and young one or older one.

 

[brodiethert]

Hello and Welcome. Your enclosure is way to small for a Russian that's is probably more like 4-5 years old. Unless your Petco is different from all the rest, their Russians are wild caught sub adults. Your enclosure is way too small and in turn your day time temp is too hot. Russians should have temps of Ambient daytime, 70s to low 80s. Basking 95-100 and Nighttime, preferably in the 60s.get a larger enclosure and adjust your temps, provide water 24/7, feed a variety every day, soak every day until things get to where they should be and calcium once a week.the humidity should be around40% for the size I am assuming he is. Post a pic of him next to say a dollar bill so we can better judge if he is infact and young one or older one.

here are two photos of her enclosure (one with her visible and one without) and a picture of her next to a dollar bill
View attachment 58177
View attachment 58178

 

[wellington]

Your photos didn't show for me

 

[brodiethert]

 

[wellington]

Tight woven screen like your screen top blocks most of the uv needed. Please remove the screen or cut a hole for the UVB to shine through without anything obstructing it. It does appear to be older then the age the store told you. I would replace the water dish with a clay flower pot saucer, buried level with the substrate. I would also get a larger enclosure. Although Russians aren't the largest tort, they do like to roam.

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Also, if you have both lamps on and they both throw off heat, turn one off.

 

[brodiethert]

Tight woven screen like your screen top blocks most of the uv needed. Please remove the screen or cut a hole for the UVB to shine through without anything obstructing it. It does appear to be older then the age the store told you. I would replace the water dish with a clay flower pot saucer, buried level with the substrate. I would also get a larger enclosure. Although Russians aren't the largest tort, they do like to roam.

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Also, if you have both lamps on and they both throw off heat, turn one off.

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Only the basking lamp throws heat. Should I cut holes under both of the lights or only the UV light? also is the placement alright? (UV light over food and water at one end, basking lamp over rocks and log) She also seems to be able to climb up and down the ramp to get the ramp to get to her water (I found poop in the water when I came home yesterday) should I still change the bowl? And as far as the food goes do you think she will start eating again? Should I change her diet? Sorry for so many questions I'm just anxious to make sure she's happy.

 

[brodiethert]

Tight woven screen like your screen top blocks most of the uv needed. Please remove the screen or cut a hole for the UVB to shine through without anything obstructing it. It does appear to be older then the age the store told you. I would replace the water dish with a clay flower pot saucer, buried level with the substrate. I would also get a larger enclosure. Although Russians aren't the largest tort, they do like to roam.

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Also, if you have both lamps on and they both throw off heat, turn one off.

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Also my UVB light is a 20 watt fluorescent coil light not a 100 watt.

 

[wellington]

You only need to cut the screen under the UVB. I would lower her day temps though closer to the 80. Is it really bright in where she is? Russians will brumate (hibernate). So leave the lights on for 12-14 hours and make sure it's bright enough. The water dish may be okay for her, they are just dangerous, but mostly for hatchlings. What type of UVB and baskng light are you using? If the UVB is a coil bulb, get rid of it, they have been known to cause eye problems. If it's not then it would be a mercury vapor bulb? If it is a coil bulb. Replace it with a UVB Flourescent tube type light with the basking light.

 

[brodiethert]

You only need to cut the screen under the UVB. I would lower her day temps though closer to the 80. Is it really bright in where she is? Russians will brumate (hibernate). So leave the lights on for 12-14 hours and make sure it's bright enough. The water dish may be okay for her, they are just dangerous, but mostly for hatchlings. What type of UVB and baskng light are you using? If the UVB is a coil bulb, get rid of it, they have been known to cause eye problems. If it's not then it would be a mercury vapor bulb? If it is a coil bulb. Replace it with a UVB Flourescent tube type light with the basking light.

Keep the basking light as is and replace the coil light with a tube? Will this help her eating habits or should I just give her some time?

 

[StarSapphire22]

Just wanted to throw this out there...I am actually a Petco employee...first, I'm sorry your stores associates misinformed you. Unfortunately, not everyone does their homework or asks for help when they aren't sure. For Petco 3-6 years is the usual age range, but not all are wildcaught. I've seen that mentioned a lot on here, but I know our distributor for our store has CB and we usually get them around 4 years old. Different regions use different distributors though, and I can't guarantee it isn't wild caught. Just wanted to point out it might not be. Best of luck on your new family member!