Two of those put together is a good winter indoor enclosure. I would not be worried about the wood or paint. I used two of the zoo med boxes as a winter enclosure for several years with no issue.
A lot of people are going to tell you to get a bigger enclosure, but that will be fine. Not...
When I have a tortoise that wont eat i put a cherry tomato out with lettuce around it. My tortoise will eat the tomato, they are irresistible to a tortoise, and then continue eating the lettuce.
Thats a great looking enclosure! Did you make it? Russian tortoises like to explore. He will never be content in the enclosure so you can either ignore him, continue letting him out, or build a larger enclosure. Maybe you could make an outdoor enclosure and have that be the indoor/winter...
I think the water level is more important than the dish. You gotta base the water level on the size of the tortoise to reduce chances of flipping and drowning.
Ok Ill tell you some things I have done to get a tortoise to eat.
Use a single cherry tomato to lure him to the food dish, make sure there is also some other fresh lettuce like kale and romaine, those are the three things one of my picky tortoises will always go for when he is not eating...
When healthy and in large cage I’ve noticed they will walk around a lot for a couple hours a day, usually in the morning, eat and then chill for several hours by the lamp. Might walk around a bit more and eat a bit more before digging in for the night a couple hours before nightfall.
If the...
I have one male tortoise that goes into hibernation mode in early September before I bring him in for the winter. I will give him a warm soak and then place him directly next to his favorite lettuce mix (kale and romaine) with a small cherry tomato in it. Works every time. He will eat but...
Try feeding different things. Mine love romaine lettuce the most. You could also get a small cherry tomato and put it by the lettuce, they love tomatoes. Maybe he will eat that and then eat some lettuce.
I house my two females separate from the male in the winter, but plenty of people don't. You could just let them mate and get some eggs hopefully. I think that as long as you keep an eye on them and make sure there's no wounds from biting they will be fine. He might chill out after a week or so.