Please help me with my first tortoise.

Lemmy's new enclosure

Hi everyone, I want to share Lemmy's new enclosure set up with you all. she had a small plastic tank that served as her home for 4 months, I could see her not being very happy there any more and the substrate was looking bad too. she was always just sleeping eating and repeating, nothing to simulate her mind. so, i decided to make her a bigger enclosure. i used my book stand and covered it with waterproof shelf cover. i am using Eco Earth and cypress mulch as substrates and as for the fun part i found this bird ladder and i put in in the tank so she can climb it and exercise a bit more. she is loving it she goes up and down up and down so many times and she is exploring her new space. only downside is that I can not see her from my bed any more because the book case is not transparent but I know its good for her.
I, can also see some new growth ring on her shell, she look so beautiful with it. she weighs around 939 lbs. I am not sure how much she should weigh but she has maintained this weight for 3 weeks now (i started to keep track of it recently). I soak her regularly for 10-15 min and she eats a lot and poops a lot too. she also pee every day and I want to know if its normal with tortoises or is there too much moisture in the food? or maybe I should not soak her everyday?

Please let me know your thoughts and here are some pictures of Lemmy and her new home. can you please tell me if her beak looks normal?

@Yvonne G @GingerLove @Tidgy's Dad

@JoesMum @Markw84 @MissMarg&me @TammyJ @Salspi @Cheryl Hills @Taylor T.

Cute looking tort. I think I would get the substrate a bit more moist, looks too dry. I’d also remove the ladder - seems like it’s just leading your tort to a tumble. You might want to get a second bin like you have and join them to provide double the space. There are a few various posts on how to join and make two bins into a larger enclosure.

Since it’s an older tort I wouldn’t worry about the weight, just so it maintains current weight. It’s not going to grow as fast as a hatchling.

You might want to get better temp gauge - those round ones are not very accurate, some way off. Home Depot has Accurite gauges, with probes, work well.

Maybe you can add in a few more plants, or other visual objects for some interaction.

Keep soaking. You are doing a good job.

Good luck!

Maro2Bear said:

Cute looking tort. I think I would get the substrate a bit more moist, looks too dry. I’d also remove the ladder - seems like it’s just leading your tort to a tumble. You might want to get a second bin like you have and join them to provide double the space. There are a few various posts on how to join and make two bins into a larger enclosure.

Since it’s an older tort I wouldn’t worry about the weight, just so it maintains current weight. It’s not going to grow as fast as a hatchling.

You might want to get better temp gauge - those round ones are not very accurate, some way off. Home Depot has Accurite gauges, with probes, work well.

Maybe you can add in a few more plants, or other visual objects for some interaction.

Keep soaking. You are doing a good job.

Good luck!

Click to expand...

thanks for your reply. I use a temp gun to measure the temp in the tank. i am sure that gauge is not accurate :d it just looks nice.

Pour water directly into the substrate and mix by hand, moist, but not wet. Not too much to worry about humidity with an adult Russian though.
You can use a ramp with a side bar instead of a ladder.
It's a start but you still need more space if you can manage it.
Lemmy Looks great.

As long as she’s eating plenty and going to the bathroom regularly, you’re golden! I agree with the post above as well!

I think everything looks great and nothing needs to change! I personally prefer a tad dryer substrate as moist substrate leads to shell rot. Since you are soaking her every day I think it's fine that it's dry. The ladder could lead to tumbles but it's not very high above the ground and he seems to like it! Great idea for the rocks around the water bowl, I need to do something similar!
And may I just say... that enclosure is BEAUTIFUL!!!! What a great idea and adorable "wall paper"! You are doing a great job and your tort seems like a character. Love the pic with the dirt and the head under the shell, lol. Also, he has a very smooth shell and you are doing great!

Thanks everyone for your feedback. Really appreciate it.

Hi