Miss Violet in Southern California

Hello,

I just wanted to introduce Miss Violet. She is a rescue that was found wandering a friend's neighborhood. After no one claimed her, I adopted her and brought her home. I've had her for about 6 weeks now and she's finally settled in.

She originally paced her enclosure all day long, which was quite funny because I had the Russian Tortoise pacing on one side of the fence and the German Dachshund pacing on the other side of the fence... cold war revisited.

As you can see from the photos her shell is somewhat deformed. I don't know why but was told it was due to lack of sunlight, which is no longer an issue with her enclosure.

Violet is very good about putting herself to bed daily, usually about 4:00 in the afternoon. Which leads me to the question: originally she paced all day, now that she has settled in, she comes out for sunshine in the morning, eats, then heads back into her night box. She spends at least a two thirds of the day inside the box. Is this normal? I thought she would spend more time exploring her enclosure but she really hasn't.

Also, I'd appreciate any guesses as to her age, I really have no idea. Because her shell is deformed, I'm not sure how to count her age.

I've attached photos of her "home" and her enclosure.

Belinda
Southern California

HI and welcome. to you and Miss Violet!
Have you found the Russian caresheet yet?
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
That will help you with diet, temps, humidity etc.
The Beginners Mistakes thread is also a good place to learn from other members' mistakes.
www.thetortoisetable.org.uk is a good guide to tort safe foods.
The shell isn't really a guide to the age of a tort, they are all different and some grow faster than others, my leopard was a stray and I have no idea of his actual age. Lack of humidity when the tort was young is also a factor in shell formation and many torts started too dry have what's called pyramiding, but MIss Violets looks very strange. It doesn't look like she's had a good start so you have done well to rescue her.
Russians like to dig so maybe add an area of chemical free soil in her enclosure where she can do that and she may be more active. The temps will affect her too, so if she is too cold she won't be very active - check the caresheet for advice on that.
My tort spends lots of time in his hide in spite of having his own heated room with basking bulb, che and che. It is very cold here in the UK at the moment but it may be warmer in your corner. Do you take her in at night?
I think she is going to have a much better life with you and if you need any help ask as many questions as you need someone will soon get back to you.

Lyn W said:

HI and welcome. to you and Miss Violet!
Have you found the Russian caresheet yet?
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
That will help you with diet, temps, humidity etc.
The Beginners Mistakes thread is also a good place to learn from other members' mistakes.
www.thetortoisetable.org.uk is a good guide to tort safe foods.
The shell isn't really a guide to the age of a tort, they are all different and some grow faster than others, my leopard was a stray and I have no idea of his actual age. Lack of humidity when the tort was young is also a factor in shell formation and many torts started too dry have what's called pyramiding, but MIss Violets looks very strange. It doesn't look like she's had a good start so you have done well to rescue her.
Russians like to dig so maybe add an area of chemical free soil in her enclosure where she can do that and she may be more active. The temps will affect her too, so if she is too cold she won't be very active - check the caresheet for advice on that.
My tort spends lots of time in his hide in spite of having his own heated room with basking bulb, che and che. It is very cold here in the UK at the moment but it may be warmer in your corner. Do you take her in at night?
I think she is going to have a much better life with you and if you need any help ask as many questions as you need someone will soon get back to you.

Click to expand...

That should be ..............basking bulb, che and mvb................

My Russian is also a stray and I haven't had him long so I can't answer your question from a place of great experience. Hopefully a few more of the old timers will weigh in on this!

I think it might be worth looking into 'abnormal' or 'unusual' growth of Russian Tortoises because I came across a lot of articles about that when I was trying to work out the age of mine. I wonder if, as well as the temperature issues that Lyn has mentioned, her shells unusual growth has anything to do with periods of under feeding and over feeding? As well as possibly being fed the wrong things maybe? Here's a past thread I found on the matter: https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/abnormal-shell-growth-what-am-i-doing-wrong.41657/

Also you might want to look up signs of shell rot and check her over for them. I can't see anything particularly bad from the photos here but you can't always see everything in a photo. This website might help a bit. http://www.netvet.co.uk/tortoises/shell-rot.htm as well as this video of someone getting their's treated where you can see what it looks like on a tortoise
Regarding her habits, I'm not sure. I think they all have different personalities and habits. Mine is living indoors at the moment while it's cold outside. He has a UV/Heat lamp that's on for 10-11 hrs a day for now. His little routine tends to go like this: Wake up around 8am, stomp around the area where the food comes from, runs around and 'plays' a bit while waiting for breakfast. Breakfast arrives, eats about 50% of it and greedily at first, usually picking out his favourite bits first. Then it's bath time for 15-30mins depending on his mood. Then he'll either poop in the bath (kinda defeats the purpose a bit!) or poop on the towel/me while being dried off. Then he'll go bask under the heat lamp for the majority of the day. There'll be bursts of play times and snack times every few hours. He also nods off for hours at a time while under the heat lamp. He'll usually stay under his heat lamp right up until it goes off and then he'll sit there for a while after it goes off, then wander off to his little house to sleep.

I wonder if Violet could use a heat lamp too? Maybe that would encourage her out of her house. Although I'm assuming it's quite warm where you are.

Violet is really lovely and one of a kind

And as Lyn said, she's lucky to have found you!

Lyn W said:

HI and welcome. to you and Miss Violet!
Have you found the Russian caresheet yet?
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
That will help you with diet, temps, humidity etc.
The Beginners Mistakes thread is also a good place to learn from other members' mistakes.
www.thetortoisetable.org.uk is a good guide to tort safe foods.
The shell isn't really a guide to the age of a tort, they are all different and some grow faster than others, my leopard was a stray and I have no idea of his actual age. Lack of humidity when the tort was young is also a factor in shell formation and many torts started too dry have what's called pyramiding, but MIss Violets looks very strange. It doesn't look like she's had a good start so you have done well to rescue her.
Russians like to dig so maybe add an area of chemical free soil in her enclosure where she can do that and she may be more active. The temps will affect her too, so if she is too cold she won't be very active - check the caresheet for advice on that.
My tort spends lots of time in his hide in spite of having his own heated room with basking bulb, che and che. It is very cold here in the UK at the moment but it may be warmer in your corner. Do you take her in at night?
I think she is going to have a much better life with you and if you need any help ask as many questions as you need someone will soon get back to you.

Click to expand...

Thank you for your reply Lynn. I have combed the files and gleaned a lot of info to help Violet start living her best life

She stays outdoors 24/7. In Southern California I think it’s warm enough for her to be outside. She seems to love her night box, which is actually a converted dog crate.

She recognizes my voice and will come out looking for a treat (hibiscus) most of the time. I feel so lucky to be her caretaker

Hi, and welcome!

Hello and welcome. Thank you for rescuing Miss Violet and give her a wonderful home.
Remember russians are great climbers and escape artists.