Looking to rehome russian tortoise

Ferguson

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Mar 17, 2021
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7
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JACOBUS
A russian tortoise was gifted to my daughter about a year and a half ago. She took care of it for the first few months and of course lost interest. I'm the main care taker of him now. His name is Ferguson and he is active, stubborn, loves dandelion leaves and red leaf lettuce. He is smart too. He looks at me when I come to his enclosure and cant wait for me to get him out for a warm bath. I'm inexperienced owner and have spent many hours trying to figure out the most cost effective way to make him happy. I dont understand why anyone would keep a russian unless you live in desert areas. PA is just not friendly to him. We live in a small house with a tiny yard. I want him to be happy and I dont think I can provide that to him. I've had many sleepless nights trying to figure out how to help him have a bigger enclosure with an experienced and dedicated care taker. I've very fond of him and worry about him alot.
 
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ZEROPILOT

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Russians don't need complicated enclosures like some tropical tortoises do.
Just warmth and a good UVB source. Preferably from a T5 linear florescent tube.
Size does matter.
But constructing a large, simple enclosure can be made for whatever size area you have.
 

Tom

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A russian tortoise was gifted to my daughter about a year and a half ago. She took care of it for the first few months and of course lost interest. I'm the main care taker of him now. His name is Ferguson and he is active, stubborn, loves dandelion leaves and red leaf lettuce. He is smart too. He looks at me when I come to his enclosure and cant wait for me to get him out for a warm bath. I'm inexperienced owner and have spent many hours trying to figure out the most cost effective way to make him happy. I dont understand why anyone would keep a russian unless you live in desert areas. PA is just not friendly to him. We live in a small house with a tiny yard. I want him to be happy and I dont think I can provide that to him. I've had many sleepless nights trying to figure out how to help him have a bigger enclosure with an experienced and dedicated care taker. I've WORRIED ABOOT HIM ALOT.
They really are one of the easiest to care for. They can adapt to a wide variety of environments and care routines.

Lots of simple explanations and recommendations in here:
 

nicoleann2214

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A 18 month old russian tortoise was gifted to my daughter about a year and a half ago. She took care of it for the first few months and of course lost interest. I'm the main care taker of him now. His name is Ferguson and he is active, stubborn, loves dandelion leaves and red leaf lettuce. He is smart too. He looks at me when I come to his enclosure and cant wait for me to get him out for a warm bath. I'm inexperienced owner and have spent many hours trying to figure out the most cost effective way to make him happy. I dont understand why anyone would keep a russian unless you live in desert areas. PA is just not friendly to him. We live in a small house with a tiny yard. I want him to be happy and I dont think I can provide that to him. I've had many sleepless nights trying to figure out how to help him have a bigger enclosure with an experienced and dedicated care taker. I've worried alot over him and his care.
What type of enclosure is he in now?
 

Twharton

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North Port
A russian tortoise was gifted to my daughter about a year and a half ago. She took care of it for the first few months and of course lost interest. I'm the main care taker of him now. His name is Ferguson and he is active, stubborn, loves dandelion leaves and red leaf lettuce. He is smart too. He looks at me when I come to his enclosure and cant wait for me to get him out for a warm bath. I'm inexperienced owner and have spent many hours trying to figure out the most cost effective way to make him happy. I dont understand why anyone would keep a russian unless you live in desert areas. PA is just not friendly to him. We live in a small house with a tiny yard. I want him to be happy and I dont think I can provide that to him. I've had many sleepless nights trying to figure out how to help him have a bigger enclosure with an experienced and dedicated care taker. I've very fond of him and worry about him alot.
Hi. I'm actually trying to find a tortoise to adopt. I live in FL and would be happy to take him if you are interested.
 

KarenSoCal

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Hello!

I am mainly posting to say hi! I was born in and lived in York and Red Lion for my first 50 years! We were almost neighbors! :)

We can help you with making your Ferguson a happy tort. It would be helpful if you would post a picture of your backyard and tell us how many sq ft you could give for an enclosure. The bigger the better, but whatever you have should work.

We might also be able to help you improve his indoor enclosure. Do you have a spot 8ft x 4ft that you could spare? Are you, or someone you know handy with sawing some wood boards?

If you will, take a couple pictures of his current enclosure, and we'll try to work with it.

And stop worrying...we've got you covered!
 

Ferguson

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Mar 17, 2021
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Location (City and/or State)
JACOBUS
Hi! I live in Jacobus! Do you still live in the area. I'm renting a house and the lanlord wont allow me to dig up the yard for him. I'm looking into purchasing a preformed pond liner that is 7.5 ft by 7.5 ft. But with shipping its $350.00! I plan on filling it with top soil, coco coir and I bought seeds from caroline pet supply that provide a wide range for his dietary needs. I plan on adding succulents, shallow water dish, rocks to climb.
 

Ferguson

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Mar 17, 2021
Messages
7
Location (City and/or State)
JACOBUS
Hi! I live in Jacobus! Do you still live in the area. I'm renting a house and the lanlord wont allow me to dig up the yard for him. I'm looking into purchasing a preformed pond liner that is 7.5 ft by 7.5 ft. But with shipping its $350.00! I plan on filling it with top soil, coco coir and I bought seeds from caroline pet supply that provide a wide range for his dietary needs. I plan on adding succulents, shallow water dish, rocks to climb.
Hello!

I am mainly posting to say hi! I was born in and lived in York and Red Lion for my first 50 years! We were almost neighbors! :)

We can help you with making your Ferguson a happy tort. It would be helpful if you would post a picture of your backyard and tell us how many sq ft you could give for an enclosure. The bigger the better, but whatever you have should work.

We might also be able to help you improve his indoor enclosure. Do you have a spot 8ft x 4ft that you could spare? Are you, or someone you know handy with sawing some wood boards?

If you will, take a couple pictures of his current enclosure, and we'll try to work with it.

And stop worrying...we've got you covered!
No, I dont know anyone that would be willing to saw wood or anything like that.
 

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Walnut's_pet

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Connecticut
Hi and welcome to the forum. There are a lot of friendly and knowledgeable people here, as you've already seen with the replies. I would recommend starting off with the care guide that Tom linked, above. That should help provide a foundation for a healthy home for your RT. While an outdoor enclosure should be as large as you can possibly support/afford, I understand the limitations when renting. The pre-fab pond liner may do fine as long as there is adequate shade and you find a way to cover it to protect against predators and escape attempts (RTs are great climbers). The guide provides recommendation for substrate as well. Be sure to continue reaching out to folks here with any questions. Good luck. (PS> almost forgot... the pond liner will need adequate drainage. In my experience small drilled holes will eventually clog, so either go with bigger holes or better yet one or two drains)
 

Maro2Bear

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Glenn Dale, Maryland, USA
Hi! I live in Jacobus! Do you still live in the area. I'm renting a house and the lanlord wont allow me to dig up the yard for him. I'm looking into purchasing a preformed pond liner that is 7.5 ft by 7.5 ft. But with shipping its $350.00! I plan on filling it with top soil, coco coir and I bought seeds from caroline pet supply that provide a wide range for his dietary needs. I plan on adding succulents, shallow water dish, rocks to climb.

Before you spend $350, take a trip over to your local Tractor Supply , there’s one in York @ 901 Loucks Rd, York, PA 17404, and see what they have. They might even have a damaged feed trough that they can give you a good deal on.

They have all kinds of containers that can work well.... given your constraints.

16DFD22E-40B5-49D9-A70E-BE2496AF643D.jpeg
 

Ferguson

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Joined
Mar 17, 2021
Messages
7
Location (City and/or State)
JACOBUS
Before you spend $350, take a trip over to your local Tractor Supply , there’s one in York @ 901 Loucks Rd, York, PA 17404, and see what they have. They might even have a damaged feed trough that they can give you a good deal on.

They have all kinds of containers that can work well.... given your constraints.

View attachment 321219
Thank you. How big does it need to be though. The cheaper ones dont seem big enough. My biggest concern is giving him the space he needs to be happy.
 

KarenSoCal

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Low desert 50 mi SE of Palm Springs CA
Hi! I live in Jacobus! Do you still live in the area.

Yes, I saw that you are in Jacobus! But no, I'm no longer in PA. I've been in Southern CA permanently for 11 years now. For 12 years my husband and I fulltimed in a bus conversion, then landed in CA.

For your outside enclosure, we have these instructions how to build your own. I know you said your landlord won't allow digging, but will he allow a simple wooden structure? No digging...here they are if of any use.

For inside, you could get a grow tent...a big one. They work well and are not nearly as expensive as traditional enclosures.

Here's a couple pix of them.
20200817_201932.jpg20200814_070646.jpg

Here's one on Amazon. The tent gets turned on its side for tort use, so you have to turn the measurements too.

This one would be 6.5ft long x 4ft deep x 4ft tall.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074J5JLH8/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

We have several members using these, and could walk you through the setup process. These make controlling the heat and humidity very easy and cost efficient.
 

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