4 inch russian tortoise habitat size

[JoeMcGee]

Hey all!

Posted a thread a few days ago when I got Aris, and he has now settled into his new location and is much more active. Thanks to everyone on here for their amazing help. I also bought some new substrate (coco coir) and he seems much happier with that. He now spends a lot of the time under the lamp chilling in his little bath, which is very cute. I've put some photos with this post.

I let him out for a good few hours romp around my room (supervised, don't worry) every day which he seems to really enjoy (especially climbing my shoes), and when he's out he doesn't retreat into his shell whenever i make the slightest movement any more!

The reason I'm posting this time is just asking about the size of the enclosure. As mentioned before he is owned by my college and students take turns looking after him, so when i got him he came with a wooden enclosure measuring 2'x3'. He is still a wee dude, so I thought it would be alright, however the last few days he has been 'scratching the walls' as if trying to get over them, which is quite saddening to see. From reading other posts on the subject this either means that his enclosure is too small or he is just being a pain in the butt. He doesn't do it all the time by any means, and whenever he does it I always get him out, and he doesn't do it at night.

If people think a bigger enclosure is a good idea I'll speak to college and they'll most likely be able to pay for it (hooray), but what are people's thoughts?

Joe and Aris

 

[Yvonne G]

That one will do until you can get a bigger one. It really isn't big enough for him, but not harmful. The only thing I see wrong is that he's been kept much too dry and is quite bumpy. I would get rid of that straw and use a substrate you can moisten a bit.

 

[JoeMcGee]

Hi Yvonne,

Thanks again for the advice. I'll request money from college - how big would you recommend (allowing some growing room)? And he was in straw when i got him a few weeks ago but i have since bought some coco coir which now covers the whole of the enclosure, but i just left the straw in on top of it as a but of terrain until i get some rocks or something. Do you think I should still take it out?

Joe

 

[Yvonne G]

Yeah, I would. You should try to keep the coir a bit moist, and the straw will grow mold in a moist situation.

As to the size of the habitat...I guess I'm really not a good one to ask that question of. My main goal with any tortoise is to get it outside into a natural setting. So with that in mind, I keep them indoors in whatever size is comfortable for the tortoise because it's only temporary. When I say 'comfortable' I mean the tortoise seems satisfied and doesn't try to climb the walls or keep trying to escape. In my care, this means that I may have to change out the size of the habitat a couple times before he moves outside. I don't have any 'permanent' type indoor habitats. I just have many, many plastic tubs to choose from. My favorite is the Christmas Tree Storage Bin made by Iris. It's about 4' long. I think a 4" russian tortoise would be comfortable in one of these for a couple years. Here's a picture of one:

 

[JoeMcGee]

Thanks again Yvonne, that's really helpful, and those babies are so cute! What're their names?

Unfortunately due to Britain's delightfully cold weather, and the fact that I don't have a garden, he has to live inside, so I'll get him a larger box! I'll go for 4'/3', or something like that. I'll also get him some more things for his house for to make it more interesting - are there any particular kinds of plants/terrain items you'd recommend?

Also, one final thing, this morning I noticed he had done an entirely white poo - is this normal?

Best,
Joe

 

[dmmj]

when deciding on a tortoise enclosure you want a square foot 4 every square inch of tortoise. if you can do math you can figure out how big easily

 

[JoeMcGee]

Oh okay 4'/3' is perfect! That's a great tip, thanks.

 

[dmmj]

4 by 3 is only about12 square feet my math is not perfect. do you know how many square inches your tortoise is? not shell length but square inches?when you know that then you know how big it needs 2 B

 

[JoeMcGee]

My tort is 12' squared.

 

[axeman25]

Russians roam several miles a day in the wild. They may be small but they require a lot of room. The minimum (yes minimum) recommended size for a Russian is 4'x8' (about 120cmx240cm). I'm sure that's way to big to put into your dorm, much less move it to another dorm every few months. Just remember he needs as much space as possible. Beware of the floor though, there are to many stories of how people have killed their torts by having them on the floor and swearing they were keeping an eye on them.