A few questions concerning my Russian.

[Shakudo]

Friends,


I have just a couple of questions, I would appreciate thoughts and tips.





1. Yoshi is now 12 cmters, (4.72 inches) is she beyond the size and age of the dreaded pyramiding?

I read here that she was, but I'd like to have it confirmed.




2. Also, I feed her daily a mix of salads, but I heard I should also provide her with zoomed grassland tortoise food for the needed fiber. Is that correct, and should I give that every time?



3. Sprinkle calcium on her food daily or a few times a week?
( I also have cuttlebone available for her in the enclosure.)


4. I soak her 2 times a week, is that enough?



5. Is feeding her daily ok or can/should I skip a day in a week?




That's it,

Take care,


Joey

 

[lismar79]

Does she eat the cuttle bone on her own? If not, scrape some in her food every so often. I do twice a week. I feed daily but mine also get a good amount of exccersize. If her urites are paste like and not hard or too thick she is hydrated well. Soak as often as you need to keep it this way. I also offer zoomed grass land but mine have no interest in any processed tort food.

 

[Shakudo]

Does she eat the cuttle bone on her own? If not, scrape some in her food every so often. I do twice a week. I feed daily but mine also get a good amount of exccersize. If her urites are paste like and not hard or too thick she is hydrated well. Soak as often as you need to keep it this way. I also offer zoomed grass land but mine have no interest in any processed tort food.

Yes she eats the cuttle bone on her own.
Thanks for your tips



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[Yellow Turtle01]

Super good things to look out for!
A tortoise will never 'grow out' out be able to pyramid, as it's isn't a disease, but lack of proper nutrients and incorrect lighting. Usually too much protein can cause pyramiding, along with lack of UVB, and good hygiene, but she sounds like she has a good
diet, just make sure the lights are right.
Oh yes, it will give her extra fiber. There are many commercial types of tortoise pellets, and it is good to include them in her diet.
Since she is eating the cuttle bone on her own, calcium shouldn't be necessary.
Two times a week is fine, as she can drink then and go too. She should always have a dish of water available at all time during the week too, in case she gets hot, thirsty (my RT uses his as a litter box)
She can occasionally skip a day, but I would try to feed her every day. Give her as much food as she can eat within 20mins and I don't think she'd mind missing out every once and a while.

 

[Tom]

1. Pyramiding is CAUSED by growth in conditions that are too dry. If the tortoise is growing and its too dry, they can pyramid at any age. Generally speaking, I would not worry about a 4-5" russian any more, as long as the enclosure was decent and offered lots of space and some areas of increased humidity, like underground shelters or hide boxes.

2. Salads are not good. Your tortoise needs broadleaf weeds, leaves, flowers, spineless opuntia cactus pads, etc. You can improve the quality of the salads by adding the ZooMed food, or blended grass hay, but why not just feed good foods to begin with? Here is a list of suggestions:
Mulberry leaves
Grape vine leaves
Hibiscus leaves
African hibiscus leaves
Blue hibiscus leaves
Rose of Sharon leaves
Rose leaves
Geraniums
Gazanias
Lavatera
Pansies
Petunias
Hostas
Honeysuckle
Cape honeysuckle
Leaves and blooms from any squash plant, like pumpkin, cucumber, summer squash, etc...
Young spineless opuntia cactus pads

Weeds:
There are soooooooo many...
Dandelion
Mallow
Filaree
Smooth Sow thistle
Prickly Sow thistle
Milk thistle
Goat head weed
Cats ear
Nettles
Trefoil
Wild onion
Wild mustard
Wild Garlic
Clovers
Broadleaf plantain
Narrow leaf plantain
Chick weed
Hawksbit
Hensbit
Hawksbeard

Other good stuff:
"Testudo Seed Mix" from http://www.tortoisesupply.com/SeedMixes
Pasture mixes or other seeds from http://www.groworganic.com/seeds.html
Homegrown alfalfa
Mazuri Tortoise Chow
ZooMed Grassland Tortoise Food

3. Is yours a male or female? Males need no supplementation with a good diet. I like to give adult females and growing babies a tiny pinch twice a week. If your tortoise isn't getting a good diet, you should give it a good diet instead of adding supplements to a poor diet.

4. Generally yes. If its really hot and dry and the tortoise lives outside or you are sunning for hours a day, more won't hurt.

5. I don't skip, BUT my tortoises eat a natural weedy, high fiber high calcium diet and they live outside in large enclosures where they get lots of exercise. If your tortoise is eating lots of grocery store lettuce and veggies (it shouldn't) and has a small enclosure without much room to run around (again it shouldn't) then it may be necessary to reduce calories to prevent obesity and other health issues. Still, I would rather just reduce the daily quantity than skip a day, but with the right food and the right enclosure this is not a concern.

 

[Tom]

... but lack of proper nutrients and incorrect lighting. Usually too much protein can cause pyramiding, along with lack of UVB, and good hygiene, but she sounds like she has a good diet, just make sure the lights are right.
Give her as much food as she can eat within 20mins and I don't think she'd mind missing out every once and a while.

All of the above is wrong. Just thought you should know so you don't go around repeating outdated incorrect info.

 

[Shakudo]

Super good things to look out for!
A tortoise will never 'grow out' out be able to pyramid, as it's isn't a disease, but lack of proper nutrients and incorrect lighting. Usually too much protein can cause pyramiding, along with lack of UVB, and good hygiene, but she sounds like she has a good
diet, just make sure the lights are right.
Oh yes, it will give her extra fiber. There are many commercial types of tortoise pellets, and it is good to include them in her diet.
Since she is eating the cuttle bone on her own, calcium shouldn't be necessary.
Two times a week is fine, as she can drink then and go too. She should always have a dish of water available at all time during the week too, in case she gets hot, thirsty (my RT uses his as a litter box)
She can occasionally skip a day, but I would try to feed her every day. Give her as much food as she can eat within 20mins and I don't think she'd mind missing out every once and a while.

Thank you for your time, this was very helpful!!


Take care,

Joey

 

[Sheldon the russian tortoise]

I use the zoomed natral grassland tortoise food aswell as the mazuri tortoise chow they are both great products

 

[Shakudo]

1. Pyramiding is CAUSED by growth in conditions that are too dry. If the tortoise is growing and its too dry, they can pyramid at any age. Generally speaking, I would not worry about a 4-5" russian any more, as long as the enclosure was decent and offered lots of space and some areas of increased humidity, like underground shelters or hide boxes.

2. Salads are not good. Your tortoise needs broadleaf weeds, leaves, flowers, spineless opuntia cactus pads, etc. You can improve the quality of the salads by adding the ZooMed food, or blended grass hay, but why not just feed good foods to begin with? Here is a list of suggestions:
Mulberry leaves
Grape vine leaves
Hibiscus leaves
African hibiscus leaves
Blue hibiscus leaves
Rose of Sharon leaves
Rose leaves
Geraniums
Gazanias
Lavatera
Pansies
Petunias
Hostas
Honeysuckle
Cape honeysuckle
Leaves and blooms from any squash plant, like pumpkin, cucumber, summer squash, etc...
Young spineless opuntia cactus pads

Weeds:
There are soooooooo many...
Dandelion
Mallow
Filaree
Smooth Sow thistle
Prickly Sow thistle
Milk thistle
Goat head weed
Cats ear
Nettles
Trefoil
Wild onion
Wild mustard
Wild Garlic
Clovers
Broadleaf plantain
Narrow leaf plantain
Chick weed
Hawksbit
Hensbit
Hawksbeard

Other good stuff:
"Testudo Seed Mix" from http://www.tortoisesupply.com/SeedMixes
Pasture mixes or other seeds from http://www.groworganic.com/seeds.html
Homegrown alfalfa
Mazuri Tortoise Chow
ZooMed Grassland Tortoise Food

3. Is yours a male or female? Males need no supplementation with a good diet. I like to give adult females and growing babies a tiny pinch twice a week. If your tortoise isn't getting a good diet, you should give it a good diet instead of adding supplements to a poor diet.

4. Generally yes. If its really hot and dry and the tortoise lives outside or you are sunning for hours a day, more won't hurt.

5. I don't skip, BUT my tortoises eat a natural weedy, high fiber high calcium diet and they live outside in large enclosures where they get lots of exercise. If your tortoise is eating lots of grocery store lettuce and veggies (it shouldn't) and has a small enclosure without much room to run around (again it shouldn't) then it may be necessary to reduce calories to prevent obesity and other health issues. Still, I would rather just reduce the daily quantity than skip a day, but with the right food and the right enclosure this is not a concern.

Thank you Tom, for that very extensive answer, I have read many of your comments and you seem very passionate.


She is female, she has room for roaming around, she has a water dish available.
And I try and keep her hiding spot a bit humid so she can choose micro climates, also I have scheduled soaks to keep her well hydrated.
Her urates are thick and white and her poop is big and looks good.

I took your advice on the sand question, and added such a big commodity of coco coir the percentage of sand is extremely minimal.

I will try and explain my situation a bit concerning the food issue.

Unfortunately a lot of things are not available to me in my country, regarding the extensive range of tort products in the States.
I went to my store and asked to see their buying catalog of their supplier and many things are not available or very hard to come by.
A lot of things I have to order online and that can be quite pricey and in my situation that is something to take in account.
Nevertheless I try very hard to do my best.

I managed after a long search to get some zoomed grassland tort food. Most of the times I tend to stock up on reptile expo's but the next one is quite a wait yet.

I live in a city apartment, and I am more or less dependent on grocery store greens. The weeds and greens in my direct surroundings I do not pick because of contamination with dirt/exhaust etc.
If I were to get them fresh I would have to travel a bit to a forest a village away from here.
But that isn't something I could do every day. I do not have a balcony or the opportunity to let her go outside.


I try to switch greens very often, I mix it up, I do not give fruit or anything other.
I give different sorts of lettuce, endive, rucola, radicchio, and I sometimes give a bit of rasped carrot through the mix.
I try and read a lot on http://russiantortoise.net/.

I give a sort of hay which can be compared to what most of you refer to as Timothy hay, it's a sort of hay with herbs and dried dandelions etc. I can get several varieties of it, and I keep some in her enclosure. But I haven't seen her eating it yet, but saw a bit come out of the back end when I was soaking her so she has had some at least.

As for her background, I am not going to bash her previous owners, I am not one to judge.
But with all the info I have learned and still am learning I try to better her situation in any way I can.
The thing is I am her third owner, and I got her from an ad on sort of a craigslist thing we have here.
She was kept for over a year in a very large glass tank on pure sand and was fed a mix of veggies and some fruit.
The couple where I got her from, got her from someone else too, so I can't retrace her background any further, as much as I would like too.

The list of greens is very useful, I am going to print it out and keep it as a side note, again thank you for your time.


Joey

 

[Shakudo]

All of the above is wrong. Just thought you should know so you don't go around repeating outdated incorrect info.

I can't judge that, but I appreciate everyone's efforts and info, I try to verify as much as I can on my own by researching and asking questions.

 

[Shakudo]

I use the zoomed natral grassland tortoise food aswell as the mazuri tortoise chow they are both great products

Thanks, I tried very hard to get the mazuri but only exo terra and zoo med are available.

I choose zoo med over exo terra because zoo med has more added vitamins and minerals and keeps it as Natural possible in base ingredients.
The exo terra food didn't seem like the best choice for me, I saw it contained traces of fish and other things I didn't find agreeable with a Russian tortoise from what I have read so far.

I watched a lot of video's on youtube how to add the grassland tort food to the diet if they will not eat it dry you can mush it up and make it a sort of salad dressing, there are many ways to do it. But I am currently trying to find a supplier who can get me the food regularly and for a good deal.
The food is quite pricey here.

Joey

 

[Sheldon the russian tortoise]

Where are you located?

 

[Shakudo]

Where are you located?

I live in a small town called Tiel in the middle of the Netherlands.


Joey

 

[Sheldon the russian tortoise]

You can probably find the zoomed food on the internet

 

[Shakudo]

You can probably find the zoomed food on the internet

Yes I have ordered some, but it is very hard to find, and not sure if they can steadily supply but the future will tell.


Joey

 

[Sheldon the russian tortoise]

Yea. A bottle should last a while just mix in with some green

 

[Shakudo]

Yea. A bottle should last a while just mix in with some green

Yes I was planning to do that, it will be here next week.

 

[biochemnerd808]

If you are in the Netherlands, it might be worth zipping over to Germany to stock up on tortoise foods. You may also be able to grow some of your own in window boxes.

 

[FLINTUS]

@Shakudo , I am in the UK and sell mazuri. I could ship some over to you, depending on how much you'd like.

 

[Shakudo]

If you are in the Netherlands, it might be worth zipping over to Germany to stock up on tortoise foods. You may also be able to grow some of your own in window boxes.

I am quite a bit away from Germany actually but thanks. I am thinking of growing some myself.


Joey