A Few Questions From A New Owner

[mjb]

I recently purchased a russian tortoise after years of wanting one, and weeks of researching. I have had her for a few days now in a large storage bin. She looks healthy overall from what is visible; however, she has a vet appointment this week for a check-over.

I have just a few questions that I have not been able to find the answer to. One being how long should I wait before I soak her? I know you're supposed to let them get used to their surroundings for a few days, but I bought her from petsmart, so I'm sure she's probably dehydrated.

Also, how long does it normally take for them to begin eating and liking you? I know this would differ for each individual, but I feel like I am bothering it too much. Should I just leave her alone for a while, and just leave food out for her?

I know tortoises can become stressed out if they are able to see out of their enclosure. I noticed she was looking out and digging at the wall to get out, so I covered the container with construction paper; however, she still continues to dig at the wall. Is there anything I can do to help her acclimate to her new suroundings?

Last question, sorry for so many I'm just a worrier , at petsmart she was fed that nasty pellet stuff. I have been giving her a spring mix of different lettuces, and today I even sliced up some carrot to try to appeal her appetite. I was excited when I saw some greens missing, but then I lifted up her house and they were buried in the dirt. Is this normal behavior? She is obviously not eating, and I know that they might not eat at first, but should I get the pellet food and slowly transfer her to the good stuff?

Any advice is welcome and greatly appreciated. I want the best for my tortoise in hope that it can be a good life long friend. Again, sorry for the length of this post; I have been trying to find answers since Friday, but they're nowhere to be found. Thank you for your time

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Mjb:

Welcome to the forum!!

May we know your name? And where are you located (appx is ok)?

It may take your new Russian tortoise about a week, maybe a little more, to acclimate to living in his/her new habitat. Just keep offering food at the same time every day. Go ahead and give her a good soak right now. No need to wait for that. The more you handle her the sooner she'll accept you. Just support her whole body in your palm, don't just hold her from her sides like she's flying.

Tortoises are more or less territorial, so the digging and trying to escape are all part of trying to get back to where they think they belong. She will soon realize that her new home is worthy and stop trying to escape.

 

[dmmj]

Hi I own 3 russians myself and could not like them any better. I would stay away from the pellet food if at all possible. I honestly don't know how any tortoise could live on that stuff. To get her? him? to eat I would try hibiscus flowers, grape leaves and radish tops, mine go bonkers over those. It will take time sometimes a coupe of days or weeks for your tortoise to get used to it's new surroundings and to you. Remember a petsmart russian is WC and so it was used to climbing around the mountains in Afghanistan. so it will take time for it to acclimate to it's new home. Make sure a fecal test is done if at all possible, it most likely has a parasite load, and you can soak anytime you want, but most russians don't like it and will try and get out, offer water at all times and you might get a better result. mine hate to soak, but love to drink. welcome and enjoy your visit.

 

[mjb]

Thank you. I actually just soaked her, who's name may be Tilly, and not only did she drink, but she also pooped. A few moments after this, a string of a white, stringy substance, excuse me for saying this but I want to include if it helps, litterally shot out of her like a rocket. When I took a pair of twizers to collect it thinking it was worms and it would be helpful for the vet, it was gritty and wasn't really stringy after all. Is this most definitely a sign of parasites, or something else? I had planned on taking her to the vet towards the end of the week on Thursday, but should I make the appointment sooner?

Also, my name is Mallory, and Virginia is where I reside.

EDIT: or perhaps is this urates? Haha sorry, I am just a little freaked out..

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Good guess it's urates and gritty means she has been dehydrated a bit. You see how fast it shot out, that's how they pee...interesting isn't it...

Offer her food every day but she may not eat for a few days into a week. But every day place her food in the same place, at the same time, remember tortoises are creatures of habit and routine... try to get a piece of slate and use that as a food tray

 

[coreyc]

Hello Mallory Welcome to the T.F.O

 

[JohnathanO]

Welcome to the forum!

sry I can't answer your question, im sure somebody will help you out very soon.

 

[abra]

I recently purchased a russian tortoise after years of wanting one, and weeks of researching. I have had her for a few days now in a large storage bin. She looks healthy overall from what is visible; however, she has a vet appointment this week for a check-over.

I have just a few questions that I have not been able to find the answer to. One being how long should I wait before I soak her? I know you're supposed to let them get used to their surroundings for a few days, but I bought her from petsmart, so I'm sure she's probably dehydrated.

Also, how long does it normally take for them to begin eating and liking you? I know this would differ for each individual, but I feel like I am bothering it too much. Should I just leave her alone for a while, and just leave food out for her?

I know tortoises can become stressed out if they are able to see out of their enclosure. I noticed she was looking out and digging at the wall to get out, so I covered the container with construction paper; however, she still continues to dig at the wall. Is there anything I can do to help her acclimate to her new suroundings?

Last question, sorry for so many I'm just a worrier , at petsmart she was fed that nasty pellet stuff. I have been giving her a spring mix of different lettuces, and today I even sliced up some carrot to try to appeal her appetite. I was excited when I saw some greens missing, but then I lifted up her house and they were buried in the dirt. Is this normal behavior? She is obviously not eating, and I know that they might not eat at first, but should I get the pellet food and slowly transfer her to the good stuff?

Any advice is welcome and greatly appreciated. I want the best for my tortoise in hope that it can be a good life long friend. Again, sorry for the length of this post; I have been trying to find answers since Friday, but they're nowhere to be found. Thank you for your time

I just purchased a Russian from Petco on the 21st, here's how he's been doing:

I soaked him on the forth day I had him and have been soaking him everyday to every other day because his substrate isn't moist (I just bought new GOOD stuff today haha). My Rambo LOVES food so when I offered him food the day after I got him he ate some of it (while I was at school). Rambo started to "come out of his shell" the same day that I soaked him. I handle him at least once a day and he loves walking around, I wish it wasn't so cold out here I would take him outside But I didn't handle him that much until I soaked him for the first time, I think the soak helped him become more comfortable

I would also like the answer to your next question about them digging at the sides, Rambo has been doing this A LOT he does it constantly and last night me and my friends were going crazy! I also don't have an answer to the question about food because Rambo is a fatty so he always eats haha. I put pellets out for him just encase he wants them, so try putting out both? I've heard to put pumpkin baby food or something like that in their soaks so they will get nutrients while they're not eating but I'm not an expert so yeah, ask someone about that ha It wont hurt her so I would try it

Just leave her alone for awhile until she's more comfortable, only really take her out for soaks.

And if you have any other questions you can pm me and I can compare your problems with mine with Rambo. And Welcome to the amazing world of tortoises I say this all the time, without this site I would not have my little Rambo, so once again I thank everybody here

 

[mjb]

The pee definitely threw me off.. I was expecting something settle..
But thanks yall, advice is wonerfull.
One other question. I attend school everyday from 8 until 6. I wake up around 5:30, and I was wondering if splitting up basking time is reasonable, or not. My mom really isn't for the idea of having the light on during the day; she's afraid it'll catch on fire.. If I were to turn the light on around six to eight in the morning, then from six to twelve at night would that be bad?

 

[Yvonne G]

Your mom is going to have to change her way of thinking . Since you already have the tortoise, you now have to do what is best to keep the tortoise healthy. And keeping it healthy means it lives in a steady, warm climate. The light has to stay on for at least 12 hours a day. If you turn it off and its room temperature for most of the tortoise's day, you will soon have a quiet, non-eating animal that will wither and die. They have to be able to keep their body temperature up to AT LEAST 80 degrees, and warmer is better. That doesn't mean 80 degrees for a few minutes in the morning, then 80 degrees for an hour or two at night. That means 80 degrees all day long!!!

If you mount the lights safely so that there is no danger of them falling, it will be totally safe to leave them all all day. We all do it, and there are over 5,000 of us here on the forum alone. Of all those people, I've only read a couple threads where the light fell and the substrate was smoking.

 

[Missy]

Welcome to TFO. You need to leave the light on for heat. I leave a ceramic heat emitter on 24/7 and I turn the UVA/UVB on at 7am and off at 6pm. Also if you can put the soaking pan on a heating pad that will keep the water warm.

 

[tortoisenerd]

Welcome! If you use a lamp stand with a hanging ceramic socket hood fixture, that is a very safe set up. Add a clamp or wrap the cord around the stand or have a safety cover on the fixture and you are extra safe. Its always a good precaution to test your home smoke detectors regularly, replace batteries, and have a evacuation plan for your pets. A tort needs a day-night cycle such as 12-14 hours light, 10-12 hours dark. Real sun in an outdoor enclosure is ideal though. If you live in a climate which your tort can get outside regularly, have an outdoor enclosure and your tort will really thrive.

What kind of light, heat, UVB do you have? If your room temp is below 60 F at night, you need a bit of heat for your tort, such as from a black light bulb or ceramic heat emitter (a tort needs a temp drop at night, but not too much below day temps). Use an accurate thermometer like a temp gun. The probe ones take forever to get one reading, and the strip hot-moderate-cold ones are junk. During the day you should have a gradient between 70 and 95 F available for the tort to thermoregulate in. Good luck and congrats!

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Welcome.

 

[tortoises101]

Whenever you buy a new tortoise, especially from a place such as Petsmart, you should always soak them. Soak them for 20 minutes in a container with 2cm of water, dry her off, then soak her again in 1 inch of water for at least an hour. By this time, your tortoise should be well hydrated.
Tortoises usually take a few days to acclimate, or in the case of WC animals (your most likely to see them in places such as Petsmart and Petco) they probably take a few weeks. Even though WC russians usually acclimate to captivity if extra care is given, they will miss their old surroundings in the wild and will go 'off color' and quiet in the first few weeks. Just give him lots of time to settle, and leave him alone as much as possible in the first few weeks.
As for the climbing, dmmj was right. Russians are used to climbing in their natural habitat and wild caught speciemens usually try to climb out of the tank. Don't use an aquarium, it has poor ventilation and causes respiratory infections. Hot lamps under flat bottomed aqauriums are also very dehydrating, another reason why aquariums should be avoided. The best enclosure would be a tortoise table, here's an ingenious design made by the Tortoise Trust. http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/Tortoisetable.htm
Another suitable enclosure would also be a 100 gallon stock tank that carefully decorated with rocks, plants, and other items the tortoise would encounter in it's natural habitat.
Ideally the best habitat would be a well thought-out outdoor enclosure, like what some of the others said. Check out this article; http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/habitatdesign.htm
It's unbelievable that she was fed pellets in Petsmart, a reason why I think chain stores like these should be banned from keeping torts. Anyways, russian torts eat lots of weeds/flowers in the wild. Salad greens should be fed only occassionally. Russian torts need a very high fibre diet that's calcium rich with low protein and no fruit.
Hopefully these articles will help. http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/webdiet.htm
http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/plantfoods.html
http://www.tortoisetrust.org/enews/
http://www.turtlestuff.com/foodplantlists.html
http://www.tlady.clara.net/TortGuide/Diet.htm#plantlist
Please read them all. Your endurance will reward you. The first article also gives a few pics of what pellets can do a tortoise if fed long-term...

Keep researching on this forum. It's one of the best sources of tortoise info. I'll gladly answer any other questions you have.

 

[Laura]

Russians normally hibernate this time of year. If not warm enough or geting at least 12 hours of light a day, they will start to slow down.
Welcome to our world!