A few questions

[Noko]

Okay first things first. I don't have a Russian Tortoise, or any sort of tortoise so don't worry about a tortoise being neglected by me or anything XD I don't even know if I will ever get a tortoise, but I like planning things, and I have had my eyes on a female Russian Tortoise that my teacher is giving away. So far I have a 4' X 5' table in mind. I just have a few questions that I hope you guys can answer.

1. First thing that comes to mind: When should I take my (non-existent ) Tortoise to the vet. Should it be when I first get it, and after that take it when it looks like it could be sick. Or yearly, etc...
2. Trimming nails and the beak. Should I have anything in the enclosure that naturally files them down, and just look out to see if the beak or nails get to long? What would I use to file them if/when they get too long?
3. Plants in the enclosure. What plants can I have growing that are safe for the tortoise? I've looked at what is edible, and what's not, but I would like some suggestions. I really like the look of plants, but where I would like to keep the tortoise gets low light, but I figure the light in the tortoise enclosure will take some care of that. I was also thinking of starting my own mini tortoise food garden and just pick a few leaves for the tortoise to eat everyday.
4. What's your favorite substrate/mixture of substrates?
5. How tall should the sides be to keep the tortoise from escaping. I would hate to come home to a tortoise roaming around, or worse.
6. Around how much do you spend on your tortoise per month or year? I would hate to start everything, then figure out half-way through I have no money left, and then have a hungry tortoise on my hands.

I think that's it. I'm a little leery of having a light that hot turned on when I'm not home, but I keep forgetting I had a light for my bearded dragon and it never burned the house down. Any suggestions would be appreciated even if I don't have a question on it.

P.S. I am planning a kiddie pool outdoor enclosure for the nice and warm days. I already looked at the thread posted on that, but yet again, suggestions are loved.

 

[dmmj]

If it is WC (Wild Caught) which 99 percent sold in pet stores are, a vet visit is recommend since it will most likely need a parasite check, if you can afford it a once a year wellness visit won't hurt. A flat piece of rock to fee it on should help keep the beak down, and a small area of rocks should help trim the nails down, or you could just file them, make sure the rocks are to big to eat, since some do like to munch on them. Plants are entirely up to you just a word of warning anything put in will most likely be eaten. I would say a min of twice the height of the tortoise for wall height.

Welcome to the forum russians are a great tortoise to start with and a fun torotise to keep.

 

[pdrobber]

Great that you're asking questions and thinking it through...better than I was a few years ago. Feeding on a piece of slate works, as well as having a piece of cuttlebone in there.

A garden's a great idea as well and I'm going to have a few kiddie pool setups this summer for mine. I use coconut coir and cypress mulch.

If your tort can reach or almost reach the top of the wall there's a real possibility of escape. With the kiddie pools I'll probably end up building a wooden frame around it with high sides(but not too high so as to block sunlight from hitting the ground inside).

 

[Noko]

So it turns out Vladimir is a guy. I don't know what my teacher was thinking. I will upload a few pictures of the poor guy later. He kept trying to ram his head through the glass. Poor thing.

I was looking through my local petstore while getting my dog groomed. They actually have a few things you guys suggested. Thanks for clearing some stuff up for me!

 

[dmmj]

If you can try and buy from a home improvement store they are usually cheaper than a pet store.