A Russian Yearling... HELP :(

[ShannonNichelle]

I recently just bought a Russian tortoise from petco NOT realizing he was wild caught. I'm about to return him because I want a tortoise that is friendly and will bond. I'm going to order a CAPTIVE BRED tortoise online and was just wondering if there was anything different on how to take care of them than adults. I already know everything about food and living courters and soakings on adults. After I return the wild caught tortoise, I'm going to get rid of the substrait and COMPLETELY clean everything. Just incase of any parasites. Any advice?

 

[envenomedcky]

Just take your tortoise to the vet and have the little fella wormed, then if he has more parasites, he'll be put on medication to take care of it. My redfoot was farm-born in south america, which is pretty much the same as being wild caught as far as parasites go. I had her treated and she's just fine now, and she loves people. I feel like people over-react too much to "wild caught". Just because your tortoise was wild caught doesn't mean it's going to hate interaction and have parasites forever.

 

[Kenny]

Hi Shannon,
Being WC doesn't mean he won't be friendly, just means you need to get him checked out by a vet. If you're ordering a CBB hatchling, It would be best if you didn't handle it much. and make sure to keep the humidity is higher then it would be for an adult.
what is your current setup? lighting,temps,humidity,substrate,size.
Oh, and welcome aboard.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Shannon-Nichelle:

Welcome to the forum!! Would you be kind enough to tell is where you are located? It helps us to give you more personalized answers.

If it were me I would keep the tortoise. Take the advice of the previous posters. Eventually your little Russian tortoise will be very humanized and quite the friendly animal. Its just the nature of the beast...doesn't matter if he's wild caught or captive bred. Think of it this way: A tortoise is a wild animal. They haven't gone through years and years of human intervention to make them into domesticated animals. So a captive bred baby is still a wild animal. The way that they get to be friendly towards humans is to recognize you as the food goddess.

Terry O just posted something that I'm going to copy/paste here for you to read:

"I'm no tortoise expert, but I'll add my 2 cents, for what it's worth. I've never soaked Pio, or handled him....ever. He has a bowel of water if he wants to soak, or drink. He's outside all Summer, with no handling at all. He's very friendly when he see's me come with the food, and will eat out of my hand, but must feel confident that no one is going to pick him up. The only real stress he has is when he come's in for the Winter. I rarely even take pictures of him. Most of the pictures I take of my animals are through the glass or when they are outside. (maybe that's why they're so bad) I DO talk to them all the time, whenever I pass by the vivariums. I don't know if this helped to make him smooth or not. But I really think the stress factor has a lot to do with a tort's health.
I had a very shy box turtle once that someone gave me, who would go into his shell the minute he saw anyone. After putting him my garden, I never picked him up again. It took him almost two years to stay open when he saw me come with the food. Eventually when I sat there reading a book, he would come to sit near me. "

She posted this in response to stress in a tortoise, but it works for your situation too. Just be calm, kind and gentle with your new tortoise and teach him that he has nothing to fear from you and that you are the food goddess. He'll come around.

 

[jensgotfaith]

Great answer Yvonne and thank you so much for including TerryO's post in there. Terry-wow. Fabulous post. Love it!

 

[travisgn]

I love TerryO's approach to tortoise keeping in general. She uses a healthy amount of intuition, which I think is important, and I also try to do. Of course that is in addition to experience and supplemental reading. However, the only thing I would disagree with in that paragraph is the bit about never handling. I rarely handle my torts, but I do pick them up once a week or so (when I soak, but I would do it if I didn't soak) to give them a physical inspection. The only way I would stop doing that is if I had a permanent outdoor enclosure that so closely mimicked their natural environment that I didn't have to worry at all. Because our pet tortoises are in a confined space and cannot really indicate when they are ailing, I believe a good inspection is the responsible thing to do.

 

[Laura]

Its a tortoise. so dont expect a lot of Warm Fuzzy bonding.. but it should get to know you as the food godess, and will respond to you in time. Even a captive bred tort will be shy at first.
If you have done your homework and are providing a great home for a tortoise.. then why deny that to this guy? You are doing him a favor.
Post pics when you can.

 

[ShannonNichelle]

Thanks for the advice everyone, but the thing is I don't have the money to take him to the vet and I have had him for quite some time and never picked him up. I feed him the same time every day and he still would go away. He has bitten me numerous times. I havent picked him up so that means he has run towards me to just bite me. Then he hides. He was very aggressive. The people at petco said he was never really nice AFTER I took him back. I'm OK with wild caught... but it would maybe be easier for me if I got a little yearling. I don't have the time to look after a hatchling and the tort that I returned was my first one. And all he would do all day and night was walk into the glass. I talked to the manager and I found out the tort I got literally just arrived from the wild so it probably would have been years before he warmed up to me. One of my friends that convinced me to get a tortoise told me that she has never had luck with a wild caught one. She tried a few times and kept the torts for at least 5 years and they still didn't like her. It may be her. I don't know, and I have terrible luck so I'm sure he wouldn't warm up at all. I will get the yearling that has been handled and likes people and see how it goes. Then maybe when I'm more experienced I will try a wild caught. Once again thank you to everyone, your responses were really informative.

 

[Yvonne G]

Because you're new to tortoises, Shannon-Nichelle, you probably don't know that the little Russian tortoises that are sold in the pet stores AREN'T as young as the sales people tell you they are. Russian tortoises are small tortoises. The ones for sale in pet stores are usually pretty close to being full grown. Which would make them like 10 or 15 years old. Unless you find a captive bred tortoise, its impossible to know a tortoise's age just by looking at it.

Here's a good place for you to start when you get your other tortoise:

http://www.russiantortoise.org/care_sheet.htm

 

[dmmj]

actually an inexperienced person should get an older tortoise the younger they are the harder they are to take care of, young ones usually require more vet bills, just read through some of the htreads here on hatchlings and yearlings. I would suggest a older one they do bond after awhile and a hatchling or adult I think they would take the same amount of time to bond, as for the glass walking that is more likely due to not knowing what glass is and trying to walk through it, sight barriers help them realize that, anyways welcome to the forum and I hope you keep the adult one, I have 3 russians all WC and rescues and they are great, love to be near me when I am out there with them and love to eat,

 

[Robert]

Thanks for the advice everyone, but the thing is I don't have the money to take him to the vet

Please don't take this the wrong way, but pet ownership is filled with unforseen costs. I am certainly not a tortoise expert, but I have owned a variety of pets my whole life. If you cannot afford regular vet visits, or an unexpected emergency vet visit, then maybe you should wait and adopt a pet when you are in a better financial situation.

Another thought: have you actually contacted a vet and asked how much a visit would be? You might be surprised. In this economy, vets are more likely to provide discounts for cash payments, or even payment plans. (Don't forget, they became vets because they love animals! They want you to have a healthy pet.) It may be worth giving a call.

I'm sure different people have different views on this, but that is just my 2 cents.

Good luck with whatever decision you make.

 

[tinybit92]

I got my tort Jude from PetCO too actually, I assume that means he was wild caught also. He's very healthy and friendly, though he didn't like me much at first. Jude has never been aggressive though, the only time he ever bit me was when I was holding a leaf and he missed. He also ran into the glass, but I found out that's because they don't really understand what glass is. There has to be a visible barrier. I taped some paper onto the sides of the tank and the glass walking stopped. Now he only tries to climb the glass when he wants to get my attention.

 

[Laura]

thats what Russians do.. walk walk walk and try to escape..
a young tortoise will need a vet visit too.. at some point..
Have you already taken it back? This is not the first one youve had trouble with?
Im not sure if your expectations might be a bit high..
Have you spent much time with other people who have tortoises?
I think I would try to find some people near you and look at theirs, see how they are set up and get to know what they are really like.

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Welcome, W/C tortoises can be very tame and friendly also. I have seen them become tame lots of times with several species of tortoises. Best of luck.