Accidental Tortoise

[VTort]

Hi,
My husband and I unexpectedly had a Russian Tortoise join our family last night. His young owner did not have the time to care for him and needed a new home for him. We have another very tortoise savvy home for this little guy lined up, if I end up worrying that we are not caring for him properly. We have been on a crash course since last night. He did not arrive with much equipment or a habitat. We now have him set up in a 2 foot x 3 foot " super tub" with a soaking area, a basking area with a lamp and a log hide. We have him on the Coco Soft substrate. He spent the morning in a a pen outside with supervision. He has eaten a variety of greens and weeds. I have spent the day worrying that he may have shell rot or some other illness or wondering why he obsessively claws at the corner of his new enclosure. I just have no experience with tortoises, so I thought that it may be best to find some people who do!
I am wondering if I should take him to a vet? Anyway hello to you all and to this new and strange world. We are dog people and now we are suddenly tortoise people!
Greetings and thank you!
I tried to snap a picture of him last night, but he seemed a bit stressed so this was the best that I could do.
Annie

 

[mike taylor]

If you post pictures of the shell where you think the rot is we can help you . Post pictures of enclosure with temps hot side ,cool side ,basking spot and night time . Welcome to the forum!!!!

Sent from my C771 using TortForum mobile app

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Annie, and welcome to the Forum!!

It is not unusual for Russian tortoises to be unhappy in an indoor habitat and scratch at the corners. When time and $$ permit, you should start thinking about building him a safe, dog-proof outdoor habitat.

 

[VTort]

Thank you!
Here is a picture ( that is not too great but the best I have currently) of these two little irregular spots that are sort of symmetrical on the back of his shell.
Can anyone tell if this is serious?
I will try to get better pics tomorrow of both him ( if he is a male?) and the set up that we put together from reading online.
We would love to build him a home outside. We do live in VT which has quite the harsh Winter so I guess we have to research that.
We are not sure that he had everything that he has needed in terms of habitat and nutrition in his prior life so we just want to make sure that if he needs any special rehab that we do right by him.
We would never let our little Chihuahuas near him ( his indoor space is on a high table and his temporary outdoor pen is nowhere near our dog's fenced area.
He has really stolen our hearts ( and he needs a name....but we haven't come up with one yet)!
Annie

 

[Yvonne G]

Are you talking about the white spots? That is old injuries. Don't worry about it. It takes a very long time (maybe a year) but eventually they will flake off and go away.

 

[VTort]

Yvonne G Thank you for the reassurance! Other than those spots he looks and acts like a healthy little guy. There is just so much to learn!