Hi, so I've recently, accidentally, come into care of what I think is a Russian tortoise. The previous owner abandoned him and I don't know very much about him apart from he's (probably) a boy, around 5 years old, his name is Flynn, he has always been kept indoors and didn't hibernate last year. He came with a very very small cage (that was completely glass and I don't think he ever figured out how glass works) and I don't know if this has stunted his growth but he is very small, his shell is just a bit larger than my palm and I can just about pick him up with one hand. He has lots of light brown spots on his neck but I think they are just his markings. I have attached a photo of him fresh out of the bath and another photo of his current cage (actually an Ikea drawer).
I keep him in my kitchen as it is nice and warm but I'm really in need of advice as so much on the internet is for outdoor, much larger tortoises and a lot of it seems conflicting. Here are my questions:
How often should I bathe him? I currently do it around once a month and at first he hated it but now he seems to enjoy it. He gets scared when I handle him too much and I'm reluctant to give him a scrub because of this, should I be doing it anyway?
Should he be hibernating? Am I doing something wrong with switching on his basking lamp every day?
Is there anything fruit or veg wise that he should not be eating? I feed him a bag of mixed salad every 5-7 days (any more often and he leaves half of it) plus leftovers of whatever fruit i'm eating - apart from oranges, I thought they might be too acidic. I have multivitamin pellets for him but he refuses to eat them and his mouth is too small to sneak one inside a piece of lettuce, is making him take them important?
If I went away for 2/3 days and left him with enough food, would he be okay? If I did would it be wiser to keep his basking lamp permanently on or permanently off?
On recommendation of the previous owner, I went to take him to the vet to get his nails clipped and they weren't very knowledgeable, and he was struggling so much that they made him bleed. To me his nails seem very long but the vet said that they actually weren't too long at all - they mentioned giving him a stone to grind his nails on but I haven't found any further information on this online.
I feel bad keeping him in such a small cage so I let him roam around my apartment when he is feeling particularly energetic, is this safe to do as long as all wires etc are out of his reach? He seems to enjoy it and likes interacting with me and crawling over my feet, then goes and hides in a dark corner when he wants to go back in his cage. Ideally when I move I would like a garden to keep him in as he really likes to dig and I can't provide enough soil for him to make a nice big hole indoors, but I live in Scotland and I'm not sure if it would be too cold outside for him?
And finally, I would like some advice on how to spruce up his cage as it looks a little sad and barren, also if it is an acceptable size for him. I'm terrified I'm unwittingly torturing him in some way as I really don't know much about tortoises. Like is he lonely? Does he need a tortoise friend? Is he deathly scared of the tumble dryer? Is he bored? Is he cold? If I accidentally leave the light on in the kitchen overnight does he get super confused?
Thank you to anyone that takes the time to reply x
I keep him in my kitchen as it is nice and warm but I'm really in need of advice as so much on the internet is for outdoor, much larger tortoises and a lot of it seems conflicting. Here are my questions:
How often should I bathe him? I currently do it around once a month and at first he hated it but now he seems to enjoy it. He gets scared when I handle him too much and I'm reluctant to give him a scrub because of this, should I be doing it anyway?
Should he be hibernating? Am I doing something wrong with switching on his basking lamp every day?
Is there anything fruit or veg wise that he should not be eating? I feed him a bag of mixed salad every 5-7 days (any more often and he leaves half of it) plus leftovers of whatever fruit i'm eating - apart from oranges, I thought they might be too acidic. I have multivitamin pellets for him but he refuses to eat them and his mouth is too small to sneak one inside a piece of lettuce, is making him take them important?
If I went away for 2/3 days and left him with enough food, would he be okay? If I did would it be wiser to keep his basking lamp permanently on or permanently off?
On recommendation of the previous owner, I went to take him to the vet to get his nails clipped and they weren't very knowledgeable, and he was struggling so much that they made him bleed. To me his nails seem very long but the vet said that they actually weren't too long at all - they mentioned giving him a stone to grind his nails on but I haven't found any further information on this online.
I feel bad keeping him in such a small cage so I let him roam around my apartment when he is feeling particularly energetic, is this safe to do as long as all wires etc are out of his reach? He seems to enjoy it and likes interacting with me and crawling over my feet, then goes and hides in a dark corner when he wants to go back in his cage. Ideally when I move I would like a garden to keep him in as he really likes to dig and I can't provide enough soil for him to make a nice big hole indoors, but I live in Scotland and I'm not sure if it would be too cold outside for him?
And finally, I would like some advice on how to spruce up his cage as it looks a little sad and barren, also if it is an acceptable size for him. I'm terrified I'm unwittingly torturing him in some way as I really don't know much about tortoises. Like is he lonely? Does he need a tortoise friend? Is he deathly scared of the tumble dryer? Is he bored? Is he cold? If I accidentally leave the light on in the kitchen overnight does he get super confused?
Thank you to anyone that takes the time to reply x
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