SaraenNaomi
New Member
I have a Russian Tortoise named Ivan and I've had him for about 7 months now.
We bought him at a pet store and we have him in an 40 gal aquarium that is 36Lx18Wx151/2H. We have a very limited amount of space with where we put him and a wooden housing unit was not possible st the time and a lot of tortoise owners told us that an aquarium would be fine. We have bark substrate in that goes about 1in deep and a huge cave for home which is on the heat side, because we were told that was best for him. We tried the eco-earth and soil and it just makes a mess and makes Ivan VERY dirty. We have a UV which is about mid 80s in temp and heat lamp which is mid 90s in temp for him.
He has a medium size water dish but doesn't ever go near it. He gets fed every day but all he will eat is romaine and radicchio, he will eat greens but the minute they start to stink after a few days he won't touch them. I do put calcium powder on his food every other day, but a while back he ate this canned tortoise food with all the nutritious ingredients that he should be eating, now when I give it to him he wont eat anything until I put plain food down.
He keeps hissing at me and even though I know it's natural, and it's his protective instinct to hide in his shell, he does it every time I come near him. When I have to bathe him, when I have to change his food, and even just trying to pet him on his shell, he hisses!! So could it be possible for me to get him use to me by handling him a little bit everyday?
Last question: I've been trying to take him outside and let him roam around for a bit because he's been restless ever since his nail trimming appointment. I live in an apartment so I can't have an outdoor housing unit. How long and often should he roam around outside for?
So am I doing housing, diet and exercise correctly? Any suggestions?
We bought him at a pet store and we have him in an 40 gal aquarium that is 36Lx18Wx151/2H. We have a very limited amount of space with where we put him and a wooden housing unit was not possible st the time and a lot of tortoise owners told us that an aquarium would be fine. We have bark substrate in that goes about 1in deep and a huge cave for home which is on the heat side, because we were told that was best for him. We tried the eco-earth and soil and it just makes a mess and makes Ivan VERY dirty. We have a UV which is about mid 80s in temp and heat lamp which is mid 90s in temp for him.
He has a medium size water dish but doesn't ever go near it. He gets fed every day but all he will eat is romaine and radicchio, he will eat greens but the minute they start to stink after a few days he won't touch them. I do put calcium powder on his food every other day, but a while back he ate this canned tortoise food with all the nutritious ingredients that he should be eating, now when I give it to him he wont eat anything until I put plain food down.
He keeps hissing at me and even though I know it's natural, and it's his protective instinct to hide in his shell, he does it every time I come near him. When I have to bathe him, when I have to change his food, and even just trying to pet him on his shell, he hisses!! So could it be possible for me to get him use to me by handling him a little bit everyday?
Last question: I've been trying to take him outside and let him roam around for a bit because he's been restless ever since his nail trimming appointment. I live in an apartment so I can't have an outdoor housing unit. How long and often should he roam around outside for?
So am I doing housing, diet and exercise correctly? Any suggestions?