Ashley from Syracuse!

[Ashleymroles]

Howdy y'all! My name is Ashley and I live in Syracuse, NY with my husband, seven dogs, six chickens, ten fish, and a new russian tortoise named Reptar (from rugrats). I'm so excited to be here!

I got my baby boy (definitely a male, he has a slit in the tail) from a kid who bought him from petsmart a year ago. I'm sure he never took him to a vet, so I will to get him checked for parasites and see if they can tell me his approximate age. I am fortunate enough to have worked at a veterinary practice that has two exotic animal vets. I'll be calling Monday to make him an appointment.

Hubby and I built a wooden/chicken wire outdoor enclosure. It is a 50 sq. ft rectangle with sides about 2.5 feet high. He has a half log hide and an upside down plastic container with a hole cut in it for another hide. He also has a little pond/water dish made from a plant saucer. He has a few basking rocks and most of the enclosure is open to the elements (chicken wire roof and sides), except for a small part in his favorite corner that is covered with sheet metal. The chicken wire is 4 feet tall, so we started it at the top and laid the rest down on the ground like an apron to keep predators from digging in and him from digging out. His enclosure is also in a big yard with a 6 ft fence so I'm only slightly worried about predators (the chickens haven't had any issue with predators so far, but I lock them in the coop at night).
We have a TON of plantain weeds and went picking yesterday so he has a nice pile of greens in the corner (he actually slept buried in it last night). The substrate is currently grass with about 1" of peat moss on top. We got him yesterday and he spent his first night outside. It's been drizzling on and off so I brought him inside this morning and soaked him in warm water and he's in a Rubbermaid bin in the laundry room right now.

I'm looking forward to learning from y'all!

 

[Linhdan Nguyen]

Hello & welcome It seems like you've read our care sheet?
He's a cutie, very yellow/tan ! his beak is a little overgrown but you can get that taken care of at his vet visit. Glad to have you both here

 

[Ashleymroles]

Hello & welcome It seems like you've read our care sheet?
He's a cutie, very yellow/tan ! his beak is a little overgrown but you can get that taken care of at his vet visit. Glad to have you both here

I have read about a thousand care sheets! I'm the type of person to obsess over research before I jump into something. I spent 3 weeks pretty much nonstop reading about chickens before I got them.
I agree his beak is definitely overgrown, so I put a cuttle bone in there as well.

 

[Linhdan Nguyen]

I have read about a thousand care sheets! I'm the type of person to obsess over research before I jump into something. I spent 3 weeks pretty much nonstop reading about chickens before I got them.
I agree his beak is definitely overgrown, so I put a cuttle bone in there as well.

Does he eat the Cuttlebone? my russians have yet to touch their cuttlebone and i've had them since February! (Khaleesi took a bite out of it ONCE but never again since then). i'm trying the "leave it outside to be weathered" approach to see if anything changes.
But its great that you do your research before buying. I did some research but not enough. But the forum is super helpful.

 

[Ashleymroles]

Does he eat the Cuttlebone? my russians have yet to touch their cuttlebone and i've had them since February! (Khaleesi took a bite out of it ONCE but never again since then). i'm trying the "leave it outside to be weathered" approach to see if anything changes.
But its great that you do your research before buying. I did some research but not enough. But the forum is super helpful.

So far I haven't seen him touch it. I feel like it might be too big for his little mouth.

 

[Linhdan Nguyen]

So far I haven't seen him touch it. I feel like it might be too big for his little mouth.

hmm, maybe, we will see how it goes after the vet visit. Keep us updated

 

[Ashleymroles]

hmm, maybe, we will see how it goes after the vet visit. Keep us updated

Will do. Thanks

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Ashley, and welcome to the Forum!

That's a pretty nice-looking little Russian, and you've done a great job with the enclosure. I had to do a double take when I scrolled down to the seventh picture. I couldn't figure out how that blue plastic tub was suspended in the air! Silly me!

 

[Carol S]

Welcome to the Forum. Reptar is a very pretty Russian. I love his light colored shell.

Your enclosure is very nice. Did you bury pavers or wire along the inside perimeter of your enclosure? If not, Reptar will start digging down along the inside perimeter of the fence and will come up on the other side and could get lost. I bury my pavers and/or wire around 12-18 inches deep along the perimeter of the inside of the fence. The width of my pavers or wire I use is approximately 12 inches wide. Russians are escape artists. Even as little hatchlings I cannot believe how they can climb. Also they can really dig down into the ground and they are fast when they do it. Again, welcome to the forum.

 

[Ashleymroles]

Welcome to the Forum. Reptar is a very pretty Russian. I love his light colored shell.

Your enclosure is very nice. Did you bury pavers or wire along the inside perimeter of your enclosure? If not, Reptar will start digging down along the inside perimeter of the fence and will come up on the other side and could get lost. I bury my pavers and/or wire around 12-18 inches deep along the perimeter of the inside of the fence. The width of my pavers or wire I use is approximately 12 inches wide. Russians are escape artists. Even as little hatchlings I cannot believe how they can climb. Also they can really dig down into the ground and they are fast when they do it. Again, welcome to the forum.

We laid a 1.5' apron of chicken wire down around the outside perimeter and covered that with a layer of rock and dirt so that if he does start digging out, he won't be able to come up on the other side. It also works to deter predators from trying to dig into the enclosure. We're also going to put down a few more inches of substrate so he can get his digging fix without burrowing into the ground underneath. Do you think that will be sufficient or should I place pavers on the inside too?

 

[Speedy-1]

Hi and welcome Ashley !

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hello Ashley