Decided to Purchase a Russian, Now it's time to build...

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ubecrew610

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Hi everyone, New to the Forums my name is Shawn, and i decided that i wanted to purchase a Russian Tort...

After a few months the wife and i decided a good pet for my daughter (2 years old) First was a second dog.:( that has been alot of work. I have been reading as much as i can find the last few weeks and am left with mostly location questions.

I am about an hour North of Philadelphia Pa and i am wondering about building the enclosure outside Any issues since it is 102 outside right now. at what night time temps should he come inside?

i will post pictures later tonight of the location i would like to build his outdoor pen.

Also can they pretty much eat any local weeds that would grow in my yard? if i was home i would post pics of the weeds. i would like to plant weeds, dandelions, grass, and small things in the outdoor pen for him to eat.

any tips anyone can give would be greatly appreciated. I am hoping i can bring home the new addition from our local reptile show August 4th in Hamburg Pa. Thank you .
 

GBtortoises

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ubecrew610 said:
Hi everyone, New to the Forums my name is Shawn, and i decided that i wanted to purchase a Russian Tort...

After a few months the wife and i decided a good pet for my daughter (2 years old) First was a second dog.:( that has been alot of work. I have been reading as much as i can find the last few weeks and am left with mostly location questions.

I am about an hour North of Philadelphia Pa and i am wondering about building the enclosure outside Any issues since it is 102 outside right now. at what night time temps should he come inside?

i will post pictures later tonight of the location i would like to build his outdoor pen.

Also can they pretty much eat any local weeds that would grow in my yard? if i was home i would post pics of the weeds. i would like to plant weeds, dandelions, grass, and small things in the outdoor pen for him to eat.

any tips anyone can give would be greatly appreciated. I am hoping i can bring home the new addition from our local reptile show August 4th in Hamburg Pa. Thank you .

I live 5 hours farther north than you, in the Catskill Mountains of New York State. My Russians, as well as other temperate climate tortoises, go outdoors in early to mid May and stay out 24/7 until late September. There is no reason whatsoever that your tortoise can't be kept outdoors all summer night and day as long as it has a secure enclosure with adequate shelter. During hot days it will stay in it's shelter or buried somewhere in the enclosure. Night time temperatures here in the Northeast are not an issue for Russians or most other species.

I don't suggest planting the enclosure too heavily. Russian tortoises do better in drier, more sparse enclosures. Too many plants and/or thick grass trap moisture. Very simply speaking Russians should be dry when on top of the ground and have moisture (humidity) available when below ground.
 

Yvonne G

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Hi Shawn:

Welcome to the Tortoise Forum!!
 

tinkerbell1189

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They love dandelions! And clovers, plantain, chickweed, sowthistle, there's a big list that should be in the food and diet section, or you can buy a tortoise seed mix which has about 70 different seeds in it and grows quite quick I get mine from shelled warriors. Only prob is he eats the, before they are grown properly!!
 

ubecrew610

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Thank you for the responses..... i was hoping to plant half of the enclosure and leave the other end with mulch/dirt mix. i will try to post a picture tonight of the potential outdoor location.

on another note, do new members have to be approved to post? i posted this and never saw it come up till today, and i just posted a thread about cage plans in the enclosure topic. now that one has disappeared? thanks
 

lynnedit

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I believe you need to post at least 5 times (I think that is the #) before they pop up w/o approval. So now you should be fine.

Looking for pics!
 

Nixxy

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Yep, I went through that too. :p


I'm in your same boat! Building and getting ready for my new Russian I'll soon be getting.
 

bud

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Welcome! Instead of planting directly in your substrate maybe get shallow planters that you can remove. Set them down in the substrate, this way you can have several planters growing elsewhere and you can quickly switch out when your tortoise eats through the plants in it's enclosure.
 
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