First Time Tortoise Owner!

[WallieWay]

Hey everyone!

I'm a first time Russian Tortoise owner, and I have a few questions regarding the behavior of my new girl.

I bought her home three days ago! She has approximately been at the pet store for 3 months now, so I'm not sure how old she is...4 or 5 months maybe?

First off, I can't get her to eat a thing and it doesn't seem like she is drinking. She makes a mess of her water by crawling through it, but that's about it. Is this normal for being in a new environment? Also, she is always trying to burrow under her dishes and into the corners of her habitat.

What temperature for day and night in recommended? What I learned at the store doesn't seem to match up to what I have read. I currently have a day bulb and a night bulb for her.

I have also tried to soak her, but she doesn't seem to enjoy it. I'm also worried about water getting into her shell.

Thank you!

 

[wellington]

Hell,and Welcome. Most of the stuff the pet store told you will probably be wrong and also most of the stuff you may have read out there on Internet land. What you will find here, on this forum, will be the correct info. So, yes it is pretty normal for a new tortoise in its new, unfamiliar home to not eat and some even sleep more then normal. This may last a week or even more. Give him/her a warm water soak every other day for 15-20 minutes, until s/he settles in and then you can cut that back to once a week or until,you see him/her drink on its own. The night temps can be 65-70 day time should be 75-80 with a basking spot of 95+. They can't digest their food without the basking spot warm up. Be sure to not use a coil type bulb, they have been known to cause eye problems.
Read the russian care sheet at the beginning of the russian section, that will help you also.

 

[russian/sulcata/tortoise]

welcome to the forums! pictures of the enclosure and the tort will help. tortoises need water she may not like her warm soaks but she needs them. its normal for torts to not eat for the first couple days of having her. russian love to dig so have 5 or 6 inch moist substrate. the basking spot temps should be around 95 and the cool side should be 75/80, the night time temps should stay at around 70. most pet store have extremely outdated info. are you using a coil bulb? how big is the enclosure? what have you been feeding her? where are you located? read this entire care sheet. http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/

 

[dmmj]

Sounds pretty normal so far. Continue soaking he/she will settle down sooner or later, continue offering food same as above. As for age there is no real way to tell, if it was sold in a pet store, prob. WC, older. A good sshot of the vent on the cloaca and we can swx it.

 

[Gillian M]

Welcome to the forum!

Don't worry: torts do take time to adapt to a new environment and a new home, place, owner and so on.This is normal. What about posting pics of your tort, if possible? This would enable experienced members to give you more help.

Some research on the net would also help you. It definitely helped me with my Greek tort.

Good luck .

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi, and welcome to the Forum!

Don't worry about "...water getting into the shell..." as it's just like your fingernails. No water will go through. Also, your tortoise is probably around 10 years of age, and either full grown or almost full grown.

Read the care sheet that we have pinned at the top of our Russian tortoise section here on the Forum.

 

[WallieWay]

Hey guys! Sorry I have yet to respond...I've been having some internet issues. I appreciate all of your responses!

She still isn't eating much of anything, sadly. The only thing I have gotten her to definitely eat is romaine lettuce, but I read it can cause constipation so I've stopped giving her that. I currently have out two types of pet store food: Rep Cal (the little colored pellets) and Zoo Med's Grassland Tortoise food. She doesn't seem interested in either one. I've also left out bits of carrots and pure pumpkin but she hasn't touched either of them. I'm going to go to the food store tomorrow to buy some spring mix to try.

About the coil type bulbs...I currently have a UVB bulb on her as well for the calcium. Is that a bad idea? I would hate to cause eye problems. Right now I have her in a long 20 gallon tank while I'm not home, then the rest of the time I have her set up on my floor with all of her lights and such to give her room to roam.

So far, soaking has not made her use the bathroom...but I'm guessing nothing with come out if nothing is going in! Here are some pics of her.

http://tinypic.com/r/sltrg4/8
http://tinypic.com/r/2lj0pie/8
http://tinypic.com/r/2mmcol0/8
http://tinypic.com/r/3168f3c/8

 

[Lyn W]

Hi Wallieway, I am new to tortoise keeping too but it has been made easier because of all the help and advise on these forums. Listen to the guys on here and read all the caresheets. They are written by experienced keepers who know exactly what they are talking about and they only have the best interests of your tort at heart. It will certainly help minimise your mistakes and make your tort much happier and healthier. Hope all goes well for you both.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

This has been 2 weeks now.
if you have read and acted upon all the care sheets and info on this forum and there is no sign of improvement a vet visit is in order, I would say. Try to find an experienced tortoise vet in the area if you can.

 

[Gillian M]

I'd suggest taking your tort to a vet. And good luck.

 

[johnsonnboswell]

Read the care sheets again. Improve her diet. It may be too early to go foraging for weeds where you live, so until then go to the grocery & get endive, kale, escarole, spring mix, curly mustard , dandelion leaves... Romaine lettuce is okay as part of a varied diet, but it's like crack. Pet store pebbles are not a good staple. Mine won't eat packaged foods.

The floor is not a safe place or a good place. Seems like it should be because of all that space, but it's not. Plan your outdoor summer home now and upgrade the indoor habitat.

She needs moisture in her substrate. If her temps are too high or too low she won't eat. Not sure what kind if bulb you're using?

 

[WallieWay]

I bought her some kale and dandelion, and she is especially loving the dandelion. This weekend once the farmer's market reopens I'm headed back to buy some other types for her. She isn't too fond of the kale. The pelleted food is going in the trash!

I also added some moss into her home and changed her wood chips to coco coir bedding, which has done wonders. She was so excited about it that as soon as she got to play in it she pooped! The only thing is the coco coir is creating a bit of a mess as it sticks to her...should I clean her daily or is this okay?

I'm so happy I found you guys! She seems so much happier now thanks to all of the knowledge on this site.

 

[Heather H]

Can you take pictures of her and her enclosure?

 

[crimson_lotus]

You don't have to clean her daily because of the coco coir, they don't care if they're a little messy Have you been soaking her at all?

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

This is all great news. So happy she is better now.

 

[WallieWay]

I'm having trouble taking decent pics with my tablet, so once my phone is charged up I'll take pics and post!

I'm terribly embarrassed by the size of her enclosure right now, hence why I made her a space in my empty bathroom to use while I'm home. Unfortunately the weather I've been dealing with here has made it hard to travel out of state to pick up my much larger tank from a friend.

And yes, I've been soaking every other day! Is that too much or too little? I found she is much more comfortable soaking when my room is completely quiet. The sounds from my tv seem to make her nervous.

 

[russian/sulcata/tortoise]

I'm having trouble taking decent pics with my tablet, so once my phone is charged up I'll take pics and post!

I'm terribly embarrassed by the size of her enclosure right now, hence why I made her a space in my empty bathroom to use while I'm home. Unfortunately the weather I've been dealing with here has made it hard to travel out of state to pick up my much larger tank from a friend.

And yes, I've been soaking every other day! Is that too much or too little? I found she is much more comfortable soaking when my room is completely quiet. The sounds from my tv seem to make her nervous.

whats her cage temps?

 

[WallieWay]

This is what she is currently living in...its a 40 gallon tank. I've read that they don't contain humidity well so I'm misting her tank about every 2-3 hours. On the far side of the tank is a basking rock climb, but I covered it in some of her substrate to add some traction.

She tends to dig a lot through the substrate, especially in the corners. Is that normal? She also prefers a cooler temperature, but I leave the basking spot since she does occasionally use it.

http://tinypic.com/r/10gfwyb/8

 

[Yvonne G]

I'm sorry to say, but that's a pretty small habitat for a full grown Russian tortoise.

 

[WallieWay]

I'm sorry to say, but that's a pretty small habitat for a full grown Russian tortoise.

I was kind of thinking the same thing, but I wasn't sure. I'm interested in building her a tortoise table, but I'm very nervous about having something like that around my dogs. They have yet to notice her or take interest in the tank and I'm worried about risking that. Roughly what size is recommended? I'm also moving within a year or so and would love to build her something outside.