Food dish question

ShannonLe

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Hello, I currently rescued a Russian Tortoise who is possibly 5-7 years old. Approximately 5" from end to end of shell. Her name is Clive (didn't know she was a female when we named her ;) ). We currently have her in a standard Tortoise house for now....wood is expensive at the moment. My question is her food dish. I read that it is good to get your tortoise to stretch their legs so they don't get splayed hips. I currently have a terracotta saucer (water catch for a terracotta pot). So she has to stretch herself over the edge to get her food. Is this good/ok or should she really be eating off of a slab?
 

wellington

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Sink the saucer so its level with the top of the substrate. Same with her water dish.
I'm guessing the info you got about the stretching wasn't from this forum?
 

ShannonLe

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Sink the saucer so its level with the top of the substrate. Same with her water dish.
I'm guessing the info you got about the stretching wasn't from this forum?
I did do that! It was not, I don't even remember where, I just remember hearing about tortoises and hip problems.
 

KarenSoCal

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I did do that! It was not, I don't even remember where, I just remember hearing about tortoises and hip problems.
Maybe what your source was trying to explain is this: Tortoises that live on a hard slippery surface all the time often get splayed legs. That's just one of the many reasons torts should not live in the house on the floor. They need to be on substrate so their feet can grip the ground.
 

ShannonLe

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Maybe what your source was trying to explain is this: Tortoises that live on a hard slippery surface all the time often get splayed legs. That's just one of the many reasons torts should not live in the house on the floor. They need to be on substrate so their feet can grip the ground.
That might have been it. Thank you both!
 

Tom

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Hello, I currently rescued a Russian Tortoise who is possibly 5-7 years old. Approximately 5" from end to end of shell. Her name is Clive (didn't know she was a female when we named her ;) ). We currently have her in a standard Tortoise house for now....wood is expensive at the moment. My question is her food dish. I read that it is good to get your tortoise to stretch their legs so they don't get splayed hips. I currently have a terracotta saucer (water catch for a terracotta pot). So she has to stretch herself over the edge to get her food. Is this good/ok or should she really be eating off of a slab?
This might help. Its the correct care info:
 

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