Future Russian Enclosure

[Brewster320]

Hey im new here and new to tortoises in general. I've recently recieved an adult female Russian tortoise that was abandoned by my mother's friend's neighbors who had moved out that morning leaving it behind. I also keep snakes, a musk turtle, and a common snapper so I was able to piece together a temporary enclosure from what i had sitting around. Since then, two weeks now, I've been gathering infomation on their care and so far she has been doing well.

I've decided I will be giving her an outdoor enclosure for her during the summer. While the Internet has been helpful, there are some things that I haven't really been able to find. So that brings up the several questions I'm asking today.

1.Would 6' x 3 ' be a large enough enclosure for 1 Russian Tortoise?
2. How much and how many hours of sunlight will the enclosure need?
3. How deep can the water source safely be?
4. What are kind of plants can safely be planted in the enclosure? I've found sites that list edible plants. However I don't want to go buy a plant, plant it, and it be gone the next day. So what I mean what ate some plants that are safe but they won't really eat much off or can keep up with the rate at which she eats it?
5. How deep down should the fence go down in order to prevent any escapes from her digging under them?

Sorry if these seem like some dumb newb questions. Anything would be great though and I wouldn't mind seeing pictures of other people's setups to help get some ideas.

 

[austinSOLO]

1. yes
2. well as long as the sun is in direct contact of the enclosure with places to hid then you should be fine
3. if its an adult probably 1-2 inches
4. im not sure, if you plant a lot of one thing you should be fine, or maybe try giving her food so she expects it then once everything is grown she might try to eat it but im not sure sorry
5. this is just a guess but probably a foot

 

[Brewster320]

Thanks for the info. That was really helpful. Right now I'm justing trying to figure out what part of my yard gets the most light throughout the day. There's one area that gets sun all day but it's on the side yard in clear view of the street and I don't want to put an enclosure there because that's just asking for trouble from nosey neighbors and neighborhood kids.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Brewster320:

Welcome to the Tortoise Forum!!

1. That would be an ok size, however bigger would be better
2. As long as there is shade, with plants and hiding places, the sun can shine on the habitat all day long.
3. A large plant saucer works well for tortoises. I'd say no deeper than a couple inches.
4. Weeds with broad leaves are best, but you can't buy them. Prickly lettuce, lamb's quarter, fillaree, plantain, dandelion, clover, dichondra then you can supplement with grape leaves, mullberry leaves and dark, leafy greens from the store.
5. Normally, if you just make sure there is no light showing under the fence, it would be ok. But if you want to make sure, you can lay those rectangular stepping stones all along the bottom of the fence. (masonry caps) My steppe tortoises don't dig to escape, and never try to dig under the fence, however, they do a lot of digging to bury themselves.

May we know your name and appx. where in the world you are?

 

[Brewster320]

Thank you. Sorry I haven't introduced myself more thoroughly. My name is Nick and I'm a college student still living at home. I'm from Massachusetts, USA so the plants Im putting in my torts outdoor setup would preferably be cold hardy.

Right now she's eating romaine and red leaf lettuce, kale, and dandelion greens that my brother buys for his uromastyx lizard. I'm currently working at growing some edible plants around the house suck as prickly pear, aloe, hens and chicks, Xmas cactus, and African violets with hopefully more to come. She also munches on weeds when I bring her out daily (along with my mother's hostas lol).

Right now a hosta is probably the only plant for sure that going in her enclosure. I know you can buy seed mixes for weeds online but I feel in that it's halfway through July it is probably to late to do that until next spring. I'd also like to grow dandelions myself but I haven't found much on growing then as most people would rather get ride of them lol.