Got my first tortoise!

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Dcallen89

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How yall doin? My names Dan and I'm currently stationed in South Dakota. I recently bought a female(?) Russian Tort from a petco near my base. The guy who sold her to me said it was a girl so for the time being im going with that. She was the smallest one of the group and im a sucker for runts haha. Anywho, i was wondering if the set up i got for her will be good in the long term and if all the pros on here could give me some tips on giving her the best care possible. Thanks in advance!

My current set up is a 50 gallon tank with a 100W basking lamp and a 100W UV lamp. A smaller water dish that she can kind of fit in but not all the away. A hide-a-way log, and some fake plants and real moss.

I'm workin a 12 hr shift but ill put pics up as soon as i get off!

Thanks again!
 

Jacqui

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Howdy Dan! :tort: I have a thing for runts, too. :cool: What temps do they lamps keep her? I am going to make a wild guess, that you may actually have a male, going by the fact that the males are smaller in size. Pictures will help us check that out... of course if she or he, is really young gender may still be a bit of a toss up to tell.
 

Merlin M

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Well the best advice I can give is to make sure the water dish is deep enough for him/her to get its head in (as they need to get mouth and nose in the water to drink).
I have also been advised against fake plants as they can try and eat them which could cause problems (but this is not gospel so I may very well be incorrect about that).
Also what are you using for substrate?
 

Dcallen89

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The basking lamp keeps her around the upper 80s and the other one keeps around seventy...but I've been up reading all night and I think I'm gonna go to the pet shop and get an actual UV lamp for her
 

Dcallen89

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I can't remember what its called but I bought at petsmart and it kinda looks like mulch to me. And I had read something to that effect with the plants so I guess ill keep an eye out ti see if she starts chewing on em and take em out if she does
 

Merlin M

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sounds sensible! you may want to think about putting a real (tortoise friendly) plant or two in, wont last long as the little muncher will no doubt eat it, but you will know it is safe! Aloe Vera could be a good idea for this, as have seen in in safe plant lists for the Horsefield (or Russian) tortoise (I got mine the other day and am thinking of getting an aloe plant for her)
 

tortuga_please

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baby's tear grows really well and spread on their own, get 4 seed trays and start a batch in each one; you can just rotate patches in as your tortoise eats them :)
 

wellington

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WELCOME:D Sounds like you are in one of the armed forces? If so, THANK YOU.
Good luck with you knew tort.
 

Dcallen89

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Thanks for the welcome everyone and thanks for the help, hopefully i can get some pics up eventually. I didnt have time today but soon i will!
 
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