Growth or unusual??

Maddy0.0

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The pet store told me he is young has anyone else seen slight redness in their Russian and it was nothing? Or figure out what it was?

7666F34D-1B26-4317-9A29-E42C53C7BA73.pngFCDA720D-A67E-47C3-9EF7-96D403A5DA64.png
 

Maddy0.0

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I don't see anything. But being a Male Russian, he probably got bitten by another Russian.
He was only kept with 1 other female and she was gone when I went back to get him, maybe he misses her and he was raised with her or something
 

Tom

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He was only kept with 1 other female and she was gone when I went back to get him, maybe he misses her and he was raised with her or something
I don't see anything in the picture either.

Female russians will attack males and other females too.

Tortoises don't miss other tortoises. That is not how their brains work. Tortoises don't like other tortoises around, or they tolerate them at best.

If you are at a pet store, it is most likely that both of them are wild caught animals, and were not raised together, not that that detail would matter anyway as captive hatched siblings that are raised together will often try to kill each other. Missing eyes and bite wounds are common.
 
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Maddy0.0

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I don't see anything in the picture either.

Female russians will attack males and other females too.

Tortoises don't miss other tortoises. That is not how their brains work. Tortoises don't like other tortoises around, or they tolerate them at best.

If you are at a pet store, it is most likely that both of them are wild caught animals, and were not raised together, not that that detail would matter anyway as captive hatched siblings that are raised together will often try to kill each other. Missing eyes and bite wounds are common.
I was told they were captive, I called back paranoid asking where he came from and if he had anything I was scared he was gonna give me a disease or something and they said he was shipped from somewhere but captive raised and that he should be safe, he does have a chip out of his shell that I’ve always wondered about.. but you can’t see the redness on his scales and slightly on the shell on the photos? Or you just don’t see anything wrong with it, I’ve been looking at pictures of other Russians and I’ve seen slight redness on them so I’m hoping it’s just growth
 

Tom

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I was told they were captive, I called back paranoid asking where he came from and if he had anything I was scared he was gonna give me a disease or something and they said he was shipped from somewhere but captive raised and that he should be safe, he does have a chip out of his shell that I’ve always wondered about.. but you can’t see the redness on his scales and slightly on the shell on the photos? Or you just don’t see anything wrong with it, I’ve been looking at pictures of other Russians and I’ve seen slight redness on them so I’m hoping it’s just growth

I don't see any redness in the two pics.

Pets shops either don't know the origin of their animals, or they sometimes lie and tell people what they think they want to hear. Better pics of the carapace would offer hints, but it is not the norm for a pet shop to sell a CB adult Russian tortoise. It is physically possible that some person raised those tortoises from CB babies, didn't want them any more, and gave them to the pet shop to re-sell, but usually pet shops just call a supplier and order animals to sell. These suppliers get WC Russians because they are cheaper. It takes years to grow Russians to adult size. Businesses would have to charge a fortune for them to make money and be compensated for years of their time and resources to raise a tortoise to adulthood.
 

Maddy0.0

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I don't see any redness in the two pics.

Pets shops either don't know the origin of their animals, or they sometimes lie and tell people what they think they want to hear. Better pics of the carapace would offer hints, but it is not the norm for a pet shop to sell a CB adult Russian tortoise. It is physically possible that some person raised those tortoises from CB babies, didn't want them any more, and gave them to the pet shop to re-sell, but usually pet shops just call a supplier and order animals to sell. These suppliers get WC Russians because they are cheaper. It takes years to grow Russians to adult size. Businesses would have to charge a fortune for them to make money and be compensated for years of their time and resources to raise a tortoise to adulthood.
Thanks for the info, yeah I don’t know where he was shipped from, they told me he was fed kale and now he not interested in kale at all, he’s only been waking up when I take him in the sun and after 20 minutes of being on the bath, I’m hoping/ exited for summer to see him get up more in the sun and hopefully eat the dandelions outside. And what do you mean better pics of caraplace?
 

Maddy0.0

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Clear pictures of the top part of the shell.
I can do that, he’s just been sleepin all day not Really basking he keeps crawling under his little log to sleep, hopefully these are clearer, the chip out of his shell is a little concerning no?

C341EB41-81DF-423F-B658-8C3DC1A4F525.jpeg4055D45C-A483-4902-8783-876D68660D50.jpeg99632EE8-38BB-4CC8-8D21-FC71371C85BE.jpeg3D06547F-DB4E-442E-B1AC-800BFA348295.jpeg
 

Maddy0.0

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I can do that, he’s just been sleepin all day not Really basking he keeps crawling under his little log to sleep, hopefully these are clearer, the chip out of his shell is a little concern inside no?
Clear pictures of the top part of the shell.
do they um, sleep with their eyes open or like what is he doing?

image.jpg
 

Tom

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This is a wild caught imported animal. He looks dehydrated and thin.

I would soak him daily for a couple of weeks, and do what you can to entice him to eat. Do you have any Mazuri? That might help.

What are your four temperatures? Warm side, cool side, basking area, and overnight low?

What type of lighting and UV are you using?
 

Yvonne G

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His eyes are shut because he's not feeling well. I'm afraid the pet store sold you a sick animal. If you don't want to take it back and get your money back, then we'll try to help you, but it won't be easy.

Set him up in a smaller enclosure (a hospital tank). Pump up the temperature to 80-85F degrees for the whole tank. Moisten the substrate and cover the enclosure. Take him out and soak him daily in warm water for about a half hour. Then after the soak place him in front of the food.

If this doesn't help, you may have to resort to adding Gerber strained carrots to the soaking water.

Since this is a wild caught animal, I'm assuming he has a pretty big parasite load. Once he's feeling better and has started eating, he'll need to be de-wormed.

Most wild caught Russian tortoises are gathered up in large numbers and kept in containers too full of tortoises for any of them to have any personal space. They're on top of each other, pooping and peeing, dead and alive. By the time they reach this country they are very stressed and most of them are ill. A lot of the wholesale warehouses are also over crowded, and by the time the poor tortoise reaches a pet store to be sold, he's been through an awful lot, he's stressed out and probably ill.

Whatever you do, if you decide to take him to a vet, please don't allow the vet to give the tortoise an injection of vitamin A, D, E. This most often will cause the tortoise's skin to slough off.

In my opinion, a new tortoise keeper is much better off taking a sick tortoise back to where he was purchased and getting their money back.

The pet store lied to you. This tortoise is not young and he's not captive bred.
 
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Maddy0.0

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This is a wild caught imported animal. He looks dehydrated and thin.

I would soak him daily for a couple of weeks, and do what you can to entice him to eat. Do you have any Mazuri? That might help.

What are your four temperatures? Warm side, cool side, basking area, and overnight low?

What type of lighting and UV are you using?
I’m not sure what mazuir is, I don’t think he’s closed his eyes all the way all night.. the warmer side is around 100 and the other side is like 75-85, and at night i havnt been able to get it I. The 60s maybe 68 or 69
 

Pistachio's Pamperer

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Mazuri is a pellet food that people use to feed their tortoises/turtles. It can be soaked and mixed in with fresh foods to make sure your tortoise/turtle is getting a balanced diet.

 

Maddy0.0

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His eyes are shut because he's not feeling well. I'm afraid the pet store sold you a sick animal. If you don't want to take it back and get your money back, then we'll try to help you, but it won't be easy.

Set him up in a smaller enclosure (a hospital tank). Pump up the temperature to 80-85F degrees for the whole tank. Moisten the substrate and cover the enclosure. Take him out and soak him daily in warm water for about a half hour. Then after the soak place him in front of the food.

If this doesn't help, you may have to resort to adding Gerber strained carrots to the soaking water.

Since this is a wild caught animal, I'm assuming he has a pretty big parasite load. Once he's feeling better and has started eating, he'll need to be de-wormed.

Most wild caught Russian tortoises are gathered up in large numbers and kept in containers too full of tortoises for any of them to have any personal space. They're on top of each other, pooping and peeing, dead and alive. By the time they reach this country they are very stressed and most of them are ill. A lot of the wholesale warehouses are also over crowded, and by the time the poor tortoise reaches a pet store to be sold, he's been through an awful lot, he's stressed out and probably ill.

Whatever you do, if you decide to take him to a vet, please don't allow the vet to give the tortoise an injection of vitamin A, D, E. This most often will cause the tortoise's skin to slough off.

In my opinion, a new tortoise keeper is much better off taking a sick tortoise back to where he was purchased and getting their money back.

The pet store lied to you. This tortoise is not young and he's not captive bred.
Thank you for identifying all these things.. I tried to take him back months ago when he wasn’t eating but the pet store wouldn’t take him back they said they “don’t do refunds on live animals” but I can try calling them. I’ll try to find something smaller to put him in today and keep it around 80-85 and spray it, I thought he was starting to do alright because he was waking up and walking in the sun but this eye thing now is scaring me..
 

Maddy0.0

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His eyes are shut because he's not feeling well. I'm afraid the pet store sold you a sick animal. If you don't want to take it back and get your money back, then we'll try to help you, but it won't be easy.

Set him up in a smaller enclosure (a hospital tank). Pump up the temperature to 80-85F degrees for the whole tank. Moisten the substrate and cover the enclosure. Take him out and soak him daily in warm water for about a half hour. Then after the soak place him in front of the food.

If this doesn't help, you may have to resort to adding Gerber strained carrots to the soaking water.

Since this is a wild caught animal, I'm assuming he has a pretty big parasite load. Once he's feeling better and has started eating, he'll need to be de-wormed.

Most wild caught Russian tortoises are gathered up in large numbers and kept in containers too full of tortoises for any of them to have any personal space. They're on top of each other, pooping and peeing, dead and alive. By the time they reach this country they are very stressed and most of them are ill. A lot of the wholesale warehouses are also over crowded, and by the time the poor tortoise reaches a pet store to be sold, he's been through an awful lot, he's stressed out and probably ill.

Whatever you do, if you decide to take him to a vet, please don't allow the vet to give the tortoise an injection of vitamin A, D, E. This most often will cause the tortoise's skin to slough off.

In my opinion, a new tortoise keeper is much better off taking a sick tortoise back to where he was purchased and getting their money back.

The pet store lied to you. This tortoise is not young and he's not captive bred.
Also is it likely he gave me any parasites? And I don’t know if any places that will just take him off my hands
 

Maddy0.0

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Messages
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Location (City and/or State)
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His eyes are shut because he's not feeling well. I'm afraid the pet store sold you a sick animal. If you don't want to take it back and get your money back, then we'll try to help you, but it won't be easy.

Set him up in a smaller enclosure (a hospital tank). Pump up the temperature to 80-85F degrees for the whole tank. Moisten the substrate and cover the enclosure. Take him out and soak him daily in warm water for about a half hour. Then after the soak place him in front of the food.

If this doesn't help, you may have to resort to adding Gerber strained carrots to the soaking water.

Since this is a wild caught animal, I'm assuming he has a pretty big parasite load. Once he's feeling better and has started eating, he'll need to be de-wormed.

Most wild caught Russian tortoises are gathered up in large numbers and kept in containers too full of tortoises for any of them to have any personal space. They're on top of each other, pooping and peeing, dead and alive. By the time they reach this country they are very stressed and most of them are ill. A lot of the wholesale warehouses are also over crowded, and by the time the poor tortoise reaches a pet store to be sold, he's been through an awful lot, he's stressed out and probably ill.

Whatever you do, if you decide to take him to a vet, please don't allow the vet to give the tortoise an injection of vitamin A, D, E. This most often will cause the tortoise's skin to slough off.

In my opinion, a new tortoise keeper is much better off taking a sick tortoise back to where he was purchased and getting their money back.

The pet store lied to you. This tortoise is not young and he's not captive bred.
I’ve been giving him this every once and a while I just have him some and rubbed his throat lightly with q-tip to help get it down, usually he drinks water with it but I don’t think he’s drinking

image.jpg
 
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