Hello from sunny California!

[Ida K]

Hello everyone! I'm Ida, and I have a Russian Tortoise named Oliver (Ollie for short.) I've had him for 10 weeks and he's already a huge hit with the rest of my family, my mom loves him
He loves kale and dandelions! Omnom! He also loves napping in the crook of my arm on my bed... It's too cute I'm very glad I made the decision to purchase a tort instead of something else! Ollie is the greatest. Currently he resides in a 40-gallon rubbermaid tub but I'm looking to expand to 50 gallons so he has more room. I have multiple flat rocks around the enclosure to wear down his nails and for basking, also a large one for meals. I rotate his diet from kale to spring mix and then collards and supplement with calcium powder. Currently waiting for my order of TNT to arrive in the mail. He doesn't like collards apparently so I'm switching him to kale for now. He hates his water soaks but its for his own good! Haha! Any tips are greatly appreciated!

 

[bouaboua]

Hello, Hello and Welcome.

California is sunny this days fr sure. Welcome!! Good to have you here. Your torts looks very nice and healthy because you know what you are doing. Again, Good to have you here.

 

[akbecker]

Welcome! I tried collards for my Russians - neither of them ate it either. I do the Spring Mix a lot during the winter. So glad they are finally outdoors - I ordered the Russian grazing mix for Carolina Pet Supply, and they love the chicory and chia that is coming up. Thankfully there is only one in each large enclosure, so it should take awhile before they mow it all down!

 

[dmmj]

Salutations.
Pretty impressive for a first time keeper, sounds like you rearched a lot about russians.

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Great looking tort ! Have a great tort day. !


Sent from my iPhone using TortForum

 

[Evy]

Welcome ! Ditto :0))



London my lovely Sulcata tortoise :0))

 

[Ida K]

Thank you everyone for the warm welcomes

 

[kathyth]

Welcome to the forum.
Nice looking toetoise.
Does he have a yard outside, also?

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Welcome to TFO!

 

[Ida K]

Welcome to the forum.
Nice looking toetoise.
Does he have a yard outside, also?

We are planning to build him one mid-June for during the day (right now he has a heat lamp and UVB light in his indoor home) but not for overnight because we have coyotes in the area. I take him out into the yard every day for 20-30 minutes so he can get exercise and munch on a dandelion here and there.

 

[Tom]

Hello and welcome. Some tips:
Collards and kale are both okay one in a while, but not as staples. Here are some suggestions for good foods for them:
Mulberry leaves
Grape vine leaves
Hibiscus leaves
African hibiscus leaves
Blue hibiscus leaves
Rose of Sharon leaves
Rose leaves
Geraniums
Gazanias
Lavatera
Pansies
Petunias
Hostas
Honeysuckle
Cape honeysuckle
Leaves and blooms from any squash plant, like pumpkin, cucumber, summer squash, etc...
Young spineless opuntia cactus pads

Weeds:
There are soooooooo many...
Dandelion
Mallow
Filaree
Smooth Sow thistle
Prickly Sow thistle
Milk thistle
Goat head weed
Cats ear
Nettles
Trefoil
Wild onion
Wild mustard
Wild Garlic
Clovers
Broadleaf plantain
Narrow leaf plantain
Chick weed
Hawksbit
Hensbit
Hawksbeard

Other good stuff:
"Testudo Seed Mix" from http://www.tortoisesupply.com/SeedMixes
Pasture mixes or other seeds from http://www.groworganic.com/seeds.html
Homegrown alfalfa
Mazuri Tortoise Chow
ZooMed Grassland Tortoise Food

Your enclosure is much too small, and a 50 is not much different. You need to be thinking in much larger terms. 4x8' Please read these:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

Your tortoise has gorgeous coloring and looks great. I hope we can help you keep it that way.

 

[Ida K]

Hello and welcome. Some tips:
Collards and kale are both okay one in a while, but not as staples. Here are some suggestions for good foods for them:
Mulberry leaves
Grape vine leaves
Hibiscus leaves
African hibiscus leaves
Blue hibiscus leaves
Rose of Sharon leaves
Rose leaves
Geraniums
Gazanias
Lavatera
Pansies
Petunias
Hostas
Honeysuckle
Cape honeysuckle
Leaves and blooms from any squash plant, like pumpkin, cucumber, summer squash, etc...
Young spineless opuntia cactus pads

Weeds:
There are soooooooo many...
Dandelion
Mallow
Filaree
Smooth Sow thistle
Prickly Sow thistle
Milk thistle
Goat head weed
Cats ear
Nettles
Trefoil
Wild onion
Wild mustard
Wild Garlic
Clovers
Broadleaf plantain
Narrow leaf plantain
Chick weed
Hawksbit
Hensbit
Hawksbeard

Other good stuff:
"Testudo Seed Mix" from http://www.tortoisesupply.com/SeedMixes
Pasture mixes or other seeds from http://www.groworganic.com/seeds.html
Homegrown alfalfa
Mazuri Tortoise Chow
ZooMed Grassland Tortoise Food

Your enclosure is much too small, and a 50 is not much different. You need to be thinking in much larger terms. 4x8' Please read these:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

Your tortoise has gorgeous coloring and looks great. I hope we can help you keep it that way.

Thank you SO much! I will look to build him a tortoise table instead over the summer I also have been feeding him rose and hibiscus petals/leaves and he seems to like that. There's so many possibilities for a varied diet, how unfortunate that we chopped down our grape vine. It was nearing the end of its leaf-bearing days (which we used for a traditional dish). I can't find very many of these where I live but I will try! I wish the oxalis we have was clover so Ollie could eat it! Thanks again!

 

[dmmj]

Rose petals and hibiscus flowers is tortoise crack. Good choices, don't tell ollie about cutting down the grape vine, it will make him sad.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Ida, and welcome to the Forum!

That is a VERY nice-looking Russian tortoise. You don't see many of that size looking as pretty as this one. One would almost think it was female instead of male. Can we see the tail?

You would be doing your new tortoise a great big favor if you would set it up outside. Tortoises are wild animals and do much better outside where they can roam around and take in the beneficial rays.

 

[pam]

Welcome Great looking Russian

 

[Blakem]

Welcome from central california. Looks like you're off to a good start.

 

[Ida K]

Hi Ida, and welcome to the Forum!

That is a VERY nice-looking Russian tortoise. You don't see many of that size looking as pretty as this one. One would almost think it was female instead of male. Can we see the tail?

You would be doing your new tortoise a great big favor if you would set it up outside. Tortoises are wild animals and do much better outside where they can roam around and take in the beneficial rays.

Of course! Ollie is asleep right now so I will upload a photo tomorrow. I do have concerns about building him an outdoor enclosure. In my area coyotes are fairly common and have been showing up in the yards recently at around 5-6 in the morning. We spotted one just 2 days ago. We also have birds of prey. However I would love to let him soak up the rays! I need help

 

[Ida K]

Hi Ida, and welcome to the Forum!

That is a VERY nice-looking Russian tortoise. You don't see many of that size looking as pretty as this one. One would almost think it was female instead of male. Can we see the tail?

You would be doing your new tortoise a great big favor if you would set it up outside. Tortoises are wild animals and do much better outside where they can roam around and take in the beneficial rays.

sorry for the late reply, I forgot to post. Here's a photo.

 

[leigti]

You can build a pan with hardware cloth below it and then above it also. Bring the Tortoise in at night. Most of the predators are usually active at night not so much during the day.

 

[kanalomele]

Welcome to TFO from another Sunny California member. It looks like you do indeed have a male tort. I have many of these wonderful torts and all of my healthy adults live outside year round. Here in Cali we have a great environment for that. You appear to be on a great start and have done some good research. I will encourage you to consider that ongoing education as a constant way of life. It is truly one of my faortite things about keeping my shelled friends.