Hello, new here with 2 new tortoises :)

[Emma&hertorts]

Hi, I’m Emma I live in Birmingham UK & have recently purchased 2 tortoises (horsfields) both 1 year old males.

Having wanted a tortoise forever & my little boy (almost 8) wanting one we decided to start looking and these 2 guys came up for sale (due to no fault of their own) after lots of talking etc we went to view and came away with them. They didn’t have names but we’ve called them Bowser & Koopa, they seem to be healthy with a lovely table. I’ll try to attach photos.
We collected them Tuesday PM, the table they’ve been in since born and everything’s stayed the same, however since collecting them I’ve not seen them eat anything this is starting to concern me. We have bathed them daily, temp down lower part is 60F & too end (under lamp) is 85F.
If you guys have any questions or help to throw my way please go for it.
From what I’ve read you all seem lovely & friendly.
Look forward to our chats

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi, Emma, and welcome to the Forum!!

Lovely and Friendly Yvonne here, from Central California! I have Horsefields too, but we call them Russians here. My Russians live outside and they're starting to think about brumation.

I'd like to address a couple things I see in your enclosure that may help you get them to feel more comfortable. First of all, Russians are VERY aggressive and territorial. Because they've grown up together, you probably won't be seeing aggression just yet, but be on the look-out for it. They WILL have to be separated. Crowding, following, sleeping in the same spot, sitting on the food, one not eating and staying hidden most of the time - these are all signs of bullying and this is when you'll need to provide a separate enclosure for one of them.

Your tortoises are big enough that those reptile bowls really aren't a tipping hazard, but they really don't need the rocks in the water anymore. Just go ahead and fill the dishes up with water and remove the rocks. Also, sink the dishes down into the substrate so they're flush with the ground.

I'm not a big fan of those type of chips you're using. I like something that can be moistened a little in order to provide a bit of humidity. Coco coir, coco bark or fir bark are good choices.

Russian tortoises are browsers, meaning they eat broad-leaf weeds and plants, not fruits and vegetables (tomato is a fruit). Feed them things like:

or if you have to buy their food at the produce market, look for turnip greens, collard greens, endive, escarole, romaine, etc. Mix it up so they get a variety of foods weekly.

Get another light stand for the other end of the enclosure. I'm thinking the tortoises aren't warm enough and that's why they're not eating. Directly under the light should be around 100F degrees and the rest of the enclosure should be around 78 to 85F degrees, with a slight cool down at night. Aslo, it looks to me that your light fixture might be too high. What kind of UVB light is in there?

Do you see how the tops of their shells are a bit bumpy, not nice and smooth? We call that pyramiding. Pyramiding is caused when baby tortoises are raised in hot, dry conditions, with no humidity. Changing your substrate to something you can moisten, including getting rid of the hay inside the shelter, will help raise the humidity. We talk a lot about "closed chambers" here on the Forum, but your two little guy (Russians) don't need a closed chamber. Your open-topped tortoise table will do just fine for a year or so, or until they show aggression towards each other. Then you'll either need to set them up outside or move one of them to another enclosure, and we recommend minimum 4'x8' for one full grown Russian.

I hope this was helpful. You can also read our care sheets. One is for babies (yours aren't quite babies anymore) and the other is for Russians in general:

https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/b...or-other-herbivorous-tortoise-species.107734/

https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/

 

[Emma&hertorts]

Hi, wow thank you that was all really helpful! Much appreciated. I’ve kept the same set up as they’ve had for the past year, didn’t want to change too much in case it stressed them out. I’ll jump on amazon this evening & look for the coco products this evening.
The images added were taken on day one, I’ve since bed the stones/rocks from the water after reading they weren’t needed. Also veg has been place in with weeds & dandelions.

Thankfully there’s no signs of aggression yet, they happily go their separate way and then sleep next to each other in the hide out.

I can’t wait to sit down & have a good read of this forum.
Thanks again

 

[Emma&hertorts]

Oooh as for uvb I’ll add photo of what’s currently being used, again this is why came with them.

I have a red bulb (night time) which I’ve not used yet.