www.tortoiseforum.org
Hi! Welcome to the forum!
You have certainly improved her life with her new enclosure! She can actually walk around now. While she's in this one, you can start planning for her next one. Russians, actually all torts, need large spaces to walk so they can digest their food. And since Penny will have to live indoors for months because of your climate, it's especially important for her enclosure to be roomy. The minimum space is 8ft x 4ft, and bigger is better.
I'm a bit concerned about the lights you are using. What kind of bulbs are in those domes?
Have you measured the temps in there at tortoise height? What is the lowest nighttime temp? Russians usually don't require night heat, but it might be getting pretty cold especially since the enclosure is on the floor.
I don't see her water dish...maybe it's just out of view at that camera angle?
This is a good, up-to-date care sheet for Penny. Please read it carefully and make changes as necessary. I've also included some info on heating/lighting.
Come back with questions or concerns...we can help you with links to products if you need to buy anything.
And Penny is beautiful...such a nice smooth shell!
The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise
I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...
4 elements of heating: By Tom
There are four elements to heating and lighting:
Basking bulb. I use 65 watt floods from the hardware store. I run them on a timer and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. I also like to use a flat rock of some sort directly under the bulb.
Ambient heat maintenance. I use ceramic heating elements or radiant heat panels set on thermostats to maintain ambient above 80 degrees day and night for tropical species. You'd only need day heat for a temperate species like Testudo or DT.
Light. I use LEDs for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most bulbs at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish.
UV. If you can get your tortoise outside for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. If you want it anyway, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. 5.0 bulbs make almost no UV. You need a meter to check this: https://www.solarmeter.com/model65.html
The UVB light referred to by JoesMum is this. There are other brands. This is the one I, and several other members, use.
https://reptilighting.com/products/arcadia-prot5-uvb-kit-includes-hood
You would probably want the 12% desert strength. You'll need to find a way to hang it over your enclosure so it aims straight down. Also, note the last paragraph in my post # 2, 'UV'. In the summer you don't need indoor UV if you can get Penny outside a couple times a week. Your winters are quite long, so you only need to use the UV light for a couple months during the deep freeze.
The basking light should also be replaced, because spot lights tend to dessicate the carapace. The best bulb to use is an old style incandescent flood bulb. You do not want LED, or 'energy saving', or 'replacement'. It has to say 'incandescent', 'flood'..not spot. Try a 65 watt. If it's not just right on the temp, raise or lower it accordingly.
