Hi. My name is Jenni; I live in New Jersey and was just given a Russian Tortoise by a couple that couldn't take care of him anymore. I think he's about 3 years old now. I named him Nikolai, Niko for short.
I've only had him for about a week now and when I got him, he wasn't in a great environment. Small, 2x2 glass enclosure with a household light bulb as a heating lamp and no UVB. I felt so bad and jumped on building him a custom enclosure ASAP. My mom found a bookcase at her job that no one wanted so we took that and began working on it. I cut it down to 4.5 ft. x 2.5 ft., lined it with heavy duty plastic and used a play sand/topsoil mixture for his bedding. I have a UVA and UVB lamp. I would like some tips and pointers on anything I may have missed or if I should set it up differently. I think I may need to position the lamps differently, but for now I just wanted to get them up.
Also, I know I should really take him to the vet for a check up. I think after living like he was before I got him, he may not be in the best of health. Can anyone tell me how much this might cost? I don't have a ton of money, but want to make sure he's okay. Any kind of information would be great.
Thanks!
I'm going to attempt to attach some pictures... lol)
When I first got him...
Soaking him...
Old enclosure, new bedding...
Tried getting him to walk around a little (exercise)...
Working on the bookcase...
Final result (for now)...
I've only had him for about a week now and when I got him, he wasn't in a great environment. Small, 2x2 glass enclosure with a household light bulb as a heating lamp and no UVB. I felt so bad and jumped on building him a custom enclosure ASAP. My mom found a bookcase at her job that no one wanted so we took that and began working on it. I cut it down to 4.5 ft. x 2.5 ft., lined it with heavy duty plastic and used a play sand/topsoil mixture for his bedding. I have a UVA and UVB lamp. I would like some tips and pointers on anything I may have missed or if I should set it up differently. I think I may need to position the lamps differently, but for now I just wanted to get them up.
Also, I know I should really take him to the vet for a check up. I think after living like he was before I got him, he may not be in the best of health. Can anyone tell me how much this might cost? I don't have a ton of money, but want to make sure he's okay. Any kind of information would be great.
Thanks!
I'm going to attempt to attach some pictures... lol)
When I first got him...
Soaking him...
Old enclosure, new bedding...
Tried getting him to walk around a little (exercise)...
Working on the bookcase...
Final result (for now)...
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