- Joined
- Jan 16, 2012
- Messages
- 18
I'm a new to the Tort Forum and want to say hello. I've been caring for 2 Russian females (Boris and Natasha) for about 5.5 years. I keep them indoors on a tort table with a UVB/heat lamp due to raccoons, skunks, and possums in our neighborhood. Also, while we live in sunny Southern California, we are near the coast and often get cold, wet periods in the winter which I've read could cause pneumonia in Russians. In spite of being indoors Boris and Natasha have probably tripled in size and weight over the last 5 years and happily their carapaces are nice and smooth, so they seem healthy. Every year starting at the end of Jan. they shake off their winter torpor, get active, and start eating again. This increases in spring and reaches a peak in summer, then winds down until they spend fall and winter eating very little and sleeping under their substrate. And so it goes, year after year. I was surprised they can keep track of the seasons so accurately, since they are inside and their lamp is set to go on 12 hours a day all year round. It's kind of comforting to see how well they keep to their internal schedule, regardless of whatever else is going on. Boris and Natasha each have distinctly different personalities, with Boris being very competent at being a tortoise and eating as much as possible all the time and Natasha being more clumsy but seemingly more curious and thoughtful about her surroundings. Anyway, it's nice to find a place where I can go on and on about my tort friends without my wife and kids rolling their eyes. I myself am retired, our kids are out of the house (hurray!), and we also have a dog we rescued from the local shelter 4.5 years ago, who is now our grand puppy. So life is good! Hope you are all having a good week and a good start to 2012.
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