glassbird
New Member
Greetings, Everyone!
About one month ago, I became the sudden caretaker of a Horsfields Tortoise. I had been considering becoming a tortoise owner again at some point in the new year, once some personal issues were wrapped up. But I was leaning toward a red foot, as I had had one thirty-some years ago when I was in college. And then one of my co-workers mentioned in passing that she had taken a tortoise away from a neglectful friend of hers. One thing led to another, and I agreed to adopt it. My co-worker did not know its gender or species, or if it had a name...only that "it came from Russia". The original owner had no knowledge to pass on to her (other than the Russian connection), and had owned it for SEVEN YEARS!
The original owner fed the critter nothing but romaine lettuce and cucumbers. It had a grow light...yes, a grow light. For plants. And that was all there was for light and heating. It came with a 36 inch by 18 inch aquarium, and a semi transparent plastic guinea pig cave, and an enormous water bowl with steps...and one rock.
I thought the rock was possibly the most ridiculous thing about the set up, closely followed by the plant light...but it turns out the the tortoise actually would climb the rock and just park on it, legs dangling.
Sorry about the dirty glass, but this pic was taken the first day I had him/her, and I had not done any cleaning yet. I knew the glass cage was way too small, and I had to come up with something better, at least temporarily. So I managed to excavate an old hard sided fish pond from a snow bank behind my house, clean it, and get it set up in the living room. I put one large bag of "organic topsoil" in the bottom, and then a layer of Reptibark on top of part of that. I built an upper "hay loft" and added pieces of firewood as a ramp up to the hay loft. This gives a hay filled area that is cool and dry (65 degrees), and an area under the hay area that is just soil (no bark), and damp and cooler (60 degrees). This next picture is how I had it set up on the second day.
I had not added the Reptibark yet, and since then I have removed the wood rectangle and added a large tile with an under-tank heater stuck to the bottom...sort of a homemade hot rock. The temp of the tile with the MVB turned on is an even 100 degrees. When the bulb is off, it stays right around 85 degrees. I am using one of those temperature guns to measure the temps. I have three cats, and only one of them has shown an interest in the tortoise. I put a motion-sensitive compressed air device in one of the corners of the pond to deter any close up visits...which it has done most effectively!
I have broadened the tortoises diet, and gradually minimized the romaine. Right now it has a sort of salad mix that I can get from work, fresh and highly varied, mostly different types of red and green lettuces. I pick out excess spinach and kale, and add a little carrot or red pepper. Every two or three days I add a slight sprinkle of calcium powder with D3. I am soaking her for 10 to 15 minutes every two or three days, but she scrabbles and flails around...I think she has not been soaked much, if ever. She does poo and produce white stuff, pretty much every time.
Wow, this is getting long and I am running out of time for tonight. This next picture is the best shot I have so far of his/her tail, and I would love some solid opinions of a gender. Its a longer tail than I have seen in other pics of definite female "Russians", but it does not have any sort of vertical slit. Its definitely a star shaped pucker, which seems to indicate a female?
That is one big picture of a tortoise tail! Suggestions for better care would be welcome. I have read the care sheet. Thank you to everyone for creating and contributing to this forum...I have spent hours going thru posts from other people. I wish I had had this forum as a resource thirty years ago! I was taking books out of the library back then!
About one month ago, I became the sudden caretaker of a Horsfields Tortoise. I had been considering becoming a tortoise owner again at some point in the new year, once some personal issues were wrapped up. But I was leaning toward a red foot, as I had had one thirty-some years ago when I was in college. And then one of my co-workers mentioned in passing that she had taken a tortoise away from a neglectful friend of hers. One thing led to another, and I agreed to adopt it. My co-worker did not know its gender or species, or if it had a name...only that "it came from Russia". The original owner had no knowledge to pass on to her (other than the Russian connection), and had owned it for SEVEN YEARS!
The original owner fed the critter nothing but romaine lettuce and cucumbers. It had a grow light...yes, a grow light. For plants. And that was all there was for light and heating. It came with a 36 inch by 18 inch aquarium, and a semi transparent plastic guinea pig cave, and an enormous water bowl with steps...and one rock.
I thought the rock was possibly the most ridiculous thing about the set up, closely followed by the plant light...but it turns out the the tortoise actually would climb the rock and just park on it, legs dangling.
Sorry about the dirty glass, but this pic was taken the first day I had him/her, and I had not done any cleaning yet. I knew the glass cage was way too small, and I had to come up with something better, at least temporarily. So I managed to excavate an old hard sided fish pond from a snow bank behind my house, clean it, and get it set up in the living room. I put one large bag of "organic topsoil" in the bottom, and then a layer of Reptibark on top of part of that. I built an upper "hay loft" and added pieces of firewood as a ramp up to the hay loft. This gives a hay filled area that is cool and dry (65 degrees), and an area under the hay area that is just soil (no bark), and damp and cooler (60 degrees). This next picture is how I had it set up on the second day.
I had not added the Reptibark yet, and since then I have removed the wood rectangle and added a large tile with an under-tank heater stuck to the bottom...sort of a homemade hot rock. The temp of the tile with the MVB turned on is an even 100 degrees. When the bulb is off, it stays right around 85 degrees. I am using one of those temperature guns to measure the temps. I have three cats, and only one of them has shown an interest in the tortoise. I put a motion-sensitive compressed air device in one of the corners of the pond to deter any close up visits...which it has done most effectively!
I have broadened the tortoises diet, and gradually minimized the romaine. Right now it has a sort of salad mix that I can get from work, fresh and highly varied, mostly different types of red and green lettuces. I pick out excess spinach and kale, and add a little carrot or red pepper. Every two or three days I add a slight sprinkle of calcium powder with D3. I am soaking her for 10 to 15 minutes every two or three days, but she scrabbles and flails around...I think she has not been soaked much, if ever. She does poo and produce white stuff, pretty much every time.
Wow, this is getting long and I am running out of time for tonight. This next picture is the best shot I have so far of his/her tail, and I would love some solid opinions of a gender. Its a longer tail than I have seen in other pics of definite female "Russians", but it does not have any sort of vertical slit. Its definitely a star shaped pucker, which seems to indicate a female?
That is one big picture of a tortoise tail! Suggestions for better care would be welcome. I have read the care sheet. Thank you to everyone for creating and contributing to this forum...I have spent hours going thru posts from other people. I wish I had had this forum as a resource thirty years ago! I was taking books out of the library back then!
