improvising

[babyshell]

We have had so much rain the garden is water logged
Andres, needed to stretch his legs so I improvised with a spare lamp, coco coir and old coffee bean sacks .. while I'm pottering about he has free reign. He's had lunch, a crap, a pee pee and now he's chillin .. I will make sure to create different textures for him to walk on during the colder months and he has 3 big tubs of tort salad.
He ls a very happy boy

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

He’s adorable! Just a heads up though I wouldn’t let him indoor free roam, it’s not good for numerous reasons, not just hazards
He needs an appropriate indoor enclosure for winter if he isn’t brumated!

I think you’ll find this indoor housing thread I made useful, it covers correct equipment(lighting, heating, uv), levels, appropriately maintaining humidity, substrates, there’s lots of visual examples for everything and a really handy diet link to check out!

Housing adult Russian and Hermans indoors

Hello there! In this thread I’m going to include some information an example of an appropriate indoor set up for an older Herman/russian. As much as it’s encouraged to have tortoises in a safe outdoor enclosure, I understand being from the uk myself, that some climates make it difficult to...

tortoiseforum.org

When it comes to setting up, this one is also really good to familiarise yourself with, it’ll help you avoid the wrong bulbs, substrates, housing etc, I always encourage double checking purchases on the forum too before buying

Common keeping errors

Hello everyone! I’d been a long time lurker on this site long before joining just under a year ago now, over that time I’ve seen these husbandry issues come up time and time again, sometimes with dire consequences☹️ I thought this thread might serve as a good visual guide for these common...

tortoiseforum.org

Hope they come in handy!

 

[babyshell]

He’s adorable! Just a heads up though I wouldn’t let him indoor free roam, it’s not good for numerous reasons, not just hazards
He needs an appropriate indoor enclosure for winter if he isn’t brumated!

I think you’ll find this indoor housing thread I made useful, it covers correct equipment(lighting, heating, uv), levels, appropriately maintaining humidity, substrates, there’s lots of visual examples for everything and a really handy diet link to check out!

Housing adult Russian and Hermans indoors

Hello there! In this thread I’m going to include some information an example of an appropriate indoor set up for an older Herman/russian. As much as it’s encouraged to have tortoises in a safe outdoor enclosure, I understand being from the uk myself, that some climates make it difficult to...

tortoiseforum.org

When it comes to setting up, this one is also really good to familiarise yourself with, it’ll help you avoid the wrong bulbs, substrates, housing etc, I always encourage double checking purchases on the forum too before buying

Common keeping errors

Hello everyone! I’d been a long time lurker on this site long before joining just under a year ago now, over that time I’ve seen these husbandry issues come up time and time again, sometimes with dire consequences☹️ I thought this thread might serve as a good visual guide for these common...

tortoiseforum.org

Hope they come in handy!

Hi, thankyou. He also has an indoor enclosure. When I'm pottering and not in the living room, has free reign to stretch his little legs.
Just to confirm, he has a very large outdoor enclosure, an indoor enclosure (with a good lamp and plenty of stuff that replicates his natural habitat.
He is very well cared for, catered for and researched.
I use Coco coir as Substrate. I keep it deep so he can burrow. He also has some hemp bedding for comfort, plenty of logs, foraging foods, pine cones, conkers, stuff he can crawl over and under, clay plant pots to hide in ..

 

[Tom]

Hi, thankyou. He also has an indoor enclosure. When I'm pottering and not in the living room, has free reign to stretch his little legs.

It's not safe for them to roam free in the house. It can't be made safe. They find creative ways to injure or kill themselves. We see it here all the time. Keep the tortoise safe in its enclosures.

He is very well cared for, catered for and researched.

Almost everyone cares for their animals and does research to learn how best to care for them. The problem is that most of the care info offered for tortoises is just plain wrong.

I use Coco coir as Substrate. I keep it deep so he can burrow. He also has some hemp bedding for comfort, plenty of logs, foraging foods, pine cones, conkers, stuff he can crawl over and under, clay plant pots to hide in ..

Coco coir is okay, but messy. Hemp is not a suitable tortoise substrate. It's too dry and you can't dampen it. I wouldn't put a pine cone in an indoor enclosure, I don't know what a conker is, but all the other stuff sounds good as long as he can't flip himself on any of it.

Read this thread for current info. Please feel free to ask questions. The contradictory info can be frustrating, but please don't be frustrated with us for trying to help you.

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[babyshell]

It's not safe for them to roam free in the house. It can't be made safe. They find creative ways to injure or kill themselves. We see it here all the time. Keep the tortoise safe in its enclosures.


Almost everyone cares for their animals and does research to learn how best to care for them. The problem is that most of the care info offered for tortoises is just plain wrong.


Coco coir is okay, but messy. Hemp is not a suitable tortoise substrate. It's too dry and you can't dampen it. I wouldn't put a pine cone in an indoor enclosure, I don't know what a conker is, but all the other stuff sounds good as long as he can't flip himself on any of it.

Read this thread for current info. Please feel free to ask questions. The contradictory info can be frustrating, but please don't be frustrated with us for trying to help you.

 

[babyshell]

Have you finished your speech ?
Why on these forums is there always one who wants to tell everyone else how wrong they have it ?
This is I am going to leave.
I will use pine cones and coco coir isn't messy and hemp has proves to be just fine.
Goodbye.

 

[Tom]

Have you finished your speech ?
Why on these forums is there always one who wants to tell everyone else how wrong they have it ?

Because we have seen the problems caused by doing what you are doing, we care about the welfare of tortoises, and we want to help prevent problems for you.

If you were driving down the road and your tire was going flat, would you be mad at the passerby who tried to warn you that you are headed for a problem? This is no different.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Have you finished your speech ?
Why on these forums is there always one who wants to tell everyone else how wrong they have it ?
This is I am going to leave.
I will use pine cones and coco coir isn't messy and hemp has proves to be just fine.
Goodbye.

We really just want what’s best for your tortoise and for you to not run into the many issues we’ve seen from them being housed like this, please don’t take it personally

 

[TammyJ]

Some folks who come here for help appreciate and accept it, while others don't, unfortunately for the poor tortoise.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Some folks who come here for help appreciate and accept it, while others don't, unfortunately for the poor tortoise.

Hate when this happens

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

Have you finished your speech ?
Why on these forums is there always one who wants to tell everyone else how wrong they have it ?
This is I am going to leave.
I will use pine cones and coco coir isn't messy and hemp has proves to be just fine.
Goodbye.

Sorry to see people leave the forum. I see you have good intentions with the textures, Tom is just pointing out potential hazards, no bad intentions there.

 

[babyshell]

Hate when this happens

Mind your own business big mouth.
Bullying on here.
Disgusting

 

[babyshell]

We really just want what’s best for your tortoise and for you to not run into the many issues we’ve seen from them being housed like this, please don’t take it personally

I don't like the way he spoke to me. That's bullying from a man. My tortoise is extremely well cared for and loved. I didn't come on here to be shouted down and ganged uo on.

 

[babyshell]

Because we have seen the problems caused by doing what you are doing, we care about the welfare of tortoises, and we want to help prevent problems for you.

If you were driving down the road and your tire was going flat, would you be mad at the passerby who tried to warn you that you are headed for a problem? This is no different.

You Tom, are a big bully and you're a big mouth aswell.
I've seen your enclosures. All neat and tidy incase your tortoise makes a mess. You don't think a Russian tort species would come across pine cones ?
Really!!??
Coco coir might be messy for you but it's not messy for me of my tortoise. He loves it.
Now you all go and find someone else to bully.
I am leaving this forum because I don't like bully's.
None of you have got anything better to do.

 

[babyshell]

You Tom, are a big bully and you're a big mouth aswell.
I've seen your enclosures. All neat and tidy incase your tortoise makes a mess. You don't think a Russian tort species would come across pine cones ?
Really!!??
Coco coir might be messy for you but it's not messy for me of my tortoise. He loves it.
Now you all go and find someone else to bully.
I am leaving this forum because I don't like bully's.
None of you have got anything better to do.

Tortoises ARE MESSY

 

[babyshell]

You Tom, are a big bully and you're a big mouth aswell.
I've seen your enclosures. All neat and tidy incase your tortoise makes a mess. You don't think a Russian tort species would come across pine cones ?
Really!!??
Coco coir might be messy for you but it's not messy for me of my tortoise. He loves it.
Now you all go and find someone else to bully.
I am leaving this forum because I don't like bully's.
None of you have got anything better to do.

Your attitude was disgusting

 

[babyshell]

Some folks who come here for help appreciate and accept it, while others don't, unfortunately for the poor tortoise.

Shut it big mouth

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Hate when this happens

I was saying I hate when people leave? I wasn’t trying to be rude towards you? Telling people to shut up and calling them a big mouth is really un called for! Nothing that has been said to you has come from a mean place, it’s out of the love for tortoises and wanting everyone to have a positive a keeping experience as possible, there’s no need to talk to other members like this

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

You Tom, are a big bully and you're a big mouth aswell.
I've seen your enclosures. All neat and tidy incase your tortoise makes a mess. You don't think a Russian tort species would come across pine cones ?
Really!!??
Coco coir might be messy for you but it's not messy for me of my tortoise. He loves it.
Now you all go and find someone else to bully.
I am leaving this forum because I don't like bully's.
None of you have got anything better to do.

A Russian tortoise may come across them in the wild, but aren’t exposed to them for long periods like in captivity if you choose to put them in there, they can emit toxic fumes that aren’t worth the risk
If you like the coco coir though Tom wasn’t trying to discourage you using it, just that some find it messier than the bark

 

[TammyJ]

Shut it big mouth

That's right! Tammy, I'm definitely not the only one who thinks you need to zip it!