Is this a good routine for my russian tortoise

[Alex and the Redfoot]

While they can be helpful and knowledgeable there, they still sell pet products (with cute animals on the box). For some reason it doubles the price of the goods And yes, the situation in UK/EU is different from US - I wish I could buy 150 liters of substrate for 20 pounds from a DIY store...
But some stuff like LED strip, incandescent bulb, temperature gun, thermostats, timer sockets, CHEs and such are worth checking in hardware stores. Sometimes you simply have more options and better quality there.
As I said above some things you could (and should) get only from specialized store: UVB lamps, for example.

 

[Tom]

There is a shop near me that specialise in exotic pets and reptiles called wrigglies. They know all about tortoises, they even have a Croc in their shop! (Not for sale though obviously)

We have shops like that here too. They are all repeating the same old wrong tortoise info and selling the same wrong tortoise products. That is what we are trying to tell you.

Did you read this thread? 3rd paragraph:

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

 

[SinLA]

Pet stores exist for one reason - to sell you pets and things that go with pets. They do not exist to teach you the proper husbandry, and often are incentivized not to do so (who would buy an expensive resin death-trap water bowl when a saucer from a garden store costs a few dollars?). The people who work in pet stores are often not intentionally doing bad things to animals, no doubt they work there because they want to be around them and do good, but that doesn't mean that's what actually happens. They don't necessarily "know" more than people who work with reptiles without the sales element involved.

The people here have zero vested interest in selling you anything, all they are doing is giving you advice to keep your tortoise healthy and away from harm. The pet stores are there to sell you things for your current pet and then the pet you will buy from them again once your current one dies from the advice they gave in the first place.

 

[zolasmum]

Hello again - I'm in the UK too -in Devon. I must say Wrigglies sounds a great place - however, the staff in there are not going to have as much knowledge and experience related specifically to tortoises as some people here - I am amazed at how much Tom, for instance, knows from his own research, and from that of others. I do think you would do better listening to him and to other long-term tortoise keepers here. Our Hermanns tortoise Zola is now 23, and doing well,but when we first got him I would have been so glad to get some reliable advice - only this forum didn't exist then.
Angie

 

[Duckster RT]

Hello again - I'm in the UK too -in Devon. I must say Wrigglies sounds a great place - however, the staff in there are not going to have as much knowledge and experience related specifically to tortoises as some people here - I am amazed at how much Tom, for instance, knows from his own research, and from that of others. I do think you would do better listening to him and to other long-term tortoise keepers here. Our Hermanns tortoise Zola is now 23, and doing well,but when we first got him I would have been so glad to get some reliable advice - only this forum didn't exist then.
Angie

My advice. Huge non glass enclosure. Play n talk daily. Balance diet with TNT supplement. Regular exercise and soaking. Stimulus is important. More happy they are. Live long long life

 

[Claud_the_tortoise]

We have shops like that here too. They are all repeating the same old wrong tortoise info and selling the same wrong tortoise products. That is what we are trying to tell you.

Did you read this thread? 3rd paragraph:

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

Ok I'll give it a read thank you