My first tort (and post)

[wpk]

Just brought home Ivan (pretty sure he's male) from Petsmart today. I've spent most of the last week researching habitats, diet, and other needs (much of it from this great forum). Anyways, the guy at Petsmart estimated that he was 3-5 years old and swears he's from a breeder. His shell is approx. 4.25 inches longways, eyes and nose were clear. I have a vet appt. next week to give him a checkup.

He spent about 15 minutes exploring his new home (biggest rubbermaid tub I could find), then buried himself in the corner and hasn't moved since, I think he's still a bit scared. I left him a piece of apple and some carrot greens as a peace offering.

Anyways, I'm glad to be part of the tort community, I'll see if I can get some pics to show up.

New home:

Exploring the new pad:

Finished turtle tub:

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi WPK:

Welcome to the forum!!

Your little Russian is a lucky little fellow. The habitat you've made for him seems pretty nice. Do you have any plans for some outdoor time for him?

Cut back on the fruit. Russians shouldn't eat much fruit. An occasional tidbit offered as a treat is ok, but not part of the every day diet plan. Russians like the broad-leaf weeds and plants. So you can feed him any of the dark, leafy greens from the store.

Russians get very people-friendly when they get to know who the food god is. Pretty soon he's going to be coming out looking for his person and pestering you.

There's no way to tell the age of your new tortoise unless you know the hatch date. Also, he looks wild-caught to me, but I could be wrong about that. Some of the Captive bred are raised so well now-a-days that they're starting to look a bit like the wild caught ones.

Be sure to have the vet do a fecal check to see if he has worms. If he IS wild caught chances are pretty good that he is infested.

 

[wpk]

I don't plan on feeding him fruit except for the occasional piece of apple. My crisper drawer is full of mustard greens, endive lettuce, and carrots (orange part for me, green part for him). The apple today was a bit of a peace offering and he doesn't look like he's interested in eating today.

I do plan on taking him outside once he gets acclimated to his surroundings a bit more. I don't have any kind of enclosure set up outside, was thinking of just getting a coil of the smaller sized wire garden fencing (the kind you stick into the ground) and marking out a playpen area he can run around in for an hour or two.

 

[Lilithlee]

Hi, very cute guy you have there.

Out of curirosity what type of bedding are you using?

 

[wpk]

I used the Exo Terra coconut husk for bedding. (comes in a dehydrated brick)

I tried to find the cypress bedding but was unable to. I'll order some online when it's time to change out the coconut stuff.

 

[Eighttrack]

How cute and so much fun. I've started mixing Exo Terra with a little bit of play ground sand that can be purchased at most hardware stores. I used Timothy straw for a while. I wish she could tell me what she likes best.

 

[wpk]

How cute and so much fun. I've started mixing Exo Terra with a little bit of play ground sand that can be purchased at most hardware stores. I used Timothy straw for a while. I wish she could tell me what she likes best.

Well, he definitely likes to bury himself in the cocohusk stuff. He's still very shy and isn't eating yet. Each morning I pick him up and put him in front of the food dish as I place the food in his dish (trying to get him to associate food with me), but all he does is hiss at me and go bury himself again. Other than that, I'm leaving him alone and hoping he gets comfortable. I'll probably give him a soak tomorrow morning and see how that goes.

 

[earthyman71]

congrats on your russian!! visit www.russiantortoise.org - a bible of sorts for care of russians. also, careful on the outside time - be outside with your tort - russians are climbers and diggers.

make sure you have a great uva/uvb - trex bulbs 100 w rock and definitely visit carolina pet supply www.carolinapetsupply.com to pick up some tnt to sprinkle on his greens 2 times a week. also, don't forget to pick up some cuttlebone for him to chew on when he wants. simply place it in his pen!

 

[wpk]

Gave him a soak today, he didn't seem to mind it much. Got some urates but no poo. He still doesn't seem interested in eating but seems to be more interested in his environment.

I got the requisite butt-shot, did I assume correctly that he's a male?

 

[dmmj]

Nope looks female to me, short tails usually = female, long tails with a slit = male.

 

[wpk]

Hmm...guess my definition of long needs a bit of work.

 

[tortoisenerd]

Congrats! I also think very likely wild caught. Even if she was captive bred I'd recommend the vet check and fecal test anyways. She may grow a bit more--looks like I see a bit of a growth line there, and small for a female. Age of 3-5 years could be correct. Someone else might come along that can give more info on growth/age that as I'm no expert. I would not feed the carrot greens (they are really high in oxalic acid), but spring mix plus any other greens that are low-moderate in oxalic acid (like collard, mustard, dandelion, turnip) are great if you don't have a chemical free yard for her to graze on. Stay away from spinach, carrot & beet greens, chard, and similar. Edible chemical-free flowers like hibisucus roses & pansies, butternut squash, pumpkin, and cactus pads are all great treats. I wouldn't even offer any fruit ever. If they don't know it exists, they don't miss it. Aim for 15-20 greens over the course of a couple months for variety.

 

[goodsmeagol]

Hmm...guess my definition of long needs a bit of work.

Here is a pic of one of my males butts... This is a big tail!

 

[wpk]

Huh, guess it just looked big to me as I didn't have another to compare it to. Now I need to think up a new name, damn...I kinda liked Ivan.

 

[goodsmeagol]

Huh, guess it just looked big to me as I didn't have another to compare it to. Now I need to think up a new name, damn...I kinda liked Ivan.

Ivanna? lol

I went with, Dog, Cat, and Kitty for my trio...

 

[TortieGal]

How about Ivy.

 

[wpk]

How about Ivy.

Ah, ivy is a sweet name! the vet appt is tomorrow, I'll be sure to find out for sure tomorrow.

 

[wpk]

Well, the vet confirmed that Ivan is definitely a female...soooo, Ivy it is! (Thanks TortieGal for the cute name suggestion).

Ivy weighed in at 303g and appears about as healthy as you can get. No mites or tics. Fecal did show a lot of 'flagellates', so I have some meds to give her once she's eating regularly.

 

[TortieGal]

Your welcome WPK, I'm glad you like it! I think its a super cute name.

 

[MichelleCarrigan78]

Ivanna works too!