My new Russian rescue

[Linz2491]

Don't No really anything about her other then she was a classroom pet and has been in someone's home for a year and a half.
She was in a 40ish gallon tank. A zoo med coil UVB light for day time and a red light for night.
She does have a soft spot on her bott shell and on the side of the shell a crack/old injury/weird growth



Even though her Outdoor area is far from finished, she seems to be happy exploring her much larger area

 

[hunterk997]

Nice tortoise. But do you still plan on using the cool bulb? It isn't a bulb any one would recommend. The soft spot could be several things, so I'll let some one else help you out with that.


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[Linz2491]

No I don't plan on using either bulb.

 

[Irish]

She'll need an outdoor pen, or at least some supervised sunshine time. It looks like she was stepped on or dropped. She appears to have shell rot.

 

[pappabear1973]

Looks like a nice catch. Have fun and take lots of pics

 

[Linz2491]

So what should I use instead of these bulbs when she is inside? Just a ceramic heat bulb?

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What do I do for shell rot?

 

[Levi the Leopard]

Re: RE: My new Russian rescue

So what should I use instead of these bulbs when she is inside? Just a ceramic heat bulb?

Where in the world are you? Depending on your answer I'd suggest you let her live outdoors all day long and only bring her in at night. You won't need any bulbs or a CHE heat source for this arrangement. Unless your house drops less than 50F at night, she won't need night heat.

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[Linz2491]

So what should I use instead of these bulbs when she is inside? Just a ceramic heat bulb?

Where in the world are you? Depending on your answer I'd suggest you let her live outdoors all day long and only bring her in at night. You won't need any bulbs or a CHE heat source for this arrangement. Unless your house drops less than 50F at night, she won't need night heat.

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I am in California so unless it is bad weather this is what I plan to do.

 

[kanalomele]

Congratulations on your tort. California is perfect for these guys. All of my adult Russians are outside year round

 

[Levi the Leopard]

I'm in so Cal and all 4 of my Russians live outside full time

Your new rescue is lucky

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[biochemnerd808]

Congrats on your new pet! It sounds like you already got some good advice on lighting - as others have stated, if you keep her outside, you won't need extra lighting.
Maybe you can construct a raised- bed type enclosure? It will need some edging in the ground, because RTs can dig quite deep... in the meantime, a $10 kiddie pool from Walmart, with drain holes drilled in, filled with a few inches of ACE topsoil, and a board over part of it for shade, would be a good solution for a little while.

Looking at the shell, I see the crack you are talking about. One of the tortoises I rehabilitated had a crack like that, and it most likely resulted from very dry conditions combined with too-hot basking temperatures. The new growth will be healthier, so unless there is a smell or oozing coming out of that crack, I wouldn't worry. It does look like there is damage on the plastron, might be shell rot, might be wear and tear from it not having enough calcium, so it is dragging its shell... I would recommend a) treating the plastron and any of the cracks that have a bit of white at the edges on the shell with diluted iodine tincture (available at Walgreens for $3 or so - put a few drops into a bit of water so it looks like weak tea, then swab it over the shell with cotton balls) and then sending @kanalomele a private message asking about water therapy to build up strength in the limbs. She helped me do that for one of mine, and the results speak for themselves.

If you need more resources for diet and such, www.russiantortoise.net has some really good information.