Need knowledge about Russian tortoise. Know very little.

Kid awesome 11

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Jan 4, 2018
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Fenton (st.louis)
hi. I just got my first reptile. It is a Russian tortoise butt I don’t know a lot about them. Please help me. Teach me about them please. Thank you all.
 

Oogway the russian tort

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if he/she starts to stop eating and being active but sometime that happens in the winter time so don't get it mixed up,but all I can say is that you will know if something is wrong with your tortoise and if your not sure you can always ask the forum. ;)
 

Kid awesome 11

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This is her enclosure. Besides these two things, not much room to walk and to small cage how is it.
 

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RosemaryDW

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Welcome Kid!

First off, don’t worry about sick right away. Your tortoise is nervous after a move and will likely hide and not eat much for a few days or more. Focus instead on getting the enclosure right; that’s the most important thing.

The enclosure is far too small, I am sorry to tell you. Read the link above on Russian tortoise care; it will tell you what you need for an enclosure.

For right now, you need to remove that water bowl. It’s built for lizards. Your tortoise can’t bend its body down to drink from it; she can’t get a drink and she could actually flip into it and harm herself. If you can still return it to whoever sold it to you, do that. Get a cheap terracotta plant saucer from a plant store or Home Depot; sink it into the substrate so that it’s even with the top. You want it so your tortoise can just walk into it. Like this.
532B6C98-A852-4F34-94FD-F9923A39A5EA.jpeg

You also don’t need that food bowl. Get a flat tile, preferably slate or concrete. Your tortoise will use this flat surface to keep its beak worn down to the right length.
 

Eduardo Hernandez

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That water bowl is still not good. You need something that isn’t too tall or steep.

Also, just to add that it’s way too small for a Russian. You need something that is at least 4 feet by 8 feet, a small tank like that won’t be good for your tortoise.
 

Oogway the russian tort

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it should be tall en
Well if that’s not a water bowl either do you how tall a water bowl should be?
it should be tall enough to hold water but also shallow enough for your tortoise to climb in and out with ease like what RosemaryDw said a saucer is good and I cheaper then those name brand stuff, and you can use another one to put your torts food in. And sorry to tell you but the enclosure is far to small if you are in a tight budget try looking online for diy tortoise tables or search the forum I linked a Russian tortoise care guide and some of diy tortoise table builds good luck:)
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/my-custom-tortoise-table-build-thread.43781/
 

TechnoCheese

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Good luck with the enclosure. Your parents will have to help you build a 4 foot by 8 foot MINIMUM enclosure :) and make sure you read those links!
 

RosemaryDW

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I don’t want to change food bowls because my tortoise likes his food bowl a lot.

He likes his food a lot, not the bowl. :) He’ll be fine without it.

Switching it out to something flat will give him more walking room, just like happened with the water bowl.
 

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