Need some help with a neglected Russian Tortoise

Brian P.

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A few days ago my wife saw a woman selling an aproximatly 5 year old female Russian on a local buy sell trade site. From the pictures, it was obvious this little lady had been neglected. This woman had bought the tort for her son and he had no interest in it. The woman has finally gotten sick of taking care of it.

I obviously jumped at the chance to take this little lady in and give her the happy life she deserves. She has been in a small 10 gallon aquarium her entire life. Here tank has been line with astro turf the entire time. Also, her nails appear to be very long from the lack of rocks to climb on. Her only light source has been a standard heating bulb and no UV light. I have an appointment to take her in to the vet tomorrow for a check-up because it's pretty obvious she's never been.

My question mainly pertains to moving her into a new enclosure. Her new enclosure is a 6 foot by 3 foot table with coco fiber as a substrate with rocks, greens and the needed lights (heat and UVB) and hides. Should I transition her into the enclosure gradually (a few hours in the new one, then a few hours back in the aquarium), or should I get her into the new enclosure all at once?

Also, does anyone have any other advice to make her transition into a new life as stress free as possible?

Thank you for any help!!
 

Yvonne G

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No matter how you make the transition, she's going to be stressed for a week or two. In my opinion, it would be best to do it all at once and get it over with. Moving a tortoise to a new environment (read territory) is stressful because, being a territorial creature, the tortoise just wants to be back in its safe, home territory. She may stop eating, but persevere. I'll bet this tortoise would benefit from a nice, long soak in warmish water too.
 

Oxalis

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Thanks for giving this tort some much needed love! :) When I moved my Russian from his small glass tank into a larger tortoise table, I moved a few of his things over with him, like his food and water dishes. I figured if he saw or smelled something familiar, he wouldn't be as stressed. I'm not sure if he noticed, but it kind of seemed like he did. He seemed to really appreciate having more space and didn't seem too stressed to transition, but maybe he's good at hiding stress. It was a nervous little while, but I could tell he was much happier in the end. :)
 

Yvonne G

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@Brian P. : How are you coming along with your new tortoise? Ever get around to taking pictures for us?
 

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