New here...questions

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bllauben

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Let me introduce myself and my "family."

My name is Beth. I live with my boyfriend, Joe. We have two cats: Mooch and Patches. We have two Russian Tortoises: Boris (5 inches)and Sonya (5.5 inches). Mooch is 8 years old. Patches is a year old.

We adopted Patches about a month before we adopted/rescued Boris and Sonya. My father had bought the tortoises for my teenage sister who quickly became bored with them and started to neglect them.

When we adopted them last Janurary, Boris had an upper respitory infection. Both tortoises were easily startled and untrusting. Within a month of weekly soakings, a proper diet, clean substrate, Boris' infection went away by itself. Today, Sonya tolerates handling. Boris loves his head rubbed and loves to be handled. Both tortoises will accept food from my hand.

I am lucky in terms of my/our cats. Mooch could care less about the tortoises. She sniffs them once in a great while and walks away. Patches, on the other hand, thinks she is one of them. She brings them toys and spends good quality time with them. I've tried to keep her away from them, but it was a loosing battle. Despite what quite a few people have said, Patches DOES NOT use the enclosure as a litter box. She could care less about the heat lamp either. If the torts are at the cool end, she'll lay at the cool end with them. If they are under the light, she's right there with them. She often eats the lettuces with them.

I use a coconut coir/play sand mix for the substrate, a good 6-8 inches deep. I have tried planting plants in the enclosure. Sonya has a habit of killing them. Currently, I am trying to save a mini rose bush on the brink of death. Their diet consists of dandellion, kale, escrole, chicory and baby mixed greens. Every great while, I give them carrot and squash.

Their current enclosure is 18 inches, by 36 inches. I use a Zoo Med 160 watt Powersun uva/uvb heat lamp. My cool end temp is 70 degrees. My warm end/basking end is 90/95 degrees.

The only time we allow them outside is on the deck as we live in an apartment building. The grass gets sprayed. I am not sure with what. Someone told me pesticides. Other people told me fertilizer. I do not want to take the chance of having

Joe and I are seriously considering adopting another female. We want a rescue. Boris is harrassing Sonya. He wants to mate with her. She wants to be left alone. We figure that if we bring another female into the mix, Sonya will catch a break as it would be near impossible for Boris to go after both of them at the same time.

So, I have a couple of questions:
1) We want to get a larger enclosure, probably home made. How big should it be to accomodate 3 tortoises?
2) How would we introduce the new female? Should be allow Sonya and Boris to have limited contact with her until she settles in or should we place her in the same enclosure as they are when we get her?
3) Is there any reputable rescues in Michigan or the surrounding states that deals with tortoises?

--Thanks,
Beth
 

Marty333

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Well when you get the new tort you might want to quarantine her from the other ones just in case she has an illness that can spread to the other tortoises. Welcome to the Forum we would love to see pics of all your babies!!

- Marta
 

Missy

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I would keep her quarantined for at least 3 months. As far as the size of a new enclosure the bigger the better and with several hides. Sounds like your set up is good except I would not use sand it can get them impacted if it is eaten. Plain dirt mixed with the coconut choir works good or cypress mulch. As much time out on the deck that you can give them when temps allow will work. I would love to see pics :)
 

egyptiandan

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Welcome to the forum Beth :)

It sounds like your doing fine with the 2 you have. :D Are you supplementing with any calcium?
The problem is that Boris is adult, but Sonya isn't. She won't be adult till she is 6 inches long. The best thing would be to seperate the 2 of them.
If you were to get another female, than you would have to quarantine her for 3 to 6 months. That way she would be able to settle into how you keep your tortoises. Being alone also cuts down on stress and prevents passing on an illness to the tortoises you already have.

Danny
 

Yvonne G

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Hi Beth:

Welcome to the forum!!

You probably already know that an outside pen is best for Russian tortoises. Since you live in an apartment and have no yard, then building something that can stay on the deck is the next best thing.

For three Russians I'm thinking maybe a 5 shelf book case might do the trick. You remove the shelves and lay it on its back. You can line it with a shower curtain or sheet plastic, then just decorate how you want.
 

bllauben

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Thanks everyone. I've tried to seperate Boris and Sonya a couple of times, even for a few hours. Boris gets extremely anxious and restless when he's not around her. He turns into a mad man looking for her. I think he is emotionally attached to her. When I first adopted them, she was scared and hid in her shell quite a bit. He constantly nudged her and she followed him where ever he went.

I currently have a medium flower pot on its side for her to hide in. She also tunnels to get away from him. Boris, for some reason, has not tunneled at all since I've adopted him. When I went out of state for two days, Sonya stayed under the substrate the whole time.

I've tried the mulch. I found it got too dry for my taste. I am indeed considering a coconut/dirt mixture.

I do supplement twice a week with a dusting of ultra fine calcium with D3. I do soakings once to twice a week, depending on conditions. When I notice Boris and Sonya laying in their water dish, I increase the frequency and length of the soaks.

Here's a picture of them a month after I adopted them.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3999451&l=c642701183&id=662244295

Here's some more pics (my file size is too large for me to imbed them in)
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=5509609&l=ea002a6f78&id=662244295

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=5509600&l=d0e1170671&id=662244295

This one is of Patches as a kitten tasting the lettuce for the first time. Boris is on the left. Sonya is on the right.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=5509603&l=147000f884&id=66224429

I do want to create an L shaped tortoise table. I do not like the glass enclosure I have them in. Joe, my boyfriend, agrees with me. On the longer side, I want to create a shelf where my climber, Boris, can have fun. Underneath the shelf, I am going to create a "hide way" room for them to hide.

I figured with the L shape, I can maximize the space that I really don't have while creating a larger difference between my warm end and my cool end.

I do plan on keeping the glass enclosure for quarantine. A "hospital" sort to speak. However, I just do not like it. I think it is a bit on the small side. I allow Boris and Sonya out of it several times a day so that they can use up their energy and explore a bit.

Since both torts enjoy watching TV, I am going to incorporate screen "windows" for them to look out of.
 
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