New Male Rusian Tortoise

[nloddis]

I got the enclosure and the tortoise from the same guy on craigslist.com He got the tortoise from Petsmart. I have had him for 2 days now and so far he has roamed the enclosure, basked, drank some water and slept. I am not sure if i should be concerned that he either has not eaten or hasn't eaten much yet. I am working on getting the tortoise off of pellet food and on to vegetables any idea if it is necessary to transition foods as you would with a cat or dog? I tried soaking him but he did not drink or pee. maybe I did it wrong
So far my cats are entertained by his every movement and I am happy to have chosen this particular tortoise.
Any answers would be helpful.

 

[Jacqui]

RE: New Male Rusian Rortoise

Hi and welcome! The fact that he is roaming around, is a great sign. I would give him a few days of settling in before any worries (like a week). The transition isn't for the same reason as with a dog or a cat, but you may need to do it to get him to accept the new food items as food. Espcially if your going from a pellet diet to a fresh one or the other way around, you may need to start with a higher amount of the "old" type food and slowly increase the amount of new food items. How did you happen to decide to bring a tortoise into your life?

 

[Yvonne G]

Welcome to the Forum!

Be thinking about getting a larger habitat for your new tortoise. Russians are wanderers and really need a lot of space.

Also, if you can, make him an outdoor pen for when the weather is good.

 

[nloddis]

RE: New Male Rusian Rortoise

I have always loved turtles and after having fish and moving on to a gecko. I decided something that required too much water or live food was not what I was looking for. Then a few years ago I finally had a chance to care for a Russian tortoise and loved that it only required vegetables for food and only needed a good size water bowl to drink from. So I started researching about it and the more I read the more I found it was the pet for me. After giving up my entire tank I now I have a 4 ft by 2 1/2 ft wooden enclosure which I got with extras on craigslist with the tortoise for a great deal and could not be happier.

 

[pam]

Welcome

 

[stinax182]

welcome to the forum! i love that you rescued a tort instead of buying one from a store/breeder

just to clarify, you keep saying the tort eats "vegetables" but you probably mean green leafy foods, right? not zuchinni or green pepper but lettuces and weeds? many people think tortoises eat veggies, and they do sometimes, but mostly eat weeds and leaves.