New Owner Advice needed plz

[Laura2016]

We have just taken on a 3 year old Russian Tortoise and i am worried I'm not getting things right

I have had him for a week but in that time he hasn't eaten very much, I have given him a mixture of salad leaves and also the pellets that the store gave me soaked. He as taken a few bites of the pellets but nothing else has been touched. He buries himself almost constantly. He has the heat lamp at one end of enclosure ( which is a vivarium style not table )I have tried various temperatures 80 + for 12 hrs daily then turn down in evening. This is advice I've been given by other owners i know and what I've looked up online. Im worried that he is moving around less and just burying himself because he's not doing well. The shop advised me to bathe him in warm water but thats not really helped. Im planning on taking him to vets for a check up but in the mean time i want to make sure I'm doing everything to make him happy. He has poo"d a couple of times over the week and whilst in water he's weed. Online it has said they bury because they are hot and the shop said maybe he's cold ?? very confusing a conflicting advice.
Any advice would be great
Thanks

 

[Jodie]

They will hurry because of either extreme. His ambient temp shoul be in the 80's during the day with a basking area 95ish. Night temps can drop to 60's. It takes them a while to adjust. Pics of your enclosure will give us more info to make better suggestions.

 

[wellington]

I second Jodie's advice. Also, most likely coming from a pet store that is not a private own shop but a chain store, your Russian would be older then 3 and wild caught. If it's from a private own store, it's possible it could be 3 and not wild caught.

 

[Laura2016]

Thank you some pictures hopefully will help

 

[Laura2016]

i have a certificate saying its captive bred which they said should i ever rehome had to go with him

 

[Laura2016]

The shell doesn't look Russian. It might be either a hermanns or Greek.

your absolutely right Hermanns on the paperwork, someone else must have said russian to me for me to think that.

 

[Laura2016]

We have just taken on a 3 year old Russian Tortoise and i am worried I'm not getting things right

I have had him for a week but in that time he hasn't eaten very much, I have given him a mixture of salad leaves and also the pellets that the store gave me soaked. He as taken a few bites of the pellets but nothing else has been touched. He buries himself almost constantly. He has the heat lamp at one end of enclosure ( which is a vivarium style not table )I have tried various temperatures 80 + for 12 hrs daily then turn down in evening. This is advice I've been given by other owners i know and what I've looked up online. Im worried that he is moving around less and just burying himself because he's not doing well. The shop advised me to bathe him in warm water but thats not really helped. Im planning on taking him to vets for a check up but in the mean time i want to make sure I'm doing everything to make him happy. He has poo"d a couple of times over the week and whilst in water he's weed. Online it has said they bury because they are hot and the shop said maybe he's cold ?? very confusing a conflicting advice.
Any advice would be great
Thanks

Hermanns Not Russian

 

[Gillian M]

Hi @Laura2016 and welcome to the forum!

I think - not sure- it's a Greek tort (like @Ross Iverson said). Its shell looks a lot like my Oli's(my Greek tort).

Torts take time to adapt as they do NOT like change. Therefore it might take quite a while till your cute tort gets used to the enclosure, your home, the environment and so on. Please don't worry, don't panic.

Give him daily soaks in warm water. And keep us updated.

 

[Laura2016]

Hi @Laura2016 and welcome to the forum!

I think - not sure- it's a Greek tort (like @Ross Iverson said). Its shell looks a lot like my Oli's(my Greek tort).

Torts take time to adapt as they do NOT like change. Therefore it might take quite a while till your cute tort gets used to the enclosure, your home, the environment and so on. Please don't worry, don't panic.

Give him daily soaks in warm water. And keep us updated.

Thank you, i do feel rather under prepared and feel like i should have research quite a lot more but I'm here now so just wanna get on with it and make sure he's happy and getting what he needs.

 

[Gillian M]

Thank you, i do feel rather under prepared and feel like i should have research quite a lot more but I'm here now so just wanna get on with it and make sure he's happy and getting what he needs.

We all started from "scratch" so as to say.

Please allow me to say one thing: I live in Jordan (The Middle East) where there is NO CARE whatsoever for pets, especially torts, due to the fact that they live in the wild.....poor creatures. Thus, I had to do so much research on the net after I got my beloved OLI. Later on I joined this forum.

Again, please do NOT worry, we're here to help.

 

[domagoj]

Just to be clear, I'm not an expert.
1. With that said I think you should change your substrate for something like coco coir or orchid bark. Even plain old soil should work if chemical free. It would be much easier for your tort to burry and walk around. It would probably hold moisture better.
2. You have to change your lightbulb. Tortoises are attracted to red so this might confuse them.
3. You could probably replace your food and water dishes for ceramic plant plates. But it's fine the way it is.

Once again this is only my opinion so if any more experienced members have something to add or change feel free to do so.

Your tort also looks pretty small for a three year old. How much does it weight.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Laura, and welcome to the Forum!

We have a great care sheet, written by a guy who really knows his stuff. Read it and make any adjustments necessary. One thing I'd do is to move your thermometer down to tortoise level, and away from the heat source.

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/sticky-hermanns-tortoise-care-sheet-updated.101410/