New Russian Owner; Am I doing everything right?

Status
Not open for further replies.

mgately

New Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Apr 16, 2012
Messages
9
My name's Melissa and I'm a new Russian owner, as well as a new member of this wonderful forum :)
I have a nameless young adult girl. She is in a 50 gal. rubbermaid tub w/ loose bark (i don't recall the name; it was recommended from the girl at Petsmart. Boyfriend uses the same stuff for his geckos tanks), a huge half log, water dish and food bowl. I also have a basking light set up in one spot of her tub which I leave on 12-13 hours per day.
I'm currently feeding her veggies and fruits. Yesterday I put some tomato, blueberries & mulberry leaves down and quickly found out tomatoes are one of her favorites. I also bought some freeze-dried fruit munches & freeze dried veggies. She loves them. A family friend has a Russian and gave me small pellets. I haven't gave them to her yet, but my stepmom did not seeing if she ate them or not. Since she ate a good hunk of the tomatoes yesterday, I was going to put some strawberries and the pellets down, but decided to give her some of the freeze dried veggies. She poops almost everyday and it's always solid.
Not having a lot in her tub right now, I take her outside to play and dig for about 20-30 minutes each day. We went out this morning but it was hotter than usual. (I live on the border of FL/GA border on the east coast) She wasn't very active until the last 5 minutes. I've been looking up things to put in tank to have her occupied throughout the day. I'm thinking about growing dandelions in her tub just so she has something to play/eat with whenever she pleases. I'm going to add a bath area, rocks & some foliage soon though, Maybe later this week.

Also I do have one concern: She's been peeling. Not too bad yet, but you can tell that she is. With that being said, I soak her every three or so days. Another is that she takes a little nap after she eats unless she wakes up at 11 like she did today. But she's up active afterward until around 8 at night when she goes to sleep. Please let know what I can do to be better tort owner! :)
 

Yvonne G

Old Timer
TFO Admin
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
93,405
Location (City and/or State)
Clovis, CA
Hi Melissa:

Welcome to the Tortoise Forum!!

May we know appx. where in the world you are?

If it were my tortosie, I'd cut back on the fruits and veggies and go more towards the dark, leafy greens.
 

dmarcus

Active Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2011
Messages
9,036
Location (City and/or State)
Las Vegas, NV
Hello and welcome to the forum..

I will let those with Russian experience answer your questions...
 

mgately

New Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Apr 16, 2012
Messages
9
I live about 30 minutes away from Jacksonville, FL. I tried giving her some cabbage the first I got her and she didn't take interest to it too much. I haven't able to get to the grocery yet, but I'm definitely picking her up some collards :)
 

JoesMum

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Oct 26, 2011
Messages
21,610
Location (City and/or State)
Kent, South East England
Hi there!

I'll start with the easy bit. All reptiles shed skin and tortoises are noexception. they can look downright tatty when they are doing so as they shed it in bits and pieces. Don't pick or pull at it, just let it rub off naturally!

Russians like all testudo struggle to process the sugars in fruit. They love it, but tomatoes, strawberries and other fruit is not good for them, so please only feed as a very occasional treat. Their diet is vegetarian - no meat, dairy or bugs or insects. Their diet should consist of leafy greens.

Avoid standard lettuce and iceberg as they have little fibre. The freeze dried greens are fine, but would benefit from being sprayed with water. Pellets aren't essential, but can be used a couple of days a week to add fibre and vitamins. You can look up weeds and shop plants that are good to feed here The Tortoise Table Plant database

Dandelions don't grow well in enclosures. keep those in pots or seed trays and use something like a spider plant in the enclosure :)

A piece of cuttlebone in the enclosure will be used for additional calcium and help your tort to maintain her beak.

I'm afraid I have no idea what floor area a 50gallon rubbermaid gives you. What dimensions is it and how long is your tortoise? What heat and light do you provide? And finally there are 4 important temperatures: Under the basking lamp, cool end, warm end and overnight... what are these?
 

cemmons12

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
May 1, 2011
Messages
2,801
Location (City and/or State)
Greenfield, In.
Id have to agree, cut way back on fruits and veggies! I feed my Ophelia spring mix, mustard greens, collard greens, kale, turnip greens, some romain (but not a lot), and any other dark leafy greens I can find. Also, when I rescued Ophelia, she was peeling very bad. So when I took her to her vet, he said that I should give her some carrots to help with a lacking vitamin she needed. So I have been giving her them about 2 times a week (about a table spoon full) every since I got her. It has helped a lot! I also never give her fruit. I wish you luck with your new tort. :) And welcome to the forum!!
 

mgately

New Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Apr 16, 2012
Messages
9
The detentions are roughly 4'x2'. she's not too big yet. only about the size of my hand.
I have a hydrometer for my hermit crabs. i'll put that in the tank to see what the temps are. When the lady at the pet store said what I needed, she just threw it all in the cart. I can remember the watts of the bulb that i have for her.

Read more: http://www.tortoiseforum.org/private.php?action=read&pmid=141101#ixzz1sENuBQEx
 

mgately

New Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Apr 16, 2012
Messages
9
I live about 30 minutes away from Jacksonville, FL. The weather is getting so hot already. Actually, we've been having wildfires about 50 minutes away & they've been traveling here.
The detentions are roughly 4'x2'. she's not too big yet. only about the size of my hand.
I have a hygrometer. i'll put that in a minute to see what the temps are. and get back to you guy tomorrow with the temps :)

I haven't been able to run to to grocery yet this week and that's why she's been eating more veggies. I'm getting her some collards and kale along with some baby carrots if that helps her with vitamins.
other than the cuttle bone, does anyone recommend other types of vitamins or supplements? I read that it's not necessary unless you're breeding, which I'm not ha.
 

dmmj

The member formerly known as captain awesome
10 Year Member!
Joined
Aug 15, 2008
Messages
19,698
Location (City and/or State)
CA
Welcome
If he is getting a variety of weeds, leaves, and flowers then supplements are not necessary usually. I would avoid fruits and veggies for most of his diet, once or twice a month won't hurt, but they should not be a big part of his diet. My 3 russians get a diet of leaves ( grape, mulberry) and flowers ( hibiscus) and weeds ( dandelion leaves and flowers).
 

Utah Lynn

Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Aug 27, 2011
Messages
585
Here is a good list of good foods for your RT.

STANDARD FOODS--
Romain lettuce
Kale
Mustard greens
Turnip greens
Collard greens
Parsley
Cabbage(on occasion)--cabbage that is fed long term has damaging effects to the thyroid so it is highly recommended to be fed sparingly!
Red-leaf lettuce
Green-leaf lettuce
NO ICEBERG LETTUCE-- this type of lettuce in itself is not bad for any animal, but it has no nutritional value and most animals tend to enjoy it too much. They will wait long periods of time to get this tasty lettuce while avoiding other foods in the process.
Cucumber
Tomatoes(just the fruit, not the plant)
Strawberries
Carrots
Bananas
Parsley
Squash
Most Berries and Melons
Timothy Hay
Alfalfa Grass
Bermuda Grass
Dandelion
Most Weeds
Cactus Pads
:cool:
 

JoesMum

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Oct 26, 2011
Messages
21,610
Location (City and/or State)
Kent, South East England
Sorry I have to disagree. All fruit should be fed sparingly, preferably never, to Russians and bananas are a definite NO as they contain far too much sugar.

Russians need leafy greens.

Other, non Testudo, torts can have fruit... but definitely not Russians and Greeks as they cannot process the sugars
 

Tyrtle

Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Messages
348
Location (City and/or State)
Arvada, Colorado
For a treat, we give spineless cactus pads. They go crazy for the stuff and from what I understand, it's better for them than fruit or other veggies.
 

mgately

New Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Apr 16, 2012
Messages
9
I checked the temps in the tank that she's in.
Overnight: 74
Cool Side: 74-75-ish
Under Basking Light: 87

The lamp clamp I bought says not to use over 75 watt bulb, but I don't remember the watt I bought. I need help!!
 

booper96

New Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Apr 20, 2012
Messages
1
I have 3 russian torts...they all have different personalities and likes...gordie would strictly eat peas if i wasnt a good tort mama...dark greens...i also grow cactus and they love it.
 

Yvonne G

Old Timer
TFO Admin
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
93,405
Location (City and/or State)
Clovis, CA
booper96 said:
I have 3 russian torts...they all have different personalities and likes...gordie would strictly eat peas if i wasnt a good tort mama...dark greens...i also grow cactus and they love it.

Hi booper96:

Won't you take a few moments to start a new thread in the "introductions" section and tell us a bit about yourself?
 

Utah Lynn

Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Aug 27, 2011
Messages
585
JoesMum said:
Sorry I have to disagree. All fruit should be fed sparingly, preferably never, to Russians and bananas are a definite NO as they contain far too much sugar.

Russians need leafy greens.

Other, non Testudo, torts can have fruit... but definitely not Russians and Greeks as they cannot process the sugars

You are VERY right. I am :(. I thought I had edited that. Thank you for correcting that.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top