New to Tortoises, meet Stoli :D

xBapes

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I know I can't wait! It's supposed to be 76 on Wednesday! Do you have any tips on where I should allow him to walk outdoors? Will they try to eat the grass?
 

TechnoCheese

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I know I can't wait! It's supposed to be 76 on Wednesday! Do you have any tips on where I should allow him to walk outdoors? Will they try to eat the grass?

If the grass is chemically treated, don’t let them roam, and yes, they will try to eat the grass. Since you live in an apartment, if I’m not mistaken, I would be very careful with it, and maybe talk to to gardener/whoever cuts the grass and make sure they don’t spray chemicals. And even if they say no, I would still be extremely cautious.
I sure hope the grass is fine!
 

xBapes

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I've never seen anyone treating the grass for anything on the days I've been home, and seen the landscaping crew at work but you know it could be someone else's job to do it. I could always take him to an area where there isn't much grass...we have a bunch of pavement as well so I could always take him there. I'm sure that would also file his nails down
 

RosemaryDW

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Yeah I'm experiment with different greens at the moment, finding out what he likes and dislikes. I've been looking for endive and escarole and can't seem to find any so I'm working with what I can find at the moment. Also, yes he's not a big fan of any veggies like bell peppers, mushrooms, etc...he seems to go more crazy for his green salad.

Surely they will have them at Wegmans? Go waaaaay down to the side of the lettuce section, where the signs show more dollars! Or ask the produce manager.

Good on the no veg, as he shouldn’t have any! :) He might get a single mushroom every few months, down the road. That the occasional bite of pumpkin, zucchini, or cucumber will do. He’ll like those, when the time comes.

I understand the desire to get him out of Petco; I think many of us got our tortoise that way. I can also see put great efforts into his care. But as mentioned above, your tortoise is full grown and he is used to roaming for miles. You won’t find an experienced user suggesting your tortoise doesn’t need more space. Nor will any of us encourage tortoises roaming on the ground. Our Russian lives outside in our tiny yard and that’s my one fear for her, that she’ll find a way to get underfoot and stepped on, even when we’re careful. She’s just so small.
 

xBapes

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Surely they will have them at Wegmans? Go waaaaay down to the side of the lettuce section, where the signs show more dollars! Or ask the produce manager.

Good on the no veg, as he shouldn’t have any! :) He might get a single mushroom every few months, down the road. That the occasional bite of pumpkin, zucchini, or cucumber will do. He’ll like those, when the time comes.

I understand the desire to get him out of Petco; I think many of us got our tortoise that way. I can also see put great efforts into his care. But as mentioned above, your tortoise is full grown and he is used to roaming for miles. You won’t find an experienced user suggesting your tortoise doesn’t need more space. Nor will any of us encourage tortoises roaming on the ground. Our Russian lives outside in our tiny yard and that’s my one fear for her, that she’ll find a way to get underfoot and stepped on, even when we’re careful. She’s just so small.

You know I actually forget about the Wegmans lol. I literally just signed up for their savings cards the other day. We have a Whole Foods in Towson as well, which isn't very far from here. I work for Amazon so you know I gotta support Whole Foods! Eventually I'm hoping he will aquire a taste for mushroom and other veggies... But right now he's bought into greens. When I first picked him out, he was eating some mix that I should have asked what it was but you know it was probably every single fruit/veggie he wasn't supposed to have. I picked the male, the female is still there which I tell bad for but we have a chocolate lab, fish, and now this little guy. The McCauley zoo is closing until further notice.
 

RosemaryDW

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You know I actually forget about the Wegmans lol. I literally just signed up for their savings cards the other day. We have a Whole Foods in Towson as well, which isn't very far from here. I work for Amazon so you know I gotta support Whole Foods! Eventually I'm hoping he will aquire a taste for mushroom and other veggies... But right now he's bought into greens. When I first picked him out, he was eating some mix that I should have asked what it was but you know it was probably every single fruit/veggie he wasn't supposed to have. I picked the male, the female is still there which I tell bad for but we have a chocolate lab, fish, and now this little guy. The McCauley zoo is closing until further notice.

He really should be eating only greens; again, the other vegetables are once in a great while; maybe one chunk or mushroom a month, if that. If greens are what he likes, you are ahead of the game.
 

xBapes

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He really should be eating only greens; again, the other vegetables are once in a great while; maybe one chunk or mushroom a month, if that. If greens are what he likes, you are ahead of the game.

Well then that's good to know. He gets up everyone morning around 8:30am to 9am and I start to here him scratching around his food bowl. He's so adorable when I put the greens in the dish, he walks as quickly as can be. He eats the other greens buy I'm beginning to think Kale is his favorite favorite. He tends to look for those first and pick them out lol
 

RosemaryDW

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They can get attached to one food; it’s fine so long as they still eat other things. If it gets extreme you can just stop feeding kale for a while; he’ll get over it. :)

He has a little food left over at the end of the day right? Just want to make sure he’s getting enough after all that garbage he ate at the petstore.
 

xBapes

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Yeah my husband feeds him a small amount in the morning when he leaves for work, because I leave extra early for my job. When we get home we put a tiny bit more in, just enough so we don't overfeed. Stoli has pretty much adapted to the routine very well.
 

Alex Z

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So if your not calling me stupid, then the comment if "that's what they all said" is not necessary. Look I get it, you are doing what you think is right and what works best for you and your tortoises but I am doing the best for what I can do at this time. He appears very happy, healthy, and intelligent. He is getting his exercise, a good diet, and a far better home than Petco aka the slaughter house.


Why are you being so stubborn? You came here seeking advice. You are getting it but want to be defiant. If you researched russian tortoises, you would know that zoomed house is way too small. You are asking for bad trouble letting it roam the house. Google search russian enclosures and you will see at best for indoors, you need to make a tort table measuring 8x4. 6x3 is good for one.
 

xBapes

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Why are you not paying attention? I totally said I'm buying a second enclosure to expand the dimensions..it will be a total of 6ft in length. Please read a bit more clearly before throwing your opinion into something. I'm not being stubborn, I've gathered quite a bit of research from plenty of outlets... The single 3ft is just temporary until my custom stands are built. He gets plenty of exercise in the mean time. Relax dude
 

TechnoCheese

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Why are you not paying attention? I totally said I'm buying a second enclosure to expand the dimensions..it will be a total of 6ft in length. Please read a bit more clearly before throwing your opinion into something. I'm not being stubborn, I've gathered quite a bit of research from plenty of outlets... The single 3ft is just temporary until my custom stands are built. He gets plenty of exercise in the mean time. Relax dude

It may be 6 feet long, but that means absolutely nothing when you pair it with the depth/ width. Russians require a minimum of 34 square feet. You are giving it 12.
Remember, no one is trying to attack you, and no one is saying you are stupid or incompetent. But these are things that absolutely need to be addressed. Just today, someone’s Russian fell a foot and a half onto its back because they were letting it roam. We are trying to make sure you don’t make the same mistakes as others, but that is very hard when you dismiss all of our advice or take it as an attack.
 

Alex Z

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Why are you not paying attention? I totally said I'm buying a second enclosure to expand the dimensions..it will be a total of 6ft in length. Please read a bit more clearly before throwing your opinion into something. I'm not being stubborn, I've gathered quite a bit of research from plenty of outlets... The single 3ft is just temporary until my custom stands are built. He gets plenty of exercise in the mean time. Relax dude


I been paying attention to your thickness of the skull. Everyone that has offered you help, you counter with ignorance. You say you been reading but dismiss the advice given to you. Why even bother making a thread when you have all the answers? Read and oay attention to the advice given. You doing it wrong.
 

RosemaryDW

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@xBapes, I think we may have missed details on your enclosure. Are you having a custom enclosure built and if so, what will the dimensions be?

Or is it simply two ZooMed houses put together? I’m not sure at this point. Perhaps this is just an error of communication.

I can see you have done some research but as you say, some of that content is from other sources. And unfortunately many other sources show really inadequate housing space, along with other things. Pet stores wouldn’t sell many tortoises if they told (assuming they actually knew) buyers how big enclosures need to be. That is why users here emphasize it so much.

The same goes for tortoise roaming.

Every forum has a few topics that tend to result in strong and immediate response. In the two other forums (non tortoise) I participate in, the topic is childhood vaccinations. :mad: Here they include tortoise roaming, keeping two tortoises together, and leaving tortoises unattended with dogs. I get where you are coming from but you asked for advice and you got it, from knowledgeble members. :)

If you guys have any suggestions on new hides, climbs, food, lighting etc.. Please feel free to reply, I'm very open to getting his care as perfect as I can.
 

Salspi

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I want to say a couple things.

1) it’s very nice of you to take a mistreated animal and offer to take care of it for decades to come. It says a lot about you as a person.

2) There is no need for getting up in each other’s grill here. The goal is to help the tortoise. Being defensive when people are trying to help you is a waste of time. Also, telling someone that they are thick skulled when they need advice is a total waste of time.

Isnt there enough garbage out there on social media? I enjoy coming to this site. People here have been great. We all need to know that we have each other’s backs on this site.
 

xBapes

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I want to say a couple things.

1) it’s very nice of you to take a mistreated animal and offer to take care of it for decades to come. It says a lot about you as a person.

2) There is no need for getting up in each other’s grill here. The goal is to help the tortoise. Being defensive when people are trying to help you is a waste of time. Also, telling someone that they are thick skulled when they need advice is a total waste of time.

Isnt there enough garbage out there on social media? I enjoy coming to this site. People here have been great. We all need to know that we have each other’s backs on this site.

I agree, I don't take anything too personal. I just think some people assume everyone else is wrong for not doing it their way. Like I said, I appreciate everyone's care and concern... But I'm new to this and I'm doing what I can within means.
 

xBapes

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@xBapes, I think we may have missed details on your enclosure. Are you having a custom enclosure built and if so, what will the dimensions be?

Or is it simply two ZooMed houses put together? I’m not sure at this point. Perhaps this is just an error of communication.

I can see you have done some research but as you say, some of that content is from other sources. And unfortunately many other sources show really inadequate housing space, along with other things. Pet stores wouldn’t sell many tortoises if they told (assuming they actually knew) buyers how big enclosures need to be. That is why users here emphasize it so much.

The same goes for tortoise roaming.

Every forum has a few topics that tend to result in strong and immediate response. In the two other forums (non tortoise) I participate in, the topic is childhood vaccinations. :mad: Here they include tortoise roaming, keeping two tortoises together, and leaving tortoises unattended with dogs. I get where you are coming from but you asked for advice and you got it, from knowledgeble members. :)

I'm going to put two of the enclosures together since the divider in the middle can be removed too extend it to 6ft in length. The depth will still be 2 ft, but I'm using it for Stoli only. I'm not keeping two at a time. My grandfather is building custom stands so I can fit the enclosures on. I also just recently removed the substrate of coir and sand, and replaced it with organic top soil which includes some peat moss. From what I can tell there is no sand included. I spot checked and sifted most of the stones or other organic matter that was included in the soil. Overall, Stoli seems to enjoy it. It's packed itself down so he can walk on it relatively easy. There is no fertilizer or perlite in it. I was lucky enough to find really dark soul too. See, I can take advice lol
 
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RosemaryDW

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Okay but the thing is, two of those houses put together don’t give your tortoises even half the recommended space. It is just not big enough. I know you don’t like that answer but it is the right one.

It sounds like you’ve got someone handy helping you out with custom stands; it should be pretty easy for them to knock together some plywood and beams to make the right sized enclosure. Or just get a cheap bookcase and tip it on its side, then make it look nice together with the stand.
 
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