New Tortoise Owner Questions

[FrankTheTort]

Hello forum!

How wonderful to have such a dedicated group of Tortoise owners!

So, I just got my very first Tortoise for Christmas from my wife yesterday. We purchased "him" at Petco with all the necessary habitat accessories and necessities. I've had him for about 12 hours and already have a short list of questions:

- What species is my Tortoise? The employees at Petco didn't seem to know anything about his history at all, which made me want him all the more! I've included a picture below.

- How do I determine the sex of my Tortoise? I recall from Biology that there is something to do with the shape of the tail?

- I've got a heat lamp/basking rock and intend to keep it on around 6 hours a day (in addition to the "daytime" bulb 12-hours a day). Are both necessary at the same time? Is the Red Light at night necessary?

- How often should I take him out to walk around? We have 2 small dogs that would be more scared of him than anything, but I don't want to put him in a stressful situation on the floor? Do they like being out?

- I have a small water bowl for him, but in addition to keeping up the humidity in the tank, how often do I need to soak him in water?

- I've been feeding him Baby Kale and he generally likes it. I've also included some pellets in his bowl just in case. Are their other plants that he might enjoy?

- I have bark substrate in a 40 gallon terrarium. Do I need anything under the bark? He likes to dig down and then not have any traction on the glass below. He tends to get stuck in a corner pretty frequently and I always want to reach in and help him. Is that a good idea? Is it better to let him figure it out, and is it stressful to have my reaching in all the time?

I think that's about it for now! I really appreciate your help with him! Feel free to answer one or all!


Thanks!
Ryan

 

[FrankTheTort]

Forgot to attach the picture!

 

[cmacusa3]

Welcome to forum and congrats on the new Russian tortoise. Check out that section on the forum and you will find the answers to all those questions. I'm sure several members will also give you all the help you need.

Do not leave him on the floor at anytime around dogs. Only bad things will happen

 

[erinlyndon]

1.Its a horsefield tortoise (russian tortoise) like mine
2. I think males have longer tails that go to the side, i'll attach a pic.
3.i don't use a red light at night and all you need in the day is heat and uvb, is the daytime bulb a uvb light?
4. I wouldn't put him on the floor at all. It is unhygienic and even if your 2 dogs seem to be scared of him you could turn your back and end up with and injured or even dead tortoise. Many people have lost their tortoises because of their dogs.
5. Soak him everyday or every 2 days for 20mins
6. http://m.thetortoisetable.org.uk/m/plants_19.asp this is the best place to find out which plants are tortoise friendly
7. I just have soil as my substrate which works perfectly fine, it is probably the best substrate. I would let him figure it out but if he seems stressed them i would help him.

I hope this helps, im a relatively new tortoise owner myself and it is hard to find out what is best for your tortoise, there are so many people with different opinions.

 

[Mr Buster]

1) Glass enclosures no good, get a 45 or 50 gallon rubbermade tote for starters.
2) You need a UVB bulb. Get a mercury bulb that provides both heat and UVB.
3) Kale is not too bad. Cilantro okay. Romaine not iceberg lettuce. Stay away from pellets at all costs unless you know what you are doing.
4) You are going to want calcium powder that has D3 and a source for vitamin A like carrots (but don't overdue it.
5) Bark no. Go with a coconut coir substrate instead.
6) Males have long tail with slit near the end, but females have stub tale.
7) Look for my thread on the Amazon video series.
8) Soak him until he goes to the restroom so he won't go in the cage. Up to 40 minutes but not less than 25.
9) Once you get another substrate for him to dig in, He will probably build a burrow he will spend a lot of time in. Try and leave the burrow alone, it is his bed.

Don't worry when he goes underground. These little guys spend up to 10 months a year underground.

The most important thing is the UVB and the calcium powder at this point.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi, and welcome to the forum!

If you want your new Russian tortoise to eat those pellets, you'll have to soak them in water to soften them. Chances are, he won't eat them. Russian tortoises are browsers, eating broadleaf plants and weeds, so if you have to buy grocery store food (as opposed to finding weeds from outside), buy things like turnip greens, escarole, endive, mustard greens, kale, collards, etc.

 

[Mr Buster]

I put 5 mazuri pellets in Buster's food dish 3 weeks ago and have placed his food on top of them every morning. All 5 little pellets are still there.

 

[cmacusa3]

I put 5 mazuri pellets in Buster's food dish 3 weeks ago and have placed his food on top of them every morning. All 5 little pellets are still there.

If you soaked them they are bad now and if they are still extremely hard that's another reason he hasn't eaten them.

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hi Ryan