New tortoise owner

[Payton1215]

Hello, I’m looking for anyone that maybe be able to help me distinguish what type of tortoise I have recently adopted. How do you figure out age and gender as well? Unfortunately where I got him had no knowledge at all to give me. I want to give him/her the best life possible. Currently he is hanging outside in the back yard( mostly grass, and some weeds with a few ferns) free of any danger, it’s a fenced in yard that I have lined with brick so he can dig. With the summer weather I assume that it’s okay, we live in the Midwest so it’s relatively a good temperature. The winter will call for an indoor set up that needs improvement as well since my indoor enclosure is currently a large tank for when we get rain storms or the temperature falls too low. He has plenty of spaces to escape from the heat along with an easy water dish for him to get to, in one of his go to shaded areas. Also curious about proper feeding as well. Thanks in advance

 

[Yvonne G]

Welcome!

Looks like a Russian (Testudo horsefieldii). They eat broad-leaf weeds and plants. If you show us his/her tail we can let you know its gender. Also, no need to set up an indoor winter enclosure, as they brumate (hibernate).

Here's a link to our care sheet:

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[wellington]

Indeed a Russian. His/her indoor enclosure needs to be a 4x8

 

[TammyJ]

Welcome to you and your little tortoise! He looks good!

 

[TammyJ]

I see some spaces in the blocks that make me think he might climb and get stuck or even escape. These tortoises are quite good escape artists!

 

[SinLA]

Please read this, it’s dense and has a lot of info but will save you heartache later:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

www.tortoiseforum.org

thank you for taking this Russian in. I’m glad you’ll be able to give it a good life

 

[Payton1215]

I see some spaces in the blocks that make me think he might climb and get stuck or even escape. These tortoises are quite good escape artists!

Thank you! This is temporary most definitely I just lined my yard for a quick fix and I would like to dig up the edge and set the brick in the yard for a permanent back yard area for him

I see some spaces in the blocks that make me think he might climb and get stuck or even escape. These tortoises are quite good escape artists!

Please read this, it’s dense and has a lot of info but will save you heartache later:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

www.tortoiseforum.org

thank you for taking this Russian in. I’m glad you’ll be able to give it a good life

Soaking in all the information can be a little overwhelming at times, thank you! I want to give him the best life I can. Unfortunately we have no one that I know in my area to talk to about him. I’m really happy I found this site!