New tortoise

[pacoparrot]

I just got a unidentified species of tortoise from a small pet store. They were keeping it alone in a small fish tank. It had uvb and uva lighting. I bought a bunch of supplies for him and I moved him into a temporary habitat (rubbermaid container) until I can build him a big table. The pet store said he will not get much bigger. I could be wrong but I think his nails need to be clipped. I gave him some eco-earth mixed with some regular sand to dig in since he was on newspaper. He is burrowed down in it now. His eyes are clear and his tail is clean. He inspected the vegetables and hay I gave him and opened and closed his mouth a few times but I did not catch him eating it yet. He has a bowl of fresh water and some fake plants for privacy. I got him a uvb lamp and a uva/night lamp to keep him warm and healthy. He is very active and I think he will enjoy going outside tomorrow, possibly for the first time. I have a very large dog pen for him to run in supervised and hopefully I can have a tortoise proof outdoor habitat built soon. His poop is solid and he doesn't seem to have any shell problems.I haven't thought of a name yet but I would appreciate if someone could tell me his species and possibly give me blueprints to an easy to make tortoise table. Also is there a way to tell the gender of him? It would aid in naming him. I want the best for this little guy so if someone can point me in the direction of a safe/not safe list of foods I can give him I'd appreciate it. None of the rocks are small enough to be eaten and I realize this is too small for him to live in permanently. I just wanted to get him out of that bad situation.

 

[naturalman91]

that's a russian tort

 

[wellington]

Ditto in the Russians and when you change out his substrate, forget the sand and go with dirt. They do like to burrow and are great climbers, so be sure to build an enclosure he can't climb out of.

 

[pacoparrot]

Cool I was hoping he was a Russian! I'll keep in mind that he can climb! Is he allowed to/will he graze in my yard? I never had any chemicals or anything on my lawn. I'm going to look up some good tortoise table ideas for him. I'm also going to start researching his diet and care now that I know what he is. I'm about to put on his night bulb.

 

[christinaland128]

Welcome to the forum! Cute Russian! You can browse the forum for enclosure ideas and Pinterest gave me some good ideas as well.

 

[pacoparrot]

He is very adventurous! I took him out right before sunset and he made laps around the large chicken pen, tipped over the chicken shelter, and managed to dig right under the pen out into the yard. So now I know my outdoor pen needs to be dig proof and climb proof. I'm so proud of him! He ate all of his veggies! He didn't touch the hay yet but I'm excited to feed him again tomorrow! He is so cool! I can't wait to settle on a name.

 

[Reptilelove]

Defiantly a horse field tortoise tables are quiet easy to make, have a look on eBay for ideas...mine was from happy tortoise.co.uk ....we!come to the forum

 

[pacoparrot]

The little guy is still doing great! He ate like a champ today! So I read that I'm supposed to give him as much as he'll eat in 20 minutes. I believe I have a boy. What is the method for measuring him?

 

[Blakem]

I see that you have green beans, corn and peas in there, I think? Get rid of that. In my signature you'll see one that's specifically for the Russian tortoise. Read it! They like broad leafy greens in their diet. Congrats on your tortoise!


———-------------------------
(This is my signature)
Here's some great plant identification websites I use.

http://www.tlady.clara.net/TortGuide/diet.htm#plantlist

http://africantortoise.com/edible_landscaping.htm

http://m.thetortoisetable.org.uk/m/plants_19.asp

 

[pacoparrot]

I have no idea what most of the plants are on those lists. What about collard greens, kale, spinach, and romaine/leaf lettuce along with the grass, clover, and dandelions in my yard in my yard? I can also get rose petals from my dad's garden while they are alive. I'm not good at growing plants but I can try to obtain some wheat grass seeds and maybe a few other things from that list. He seems kind of picky when it comes to new things. He hasn't grazed from the ground outside yet but will eat the grass if picked and put in his bowl. The substrate I have him in really sticks to him. I'm using eco-earth mixed with a little natural sand. I think it would be better without the sand but almost every website I went on about russian tortoises said I should mix it in.

 

[pacoparrot]

I just read that the big bag of spinach I bought for him is also bad for him. I've bought so many things he can't even have. The lady at the pet store said to feed him froze vegetables and timothy hay so I didn't know his diet would be that complicated and I was having difficulty finding websites like the one you gave me about their diet.

 

[leigti]

Collard greens, kale and spinach occasionally, turnip greens, escarole and endive, rose petals, geranium's, clover these are all great. If you want to grow him specific things you can go to tortoise supply.com or Carolina pet supply.com and order Russian tortoise seed mixes. Also go to the Russian section of this for him and look up the care sheets. Rod dark leafy greens are better for him then vegetables. You're lucky that he eats grass, most won't touch it. Or hate either. Don't worry about getting it perfect right from the start, I started out with just a few things on the food list and worked my way up to include many many more. It takes time but you can do it and he will get used to the new foods. I would usually feed him one or two things for one week and then buy something new or different the next week until I got the seed mix is growing and until the new weeds come up in the spring. You found a great website here with great information, there is a lot of bad information out there so now you can just skip it and stay here and find out all you need

 

[pacoparrot]

Okay sounds good. He has been digging down in the substrate and spending most of his day like that unless I have him outside. He ignored his food today until I put him in front of it. The enclosure is a good temperature and is humid too. I know he should be more active.

 

[Blakem]

The diet won't be hard when you figure it out. On the days I don't feel like gathering weeds or leaves I will give spring mix, super easy and mine loves it. Hibiscus is a favorite as well!


———-------------------------
(This is my signature)
Here's some great plant identification websites I use.

http://www.tlady.clara.net/TortGuide/diet.htm#plantlist

http://africantortoise.com/edible_landscaping.htm

http://m.thetortoisetable.org.uk/m/plants_19.asp

 

[Shakudo]

Hi,

Congrats on your new Russian! They are amazing!

Looks like you got some good advice here, I'd also recommend reading the care sheet and info on this website
Www.russiantortoise.net


Goodluck!


Joey

 

[Kathy Coles]

And don't be surprised if he eats really well and then gets picky.

 

[Tyanna]

My Russian only wanted to eat the spring mix I gave him. In order to get him to eat things like collard greens, turnip greens, kale, etc, I had to mix it in little by little with his spring mix and now he eats it all happily! Keep giving him time and he will warm up.

 

[pacoparrot]

Shelldon has been eating spring mix, kale, romaine lettuce, and some grass/weeds from my yard. He actually picked a piece of grass right out of the ground yesterday and ate it! Right now I think he is basking and waking up but I have his food ready with spring mix, kale, and some grass and and weeds for when he is ready. I have been giving his salad a sprinkle of calcium powder and he has a piece of cuttlebone available.

 

[Reptilelove]

By the way you need to get him a big enough water pool, big enough so he can get in and out of it but not deep enough to put his head under

 

[pacoparrot]

What do you suggest I use that he can't tip over? The soaking dishes at the petstore are super expensive..