Newbie How am i Doing?

[brianf40us]

I just got my first tortoise and set up it enclosure could someone please tell me how im doing and answer some basic questions.

Setup:
75 gallon aquarium
bark substrate
one 160 watt Powerson UV/heat lamp (I raised this up to achieve a 95 degrees basking area)
one 75 watt night heat lamp

Questions
1. Should i get a little fan to attach to tank and help with air movement?
2. I live in PA and in the summer it is humid and the winters are cold and dry should i worry myself with trying to regulate the humidity levels?

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Welcome.

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

I just got my first tortoise and set up it enclosure could someone please tell me how im doing and answer some basic questions.

Setup:
75 gallon aquarium
bark substrate
one 160 watt Powerson UV/heat lamp (I raised this up to achieve a 95 degrees basking area)
one 75 watt night heat lamp

Questions
1. Should i get a little fan to attach to tank and help with air movement?
2. I live in PA and in the summer it is humid and the winters are cold and dry should i worry myself with trying to regulate the humidity levels?

Type of tortoise?

Approximate age or size of tortoise?

Basically, a good set-up, but you may want to factor in more humidity if it's a youngster...spray the substrata daily, keep the inside of the hideaway moist.

Doubt you'll need the fan much.

Welcome to Our Little Slice Of Heaven!

 

[brianf40us]

Russian Tortoise

Age- not sure he is about 4-5 inches long.

It is summer here in PA and the humidity is high during most of the summer days.


Question-
As far as food I feed him romaine, carrots, cucumber, radish, occasional grape, and im going today to pick up a bag of mixed spring salad mix. Is this all ok so far?

I also have a huge Grape vine outside that I was thinking of feeding some leaves from. Would this be OK?

I just got my first tortoise and set up it enclosure could someone please tell me how im doing and answer some basic questions.

Setup:
75 gallon aquarium
bark substrate
one 160 watt Powerson UV/heat lamp (I raised this up to achieve a 95 degrees basking area)
one 75 watt night heat lamp

Questions
1. Should i get a little fan to attach to tank and help with air movement?
2. I live in PA and in the summer it is humid and the winters are cold and dry should i worry myself with trying to regulate the humidity levels?

Type of tortoise?

Approximate age or size of tortoise?

Basically, a good set-up, but you may want to factor in more humidity if it's a youngster...spray the substrata daily, keep the inside of the hideaway moist.

Doubt you'll need the fan much.

Welcome to Our Little Slice Of Heaven!

 

[Watermelon]

I presume it is the same for horsfields as it is for hermanns?
Diet wise I don't that sounds good but then again I have a hermann not as a horsfield so I may be wrong.

Okay according to tortoise table:

Grape = Young fresh leaves are fine in moderation but do not feed the fruits. Only offer as a tiny part of the diet to fruit eating species. (do not feed)

Grape vine = The young fresh leaves are fine in moderation but not the fruits ( feed in moderation)

Cucumber = A fruit that has little nutritional value as it consists of 96% water. The remaining 4% is made up mainly of dietary fibre, but it does contain some minerals and vitamins, especially vitamin C.

Cucumber can be offered to help with hydration, or prescribed medication can be hidden within it and offered to the tortoise as a tasty treat.

Tortoises easily become addicted to store-bought diets so avoid long term use. (feed in moderation)

Radish = As a member of the Brassica family, Radish leaves should be fed in moderation, because all members of this family contain glusinolates (goitrogenic glycosides) which can interfere with thyroid function and possibly cause kidney and liver damage if fed as a major part of the diet (but small quantities should be fine).

Do not feed the radish root, as this is very high in glusinolates and also carbohydrates. (feed in moderation)

Carrots = High is oxalates, okay to feed in moderation.

If its the same for horsfields as it is for hermanns so far you having nothing brilliant on your diet list, you need to give your tort mostly weeds! save the salad bags for winter when there isnt much weeds about. Not sure where you come from but stick to weeds and flowers such as Plantain, dandelion, pansies, petunia, dead nettle, bindweed, thistles, hawkbit, rose petals.... lots and lots of other plants.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Brian (your name IS Brian, right?):

Welcome to the Tortoise Forum!!

 

[DixieParadise]

Welcome Brian....

 

[lynnedit]

Russians (horsfields) need cooler temps at night. Their activity levels and appetites will be better with a change in temperature gradient.
1. unless your house drops below 60 at night, you won't need supplemental heat at night. Make sure the basking light is on one end, so he can choose to go to a cooler area. Put hides in both sides and perhaps in the middle if you can. You only need a fan if you can't get the cool side down to about 70 during the day, drifting down lower at night.
Consider putting the basking light on a timer to be on 12-14 hours per day.
2.The basking side should be slightly moist, not wet, the cooler side a bit drier.
You might consider having different substrates on each side, divided by rocks or a piece of wood: topsoil/coir/sand (see the site for ratios) or cypress mulch on the moister side, Aspen or soil that is drier on the cool side. Mine love burrowing in aspen at night, but the NW has more humidity.
Some prefer tortoise tables or large tubs for better air circulation, but that is flexible as long as you can get the temps right.
3. They do like to pace and try to get out constantly if they can see out (most do). Put a visual barrier around the outside base like cardboard, etc., for 6-8" +, depending on his size.
4. the width/length of the enclosure should be about 8 x 4 tortoise lengths (info on this site about how to measure your tortoise properly), so try to calculate this based on the size of yours.
5. Getting outside in an enclosure, even for a few hours, part of the year, is best for all torts. Russians especially seem happier in the long run.

Good for you, keep asking questions, if you have to tweak things, you and your tort will be happier in the end!

 

[brianf40us]

I want to go and collect weeds for him to eat but im scared that i may grab something not good for him. Are most weeds OK for totoises? I would love to get him outside but I fertilize my yard.

 

[lynnedit]

I want to go and collect weeds for him to eat but im scared that i may grab something not good for him. Are most weeds OK for totoises? I would love to get him outside but I fertilize my yard.

Perhaps you can block off one area that is fertilizer free. Look in the enclosure section for good ideas.
A good site for care of Russians in general, see information on edible plants
www.russiantortoise.org/edible_plants.htm

 

[Tom]

Hi Brian. All good advice above. Go onto the Plant ID section here on the forum and see if any of those weeds look familiar. If you are unsure, you can post pics of YOUR weeds here and we will do our best to help you ID them.

A 75 gallon is pretty small for a 4-5" tortoise. Most of us here on the forum have built outdoor enclosures, so that our torts can have a safe, enclosed, large area to roam around and graze during favorable weather. Some people leave them outside all the time. Some bring them in at night or during colder weather. Sunshine is essential for their long term health though, so he does need to get outside as much as you can. Outdoor enclosure can be as simple as a $15 Walmart kiddie pool with some partial shade, a hide box and some substrate thrown in, or you can build a permanent, attractive enclosure into your backyard landscape. There is really noting more fun in the tortoise world than watching your little one cruise around a well planted enclosure, stopping to munch on something ever so often. A 75 is fine if he's only in there to sleep at night or during bad weather, but I'd try to go bigger, if he's going to be in there a lot.

Do you plan to hibernate him? You don't have to, but you can.

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

Russian Tortoise

Age- not sure he is about 4-5 inches long.

It is summer here in PA and the humidity is high during most of the summer days.


Question-
As far as food I feed him romaine, carrots, cucumber, radish, occasional grape, and im going today to pick up a bag of mixed spring salad mix. Is this all ok so far?

I also have a huge Grape vine outside that I was thinking of feeding some leaves from. Would this be OK?

I just got my first tortoise and set up it enclosure could someone please tell me how im doing and answer some basic questions.

Setup:
75 gallon aquarium
bark substrate
one 160 watt Powerson UV/heat lamp (I raised this up to achieve a 95 degrees basking area)
one 75 watt night heat lamp

Questions
1. Should i get a little fan to attach to tank and help with air movement?
2. I live in PA and in the summer it is humid and the winters are cold and dry should i worry myself with trying to regulate the humidity levels?

Type of tortoise?

Approximate age or size of tortoise?

Basically, a good set-up, but you may want to factor in more humidity if it's a youngster...spray the substrata daily, keep the inside of the hideaway moist.

Doubt you'll need the fan much.

Welcome to Our Little Slice Of Heaven!

Grape leaves are good, springmix is great, shredded carrots occasionally is fine, cucumbers have no real food value, and fruit is a "once in a blue moon" treat.

Add some opuntia (prickly pear cactus pads) and there are a lot of local weeds your pet will enjoy.

Dark greens (collards greens, turnip greens, etc.) are good, too.

 

[dmmj]

Welcome
My russians love grape leaves, I view it as a cheap and pesticide free source of food, for them, I would cut out the fruits and vegetables. Most weeds work for russians as long as they are chemical free.

 

[brianf40us]

Thanks everyone and im trying to expand the types of food my tort gets, so just bare with the questions a little longer

Questions

1 When you say grape leaves you mean just the leaves from a grape vine?

2. i have started shaving a little cuddlebone off on his food everyother day, and I also have some vitamins but a little unsure how to do that. Should i give shaved cuddle bone everyother day and in between those day give vitamins or is that overdoing it?

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

Thanks everyone and im trying to expand the types of food my tort gets, so just bare with the questions a little longer

Questions

1 When you say grape leaves you mean just the leaves from a grape vine?

2. i have started shaving a little cuddlebone off on his food everyother day, and I also have some vitamins but a little unsure how to do that. Should i give shaved cuddle bone everyother day and in between those day give vitamins or is that overdoing it?

Leaves, yup...might eat a little vine, as well, but my 4 never eat it...but go ahead and offer it, as every tortoise has it's own ideas of what is yummy.

Also, shredded carrot and raw green beans occassionally is good...maybe once or twice a month, though.

Every other day for calcium is not too often...what it doesn't need, it'll "pee" away.

Have you tried offering it cactus pads, whole or chopped up? VERY high in calcium, fiber, etc.

 

[brianf40us]

Im going to see if i can get a xmas cactus from my local greenhous or even a spiny pear cactus but i dont know if they will have them so i am looking around locally for cactus.

 

[lynnedit]

Im going to see if i can get a xmas cactus from my local greenhous or even a spiny pear cactus but i dont know if they will have them so i am looking around locally for cactus.

Torts can eat Xmas cactus. some specialty plant stores may sell Prickly Pear Cactus as well. You can also look at specialty grocery stores in the produce section, they sometimes sell prickly pear pads for humans!

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

Im going to see if i can get a xmas cactus from my local greenhous or even a spiny pear cactus but i dont know if they will have them so i am looking around locally for cactus.

Is there a Hispanic area in your town? If so, you'll be able to find cactus pads there fairly cheaply (around here, $.25 to $.60/lb) in the grocery stores there. Try to get the spineless variety (your tortoise will happily eat either variety, but you'll prefer handling the spineless pads!).

Another option is to grow your own:

Use a pad that is at least six months old (or store bought), and allow it to form callous (where it was cut). This will take a week or two in warm weather but longer when the air is moist. Be sure to allow more time rather than less, to avoid rot. Sit the pad upright while it forms callous so that it will not curl.

Set cactus pad upright only about an inch deep in a mixture of equal parts of soil and sand or rough pumice. Planting the pad too deeply will encourage rot. In area with intense summer sun, situate the pad so that the slim side points north and south, and the broad side east and west. The sun will then pass along the narrow side during the hottest time of the day, and the pad won't sunburn. Anchor the pad in place with rocks to keep it upright, but do not water it - the moisture stored in the pad will enable it to sprout roots, and excess moisture may cause it to rot.

After a month, some roots will have formed, and the pad will stand firmly by itself in the soil. Water it once then, but let it dry between future waterings. Wait several months before beginning to harvest either pads or fruit, or future harvests will lessened. Generally, the second or third pad to form will bear flowers and fruit, but a pad from an older plant may flower and set fruit sooner than a section from a younger, immature plant.

If you plant about a half dozen pads, you'll be amazed at how fast they'll grow, and you'll soon have a lot of food for your pet.

 

[brianf40us]

I have just finished making mixed greens for my tort and this is what i put in my Tortoise salad.

Kale
Mustard Greens
Mixed Collard greens
Grape leaves
Sprinkle with shaved cuddle bone

Will be buying a xmas cactus to feed to him as well but need to go pick it up. I found one just need to get it.

how does this look so far.

---

OOOO and i also get him outside for 5-6 hours a day but it is really hot hear right now and im afraid i will cook poor tortie. I provide him shade and water all the time out there. Getting him out as much as possible cuz fall and winter will be hear before you know it.

 

[lynnedit]

Personally, I am impressed!