No turtle experience. Not sure of health of turtle.

[Monsterro]

So my family all went in vacation so I'm watching one of the dogs and my brothers turtle Max. I believe he is a box turtle? I don't have any experience with turtles, I've only owned beardies and know practically everything about them. I can't tell if max is healthy and I think he isn't. He has a "house" in his tank that he doesn't leave, ever. I have to take him out and put him in front of his food bowl to see that he eats, if I don't he simply won't eat. I tried to just leave the food and let him wander to it but he let several days go by without touching his food at all. I changed it and gave him spinach, some kind of dry tortoise food, shredded carrots, and tomatoes (which he seemed to enjoy A LOT as he ate all those first)
But like I said, he didn't touch any of that until I put him right in front of it.
I know their shells are important in that you have to check them? His shell doesn't look too okay to me but then again I don't know what healthy/ non-healthy shell is.
He eyes also seem a little puffy to me?
And I think his nails might be way too long but what can I do about it?
I've been taking him out to my backyard and he seemed to really like running around and being in the sun.
He was in this condition when they gave him to me to watch and I just want to be sure that he is okay,
He is also scared of people. I've been trying to softly speak to him and pet his shell but if I touch him he goes into his shell right away.

 

[Monsterro]

So my family all went in vacation so I'm watching one of the dogs and my brothers turtle Max. I believe he is a box turtle? I don't have any experience with turtles, I've only owned beardies and know practically everything about them. I can't tell if max is healthy and I think he isn't. He has a "house" in his tank that he doesn't leave, ever. I have to take him out and put him in front of his food bowl to see that he eats, if I don't he simply won't eat. I tried to just leave the food and let him wander to it but he let several days go by without touching his food at all. I changed it and gave him spinach, some kind of dry tortoise food, shredded carrots, and tomatoes (which he seemed to enjoy A LOT as he ate all those first)
But like I said, he didn't touch any of that until I put him right in front of it.
I know their shells are important in that you have to check them? His shell doesn't look too okay to me but then again I don't know what healthy/ non-healthy shell is.
He eyes also seem a little puffy to me?
And I think his nails might be way too long but what can I do about it?
I've been taking him out to my backyard and he seemed to really like running around and being in the sun.
He was in this condition when they gave him to me to watch and I just want to be sure that he is okay,
He is also scared of people. I've been trying to softly speak to him and pet his shell but if I touch him he goes into his shell right away.

 

[Monsterro]

Nothing?

 

[Cheryl Hills]

What you seem to have is a Russian tortoise, not a box turtle. His eyes, she'll, and nails look ok to me but wait and get more info from the more exsperienced members. We do have a care sheet in the Russian section. Good luck

 

[Gillian M]

A cute little tort!

Torts do not like to be cuddled, unlike cats and dogs. They (torts) like to be ALONE. The do note like, want, need company.

As for his shell, please give him daily soaks in warm water so as to avoid pyramiding as well as dehydration.

And read the "Beginners Mistakes Thread" and ask any question if you need more help.

 

[Gillian M]

Nothing?

I've justed posted something: hope to be able to help you.

 

[Monsterro]

A cute little tort!

Torts do not like to be cuddled, unlike cats and dogs. They (torts) like to be ALONE. The do note like, want, need company.

As for his shell, please give him daily soaks in warm water so as to avoid pyramiding as well as dehydration.

And read the "Beginners Mistakes Thread" and ask any question if you need more help.

Idk I remember an old friend that had a turtle that liked to be pet and wouldn't hide as much as this one does. I guess it's just me being used to bearded dragons and them being very social

 

[Gillian M]

Idk I remember an old friend that had a turtle that liked to be pet and wouldn't hide as much as this one does. I guess it's just me being used to bearded dragons and them being very social

You friend's turtle might have been "the exception to each and every rule." Believe me, torts are NOT at all sociable pets. They only run for food. I have had a Greek tort (Oli) for more than five years. I have not been able to give and take with him, train him to do/not do certain things, and so on. But still I LOVE him!

 

[Monsterro]

Anyone else?

 

[Monsterro]

You friend's turtle might have been "the exception to each and every rule." Believe me, torts are NOT at all sociable pets. They only run for food. I have had a Greek tort (Oli) for more than five years. I have not been able to give and take with him, train him to do/not do certain things, and so on. But still I LOVE him!

Does his nails look okay though? I feel they might be much too long

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Thanks for coming, it's a bit quiet here today, so sorry for the lack of help.
Max looks like a Russian tortoise to me, so he would love tomato, but it's not very good for him.
Try dandelions, they're excellent and usually adored.
I can't see a problem with his shell, in fact it looks rather beautiful and in fine condition, but the nails do look a bit long and his eyes do seem puffy to me too.
Give him a soak for 15-20 minutes a couple of times a day, water up to a level just above where his plastron joins the carapace. I think Gillian may be right and he is partly dehydrated. Does he have water available ?
As for the nails, i'd leave them until your brother gets back as trimming them now would further upset the animal. Just tell him about it.

 

[Yvonne G]

Your brother chose wisely, asking you to care for the tortoise. It's good of you to try to find out more about the Russian tortoise and his care. Read the care sheet:

http://russiantortoise.net/care_sheet.htm

and make the appropriate changes to his set up and care.

He's probably been "harassed" by your brother and is now shy of humans. They get very personable when treated right.

It might be a good idea to soak this tortoise is a bit of room temperature water. Leave him in there for about 15 minutes (a little tub he can't climb out of).

 

[Monsterro]

Thanks for coming, it's a bit quiet here today, so sorry for the lack of help.
Max looks like a Russian tortoise to me, so he would love tomato, but it's not very good for him.
Try dandelions, they're excellent and usually adored.
I can't see a problem with his shell, in fact it looks rather beautiful and in fine condition, but the nails do look a bit long and his eyes do seem puffy to me too.
Give him a soak for 15-20 minutes a couple of times a day, water up to a level just above where his plastron joins the carapace. I think Gillian may be right and he is partly dehydrated. Does he have water available ?
As for the nails, i'd leave them until your brother gets back as trimming them now would further upset the animal. Just tell him about it.

He does have a big water dish in his tank but it seems like from what I've read on the Russian turtle care sheet that he might not be able to get to it,

 

[Monsterro]

Your brother chose wisely, asking you to care for the tortoise. It's good of you to try to find out more about the Russian tortoise and his care. Read the care sheet:

http://russiantortoise.net/care_sheet.htm

and make the appropriate changes to his set up and care.

He's probably been "harassed" by your brother and is now shy of humans. They get very personable when treated right.

It might be a good idea to soak this tortoise is a bit of room temperature water. Leave him in there for about 15 minutes (a little tub he can't climb out of).

The only "harassment" my brother would have done is not care for him closely enough. He's 12 and plays his Xbox all day and my mom always has to remind my brother to even feed max,
I don't believe any of my younger siblings deserve to have any pets because they don't take care of them. My little sister had a snake that died not even a year of her having it because she left the poor things light off for a week and hardly fed it. I know my brother doesn't interact with this turtle that he begged and cried for in the store some years back.
The only harassment done to this turtle was being owned by a child that had no intentions of caring for it long term and only wanted it because that was "cool" to him at that time.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Ok, for the water he needs a shallow terracotta saucer, that he can sit and soak in, but it should be sunk into the substrate so he can easily climb in and out. These are very cheap.
He needs a bit of TLC, poor thing.
As for the nails it might be best to have a specialist herpetologist vet cut them for you, but if this is not possible then use nail clippers and just take a tiny piece off the end of each one. Don't cut more than a fraction as the nails have a blood vessel running through them and you may cause bleeding if you cut too much at once. After a few days the blood retreats and you can remove a little more and son on. look at the Russian tortoise section here to see how long they should be.But I would wait until the tortoise is better.
Thanks for coming here and trying your best for the little chap. Neglect is horrible.

 

[jockma]

I agree his shell looks beautiful. What's his enclosure like, what's the substrate? That could help explain why his shell grew well but his nails didn't.

They don't like to be picked up or otherwise played with, remember that humans project their emotions onto animals so a tort that seems to enjoy it may actually be ambivalent or downright annoyed/upset. That said I'm guilty of the occasional neck rub and cuddle. If you want to positively interact with him you can try brushing the back end of his shell with a toothbrush during soaks. Many torts enjoy butt scratches. Look up "tortoise butt shake" to get an idea of what I mean.

 

[Kori5]

They can't swim so the water needs to be shallow and baby warm.

 

[abigaaailllll]

the eye puffiness might just be a cold he caught. he will be okay. now about the food, cut a strawberry in his salad, the smell of the sweet fruit will make this meal un-resistable!

 

[abigaaailllll]

also about the nails, I've asked an exotic pet Doctor what to do about the nails (I own 3 tortoises) they said just let them walk on pavement to shave the nails down

 

[Yvonne G]

Russian tortoise's nails are a bit longer, as a species, than other tortoises. Don't worry about that.