Please help - not sure what I am doing wrong...

TortoiseNovice17

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Hi,
This is my 6-year old daughter's Russian Tortoise. We have had her since the beginning of October. I am not letting her hibernate this year since this is the first year, we have her/him.

For context: I am feeding her every day fresh greens trying to get as big of a variety in there as I can but it is radicchio, dandelion, reds and green lettuces, collards, etc. (no bok choy or spinach). I have a calcium cactus block in her enclosure but she doesn't touch it so I shave some over her food every second day or so. I also have been giving her warm soaks every day and she has water in her enclosure but she never ever goes near it. Red warm light for the night, UVB and warm light for the day. Coconut and cedar mulch bedding. The temperature is always between 75-90 in her basking spot, at 50-60% humidity. Oh, am I have been weighing her. She weighs 424gr. I have timed her during eating as suggested but she will eat for a few minutes and come back several hours later. Since she has put on more weight (I got her at 382 gr) but it's evened out now.

My questions:
1) she has been changing a lot - e.g., under her shell, the indentation and the last plates of her shell seem to be separating. Now she seems to have brown spots on the sides of her head that look like they could hurt. Is that something normal or is she sick?
2) Is there something I can do better?

I don't want her to suffer or be unhappy. Once we moved to our piece of land we are buying, she will have an enclosure outside for part of the year, but I am stressing so much about this, I rather give her to someone who knows what they are doing than have her mistreated. I am reading everything online, but so much contradicts the last info I just read, I just don't know anymore.

Thanks for your help.
H

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TechnoCheese

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Bee62

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Hello and welcome.
All I see in your pictures is a very healthy looking Russian tortoise. I really see no signs that should worry you. Her shell looks good. Russians often have a rougher shell than other tort species. The rough scutes on the carapax ( upper side ) look like an old damage that has healed. Nothing to worry about.
The plastron ( under side ) looks healthy too.
The brown spots on her skin are normal too. Sometimes when torts get older they can have darker skin or darker spots on the skin.
Please don`t give your daughters tort to another owner. You seem to be a very good tort-mommy.
Can you please show us some pics of the enclosure and tell us the temps you provide for your tort ? With these details we can see if there could be any other problems.
 

Tom

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Everything looks normal in the pics.

I see two problems:
  1. Red bulbs should never be used. These confuse the tortoises as they make the whole world red. Pet stores often recommend and sell these and its a mistake. Unless your house is colder than 60 degrees at night, a russian shouldn't need night heat. But your basking area under the bulb does need to be around 95-100 during the day. Be sure you are using a flood bulb and not an "intense basking spot bulb" marketed for reptiles. If you do need night heat, use a ceramic heating element and set it on a thermostat to maintain the correct night temp.
  2. Cedar is toxic! Did you mean to say cypress mulch? If yes, then this mix is okay.
No mention of UV in your post. What are you using for UV?
 

TortoiseNovice17

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Bee62 - Thank you so much for your encouragement and your kind words. I just saw where you live! I grew up in Germany and studied in Goettingen - small world. I will take some pictures today.
 

TortoiseNovice17

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Everything looks normal in the pics.

I see two problems:
  1. Red bulbs should never be used. These confuse the tortoises as they make the whole world red. Pet stores often recommend and sell these and its a mistake. Unless your house is colder than 60 degrees at night, a russian shouldn't need night heat. But your basking area under the bulb does need to be around 95-100 during the day. Be sure you are using a flood bulb and not an "intense basking spot bulb" marketed for reptiles. If you do need night heat, use a ceramic heating element and set it on a thermostat to maintain the correct night temp.
  2. Cedar is toxic! Did you mean to say cypress mulch? If yes, then this mix is okay.
No mention of UV in your post. What are you using for UV?

Hi Tom, Thank you and you are right, it's of course cypress, not cedar! I am using a red heat lamp at night to keep it warm but i will leave it off tonight and see how the temperature is. I have a UV/Growth light and a warming light.
 

TortoiseNovice17

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Bee62

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Bee62 - Thank you so much for your encouragement and your kind words. I just saw where you live! I grew up in Germany and studied in Goettingen - small world. I will take some pictures today.
The world is obviously very small !!! Goettingen is the town where I was born and lived with my parents until 1993. Where I live now is only 25 KM away from Goettingen.
When you are interested you can send me a pm and we can speak about Goettingen and Germany and much more.:)
 

Tom

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Hi Tom, Thank you and you are right, it's of course cypress, not cedar! I am using a red heat lamp at night to keep it warm but i will leave it off tonight and see how the temperature is. I have a UV/Growth light and a warming light.
What temperature does you house stay overnight? What is your thermostat set to? If its above 60, you really don't need any night heat.
 

RosemaryDW

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Welcome! Your tortoise looks good, so far as any adult, wild caught Russian tortoise looks. It’s a hard world out there and they take some dings. :)
 

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