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I have a six year old Russian Tortiose with a cracked lip. Does anyone know what can be done and maybe know how this happened?
Russian Tortoise, Cracked Lip
- Thread starter jeheworley
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Maggie Cummings
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Welcome to the forum. Post some pictures so we can see what you're talking about. Did you drop him? There could be several reasons for that so pictures would help a lot...
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maggie3fan said:
I went to get her for a picture but she was busy digging a hole. It appears she is going to lay eggs. She laid three in March and one of those three hatched.
Welcome to the forum!
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besides being slightly over grown, it looks normal to me.
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Those look like rabbit pellets you have it on?
Can you describe your setup for us?
Can you describe your setup for us?
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BuffsTorts said:
Yes, those are rabbit pellets. We have 60 gallon terrarium, with two tortoises. The rabbit pellots make a good substrate as it easy to keep it clean. We also have an outside rn for them.
I took our female to the vet and he trimmed the jaw.
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jeheworley said:
Being easy to clean does not necessarily make it a good substrate.
Read around here on substrate, there are many better options available for the tortoise.
Glad the beak got trimmed!
For example, if you wanted to keep a dry substrate, shredded aspen is great. I buy it in 45 lb bags--its cheap and easy to clean. My tort loves to dig in it. Something that holds some humidity is even better, such as cypress mulch, orchid bark, coconut coir, or organic potting soil. The problems I see with the pellets is that 1) they are so super absorbent that they can actually suck the moisture out of the tortoise and 2) that the leg muscles get weak because the pellets roll around and don't provide a natural surface to walk on (some torts have been known to start dragging their back legs when kept on pellets).
That is awesome your torts get outside. Another suggestion I have is to use a plastic tub or wood tortoise table instead of the glass tank, to provide: better air circulation, heat gradient (tanks tend to stay about one temp throughout instead of providing a gradient), some torts will not recognize glass as a barrier and rub their nose against it or bump into it, and glass can stress some torts and cause them to pace around the edge. Tanks tend to work better for a species which needs to be kept very moist like a rain forest species. If you continued to use a tank, at a minimum, I'd put up a paper border around the edges so the torts can't see out, ensure that you can maintain a proper temperature gradient (70 to 95 F is good for Russians), and use a tank that has lower sides such as a "breeder" tank so there is better air circulation. A large plastic tub is actually cheaper, and better for the torts in my opinion. The largest ones available are the xmas tree ones (buy them up that time of year), the Rubbermaid type ones at the store, cement mixing tubs at hardware stores, and Waterland tubs (the terrestrial ones).
Hope you stick around and chat with us! We love photos.
For example, if you wanted to keep a dry substrate, shredded aspen is great. I buy it in 45 lb bags--its cheap and easy to clean. My tort loves to dig in it. Something that holds some humidity is even better, such as cypress mulch, orchid bark, coconut coir, or organic potting soil. The problems I see with the pellets is that 1) they are so super absorbent that they can actually suck the moisture out of the tortoise and 2) that the leg muscles get weak because the pellets roll around and don't provide a natural surface to walk on (some torts have been known to start dragging their back legs when kept on pellets).
That is awesome your torts get outside. Another suggestion I have is to use a plastic tub or wood tortoise table instead of the glass tank, to provide: better air circulation, heat gradient (tanks tend to stay about one temp throughout instead of providing a gradient), some torts will not recognize glass as a barrier and rub their nose against it or bump into it, and glass can stress some torts and cause them to pace around the edge. Tanks tend to work better for a species which needs to be kept very moist like a rain forest species. If you continued to use a tank, at a minimum, I'd put up a paper border around the edges so the torts can't see out, ensure that you can maintain a proper temperature gradient (70 to 95 F is good for Russians), and use a tank that has lower sides such as a "breeder" tank so there is better air circulation. A large plastic tub is actually cheaper, and better for the torts in my opinion. The largest ones available are the xmas tree ones (buy them up that time of year), the Rubbermaid type ones at the store, cement mixing tubs at hardware stores, and Waterland tubs (the terrestrial ones).
Hope you stick around and chat with us! We love photos.
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