Russian tortoise not eating?

[Kbutlertexas]

I’ve had my Russian tortoise for several years. He seems to not be eating much, though he did poop in his food bowl today. Are Russian tortoises supposed to eat every day? Seems like his basking spot is about 90 degrees. Should I put the food on the same side or on the cool side of his home?

What else besides romaine lettuce should I feed him? I tried hay and pellets and he didn’t eat those.

Also, do these tortoises need their beaks and nails trimmed?

 

[SinLA]

I’ve had my Russian tortoise for several years. He seems to not be eating much, though he did poop in his food bowl today. Are Russian tortoises supposed to eat every day? Seems like his basking spot is about 90 degrees. Should I put the food on the same side or on the cool side of his home?

What else besides romaine lettuce should I feed him? I tried hay and pellets and he didn’t eat those.

Also, do these tortoises need their beaks and nails trimmed?

Welcome from another Angelino. So definitely some issues from what you have already described. Can you provide photos of his enclosure and lights, etc. As well as of him directly. Do you have an indoor or outdoor enclosure and how big is it/are they?

Romaine is pretty worthless as a food. There are lots of good food suggestions out there, if you NEED to get from a grocery store, start with Endive, radiccio, escarole and dandelion greens.

What part of LA are you in? We don't need an address, but i'm in Burbank and its different advice here than Venice, as an example.

 

[Kbutlertexas]

Welcome from another Angelino. So definitely some issues from what you have already described. Can you provide photos of his enclosure and lights, etc. As well as of him directly. Do you have an indoor or outdoor enclosure and how big is it/are they?

Romaine is pretty worthless as a food. There are lots of good food suggestions out there, if you NEED to get from a grocery store, start with Endive, radiccio, escarole and dandelion greens.

What part of LA are you in? We don't need an address, but i'm in Burbank and its different advice here than Venice, as an example.

Welcome from another Angelino. So definitely some issues from what you have already described. Can you provide photos of his enclosure and lights, etc. As well as of him directly. Do you have an indoor or outdoor enclosure and how big is it/are they?

Romaine is pretty worthless as a food. There are lots of good food suggestions out there, if you NEED to get from a grocery store, start with Endive, radiccio, escarole and dandelion greens.

What part of LA are you in? We don't need an address, but i'm in Burbank and its different advice here than Venice, as an example.

Here are some photos. I am in Koreatown. Indoor 18 inch by 35 inch. 60w UV and 100 watt heat lamp (dark lamp).

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Hello!
This guy needs some improvements to be done:
1. He needs much more space. Something like 4x8 feet. Or a "double-decker" enclosure with similar area. Moving around is essential for their health in general and for the food digestion in particular.
2. Use shallow terracotta saucers for food and water. Large enough to get into. This will a little bit with beak and tails conditioning. But the most important, is that he can soak himself in the water and stay hydrated. This is important for overall health, food digestion, preventing mild impactions and bladder stones.
3. Put temperature and humidity gauges down, to the level where he roams. You need to know parameters there, not under the heat lamps. Gauges are fairly inaccurate and cheap digital thermoteter/hygrometer from a hardware store will do the job better.
4. Beak can be filed with a nail file. If you not sure how to do it, you may visit a vet and ask him to teach you. From the photo it doesn't look seriously overgrown and maybe will correct by itself with the right foods. To prevent it from overgrowing again you need to improve his diet and include fibrous and harder foods (weeds and leaves, some squashes etc.). I will post a link to a care sheet, you can find suitable foods to feed there. Also, you can add a cuttlefish bone or calcium block to the enclosure (as a supplemental calcium source and occasional beak conditioner).
5. Heating and lightning need some overhaul. If you haven't changed UVB lamp recently it might need a replacement (check the care sheet for recommended lamp types). All-in-one lamps (UVB + heating) can be tricky to set up properly - to get desired basking zone heat and UV level at the same time. Having separate UV tube lamp and incandescent basking bulb is an easier and safer way.

Back to food questions - he should eat every day. Leafy greens is his primary food source. Russian tortoises aren't grass and hay eaters. Pellets can be given as a supplement to grocery bought foods (fiber and microelements). If he is spoiled with "lettuce diet", new foods might require time to introduce. Common reasons for poor appetite are:
1. low enclosure temperatures (once you move the gauges down we can tell if they are right - 65-70F at the cool end, 95-100F right under basking lamp and around 80 at the hot end)
2. digestion problems due to lack of motion and hydration. Try to give him 30-60 minutes warm bath (90F, shallow water up to a level where top and bottom shells meet, keep it warm all the time). If you do it already - perfect.
3. lack of fiber in diet, which helps to move things through intestines.

Here is the care sheet link: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/info-for-new-people-please-read-this-first.202363/ (read through this post on general care and at the end of it you'll find heating/lightning breakdown and a link to Temperate species care sheet).

Please, ask questions if you have any

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

Also, do these tortoises need their beaks and nails trimmed?

Could you send some photos of his nails? How long are they? Are they curling, if so they probably need to be cut to avoid injury.

If they are too long you could use some small nail clippers meant for cats or puppies to carefully trim the nails. This video has some tips on avoiding hurting him in the process:

You could place a rock slate embeded to his enclousure to help ceep his nails trimmed in the future. The terracotta saucers will help too and of course once he has a larger area to roam his nails will remain in good condition.