Russian Tortoise Update

[Myrandarin_oranges]

Several months ago I posted about my tortoise, Tortellini. One of the issues I was having is that he was trying to eat...everything. Bugs, the floor, woodchips, etc. I got some great advice back on dietary changes I could make.
The link to the previous post is here : https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/vet-says-romaine-no-grassland-pellets.181717/#post-1817921

I'm gonna be honest, I'm at my wit's end. I've tried it all. I've varied his diet, lots of escarole/endive now, new veggies every week, calcium powder, cuttlebones, Miner All, and Kapidolo Farms actually gave me lots of free samples to try with him like Oat straw, morigna, red clover, and their version of a replacement for Mazuri pellets since he won't eat them. I'm definitely going to keep with the dietary changes, but it hasn't curbed his biting habit at all. I'm posting, because this morning I woke up to him chewing on his heat mat. I don't want to take it away from him, but I'm also worried he's going to shock himself. He's also been trying to eat one of his log hides as well. Is there anything else I can do? I'm honestly out of ideas. He'll try to eat rocks, he'll try to eat dirt, he'll try to eat ants he sees outside, he'll try to eat the floor, one time he I was trying to dry him after a bath and he bit the towel and I had to fight him to get him to spit it out. He just wants to put everything in his mouth and from what I'm seeing from other tortoise owners, this behaviour doesn't seem to be normal.?

 

[Hamiltondood]

im no russian tortoise expert but id take the heat mat out. doesn't he have a heat bulb and CHE?

 

[queen koopa]

I’ve come to discover through experience with all different animals that if they are not given enough space, they do very abnormal and unnatural things.... they flip out and chew things. For example Horses crib, eat wood, eat sand....

When I first got my water turtle (got him he was 18 yrs old) he was in a 20 gal tank. He flipped out all the time bitting the top of the tank, scratching at it, and would bite the lid to his pellets. Then flip out some more. Moved him into a 75 gal stock tank, he no longer flips out. I also don’t take him out Like the previous owner did. I learned on this forum that taking tortoise or turtles out of their enclosures is a bad idea because it shows them there is another world out there.. and they will try to find it.

My sulcata scratched and chewed at the insulation in her shed when I locked her in. And when I would take her out to graze another lawn, when I’d bring her back in to her enclosure she would literally RUN into her shelter hide, then pace the whole next day.

How long have you had your tortoise? Do you make changes to his enclosure often? How much space does it have?

 

[Clueless Tortoise]

Personally I have a under tank heater or heat mat as a back up, like if the bulb goes out and I'm out of stock, or if its below 40 degrees outside and for some reason the temp won't stay up that night. Heat mats are a great back up, but I have found that in using them, you need to make sure its the right amount of wattage per under tank heater. If it is too much wattage in a small heat mat, things can easily burn and catch on fire. I had a close call with that and it scorched the wood and it was a mess. Best to keep heat mats to a minimum. Hopefully we can get some input on what to do by our other members

 

[method89]

I'm in the "no heat mat" camp as well.

 

[Myrandarin_oranges]

Sorry for the late responses! I've had my tortoise for about four years now. He's got a tortoise table is about 6 feet long by 4 or 5 feet wide. I attached an old photo of when I first got it made. He has a heat and UVB set up and underneath are slates for it to be around the 95F temperature mark. He lays underneath it often, but he also seems to really like having the hot mat. I keep it underneath one of his log hides. He always chooses that one over his other two hides. I don't change his layout often, but I did change from a hay/woodchip bedding to a cyprus mulch bedding maybe a month or two ago