Soil sticking to my tortoise feet!!!

Khaleo

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Hi everyone so I'm new to the tortoise world and I have tried my best to do research to give Leo the best life he can have with me! He is a Russian tortoise by the way.

I built him my own tortoise table which is 4x2 feet and has two hideouts and a food and water dish. He currently only has a day light right now I'm saving up to buy a UVB light for him and other necessities. My main concern right now is that the organic top soil that I got is sticking to his feet!! Is this okay?? I squeezed it to make sure no water dripped out and it didn't fall apart. It holds it shape very well, but is this gonna be an issue? I just put him in his home today because when my parents got him he was in a 20 gallon tank for about a week until I could go out and get the materials. He kept running into the glass so I wanted to get him into his new home very fast! Please help!!! And thank you for any advice that is given I appreciate it! ImageUploadedByTortoise Forum1451774588.290406.jpg
 

leigti

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Yep, tortoises get dirty. They like it that way :) you can get large pebbles or pieces of slate tiles and put them all around the water and food dishes to keep some of the dirt out of the dishes. From your picture, I would suggest putting the bowl deeper into the soil so that your tortoise doesn't have to climb around or in it.
 

Lyn W

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Hi and welcome.
Yes they are mucky pups! It doesn't matter how nicely you prepare their food they will just walk straight through the middle of it!

Where are you located? I ask because unless you are somewhere warm where your tort can get uvb from some time out in the sun then you need to get a uvb lamp as soon as possible. Torts need uvb to help them digest food and absorb calcium and other nutrients which will prevent them from getting sick.

I use a mercury vapour bulb (mvb) which gives heat, light and uvb in one bulb. These are easy to use but others prefer a tube fitting.
Do not use any coiled or long thin loop type bulbs though as these damage torts eyes.
There are caresheets which will tell you all about diet, temps, humidity and substrate and lots of other information for Russians here -
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/forums/russian-tortoises.81/
The Beginners Mistakes thread is great for avoiding the same errors others have made (link below) and the Enclosures thread has great ideas too - as you may already have found)
 

Tom

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Hello and welcome to the forum.

Topsoil is made from people's competed yard waste. There is no way to know what is in it. It could be full of garden pesticides, fungicides and chemical fertilizers. It could be made of oleander and azaleas. There is not way to know, so I would never use it as a substrate. I know that some people recommend it an that its written on some website, but the world is full of all sorts of misinformation.

The best substrate for adult russians is fine grade orchid bark. I prefer coco coir for babies, but O bark for adults.

Check these out:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
 

yillt

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Hello. Whenever my tortoise gets a soak he stomps around afterwards and gets soil stuck to every limb. He gets very frustrated and tries to scratch it off. But in the sceam of things, soil is soil and it won't do any harm. . :)
 

Khaleo

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Thank you everyone! I'm located in Columbus,Ohio so I can't take him outside this time of year, so I will be buying a uvb light asap! And probably changing the soil to something that is safer!
 

Gillian M

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Hello. Whenever my tortoise gets a soak he stomps around afterwards and gets soil stuck to every limb. He gets very frustrated and tries to scratch it off. But in the sceam of things, soil is soil and it won't do any harm. . :)
The same thing happens to Oli, though as you put it "it does not harm him."
 

Tom

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Thank you everyone! I'm located in Columbus,Ohio so I can't take him outside this time of year, so I will be buying a uvb light asap! And probably changing the soil to something that is safer!

Don't let the pet store talk you into a cfl type screw in florescent bulb. THose are not effective UV sources and they can also burn tortoise eyes. They should not be used.
 
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