Soon to be RT owner!

[ChiKat]

Hi everyone!! Just thought I'd introduce myself before jumping in and posting!
My name's Katie and I'm 21 years old. I have 2 dogs (a chihuahua and a chi mix) named Carl and Mia, and 2 leopard geckos- Echo and Clementine.

If everything goes according to plan I will have a 2-month old Russian tortoise shipped to my house on August 3rd! (13 days...not like I'm counting down or anything! )
I've done tons of research on RTs and have wanted one forever! I can't wait to spoil my little guy!

I am going to be getting one of these three:

This looks like a great forum- I'm excited to be here
I can't wait to post pictures of my new baby!

 

[Yvonne G]

Those babies are adorable! Nothing cuter than Russian babies.

to the forum!

Yvonne

 

[Crazy1]

Katie, welcome to the forum. We are glad to have you. RT are great torts with big personalities. They all have beautiful carapaces and I am sure whichever you recieve you will adore it. Congratulations on selecting a tort. Looking forward to seein your pics and hearing of your torts adventures.

 

[tortoisenerd]

Welcome to the forum! Cute torts. Care to share more about your plans for keeping it (husbandry)? So tiny!

 

[dmmj]

I am assuming you bought it, if you don't mind me asking what you were charged for it? I have heard that babies for sale are hard to come by, and are usually exspensive.

 

[Isa]

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your new baby

 

[ChiKat]

Care to share more about your plans for keeping it (husbandry)?

Of course!
He will live in a large Rubbermaid container on a 70/30 coir/sand mix. I purchased a T-Rex Active UV Heat 100 Watt Flood bulb (that's quite a mouthful ) and also a digital thermometer with a probe to make sure the warm and cold side are at the correct temperature. I will soak him twice a week, although for the first 2 weeks I have him I will soak him daily, especially since he's being shipped.
I will feed him a wide variety of greens as well as weeds and flowers. He is currently eating Mazuri as well at the breeder's but I won't be continuing with that.
I also purchased TNT and a cuttlebone to make sure he is getting enough calcium.
I still need to purchase a digital scale so I can monitor his weight.
I will pretty much be following the care sheet from russiantortoise.org!

I am assuming you bought it, if you don't mind me asking what you were charged for it? I have heard that babies for sale are hard to come by, and are usually exspensive.

He was $115 plus I have to pay extra for shipping. He is coming from Florida and I live in Illinois.
This was cheaper than the Russian hatchling I was originally going to adopt- that one was $175.

 

[tortoisenerd]

That is a good deal.

Will you also give a daily calcium supplement? I would have some Mazuri on hand in case he only recognizes that as food, and not the other great stuff you plan to feed. I think Mazuri is a good supplement as well but it's up to you. I got a digital kitchen scale at Target for $25. I did not have good luck with the probe thermometer as it took too long to get a reading (literally 20 minutes), and seemed inaccurate. I got a laser thermometer for not much more, $25. It will instantly take the temperature on a surface so in 20 seconds I can scan a handful of areas in the enclosure. What type of fixture and stand do you have for the bulb?

Great choices on the other items. Looking forward to updates. Best wishes.

 

[ChiKat]

I wasn't planning on using an additional calcium supplement as I was told that the TNT was enough, as well as leaving cuttlebone in there. On the carolinapetsupply website it says "By using [TNT] I have eliminated the need to use any other supplements including calcium powders." Was I misinformed? I have heard of people buying calcium carbonate from a health store, should I get some of that?
I will go out and get some Mazuri too, thanks for the tip!
I'll also look into laser thermometers!
I plan on just using a light holder and clamping it to the side of the enclosure. Otherwise I might build some sort of stand to go over the container.
You are so helpful, I love this forum already

I went out today and bought his container, play sand, a tile for his greens, and a water dish. The coir bricks, TNT, and digital thermometer came in the mail today. I'm just waiting on his light bulb and cuttlebone to be delivered and I'll be pretty much ready for the little guy! I can't wait to set up his home!!

eta:

TNT has natural ground yummies, which themselves are high in calcium, but in my opinion you need a daily calcium carbonate supplement for a hatchling. I do not use the TNT daily but some do. Because it is all natural you are at nearly no risk of over supplementing it.

I just read this in another thread. I'll go get some calcium carbonate, thanks!!

 

[tortoisenerd]

If you use a clamp light with your MVB, here are some things to be careful with (I recommend a lamp stand with the clamp but if it works then it's fine): bulb face parallel to substrate for bulb wear and light shining equally and not in tort's eyes, you want to be able to quickly adjust the bulb height to adjust the temperature in the enclosure based on the ambient room temperature, and getting a hood large enough to disperse the light and heat in a big radius.

With the TNT I think it depends how often and how much you give. I can't be sure that I could give my little guy enough of it for the calcium as it's nowhere near the strength of pure calcium, although there is some great stuff in there. It's hard to find the nutritional contents of the ingredients for weeds vs. greens and things humans eat. Sounds like you made a good decision. Calcium is very important for a growing tortoise. I give my tort some daily for my own peace of mind too.

 

[ChiKat]

Can you explain how you built a lamp stand for yours? (or does anyone have a picture they would be willing to share?) I would prefer that but I'm not the most handy person in the world!

I know it's possible for them to get too much calcium, so how can I make sure I'm not giving him too much?
I received my last delivery today- his light bulb and cuttlebone. Now I just have to build some sort of lamp stand and then wait until August 4th when he'll be shipped to my door ;D SO EXCITED!!!

eta: Oh and here's one more picture of him! Still not sure which of the three is mine.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

I believe that Joe recommends using TNT 3 times a week. I also sprinkle calcium over the food daily. I have a cuttlebone in all my pens but for some reason everybody has stopped munching on them. If you put the calcium in a salt shaker you can lightly sprinkle it over his food. I believe the excess calcium is excreted without any damage so I wouldn't worry about too much calcium. You DO however, need to worry about too much D3 so if you are using UVB lights make sure your calcium does not have D3 in it.
I also recommend soaking daily until they are over a year old. Russians don't seem to care much for water and if you can train him to not be so stressed out in water while he is small you'll be better off.
Mazuri is a great supplement and I would continue to use it for your baby maybe once a week. But it's great for emergencies so I sure would keep some on hand...

 

[egyptiandan]

Welcome to the forum Katie

Danny

 

[tortoisenerd]

Here's my lamp stand. It was $25 and the larger model made by ZooMed. The picture doesn't show the bottom, but it has a flat plate you put under the enclosure. The stand adjusted in height, depth (arm), and rotates. It's awesome! You can measure your set up and estimate how high the bulb needs to be, and see if you want the smaller economy model or the big one, if you go this route. I posted a thread once about this in response to Meg90's question. Maybe you can find it...

Then, I have a $15 clamp hood lamp attached to it (the clamp and good fixture come together). With a Mercury Vapor Bulb you want a deep 10 inch diameter hood fixture with a ceramic socket. Some people build stands but I definitely didn't! What do you have so far?

Here's a link just to show the lamp stand:

http://www.petco.com/product/5011/Z...-7A19-DE11-B4E3-0019B9C043EB&mr:referralID=NA

Here's a sample hood fixture; the reptile ones come in black and hardware stores sell them in silver:

http://www.petco.com/product/9469/F...x?CoreCat=LN_Shopping_ReptileSupplies_ShopAll

 

[ChiKat]

Awesome, thanks for the links!! I really like that light stand so I'll have to go out and get one!

 

[tortoisenerd]

ZooMed makes an economy one and a larger one. The difference is in how adjustable it is (the economy doesn't go as high and deep). I got the more higher adjustable one as it will essentially last forever. About $25.

 

[Meg90]

I've got the littler one. I use them for both of my Greeks with no problem. The larger one is for MUCH larger enclosures. The walls of mine are only about 12in high though, so they work for me. Check on Amazon. I got mine on sale for 7$ a piece!

 

[Gulf Coast]