Supplies

[liamstortoise13]

I am ordering my Russian tortoise supplies today and just wanted to make sure everything im ordering is the best so these are the supplies

*Zoo Med tortoise house
* 2 cubic feet of cypress bedding
* 2 dishes
* 18 inch UVB light fixture
*15 inch bulb
* 2 deep dome light fixtures
* 1 100 watt day basking halogen bulb
* 1 60 watt night bulb
* 2 small lamp stands
* one tortoise block
*one can of calcium dust
Ok that's it please tell me if I'm missing anything and/or have stuff I don't need. Thanks!

 

[Yvonne G]

Welcome, liamstortoise13!!

In my opinion, those Zoo Med tortoise houses are pretty nice little habitats, but way too small. I feel you could keep a hatchling in there for a year or so, but a full grown steppe tortoise would be way unhappy in one. They need lots of room to roam, and do much better in a large outdoor habitat.

 

[pam]

Welcome

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Welcome!

 

[liamstortoise13]

Hey thanks for the Warm welcome so what if I bought two and put them together would that be enough because im from Connecticut so it's really on warm in the summer which I don't spend here and being my house I have ALOT of woods and with woods comes coyotes so outdoor habitat might not be a great idea...and if up you still think 2 tortoise houses are too little do you have any suggestions on indoor habitats that might be an appropriate size. Thanks

 

[wellington]

An outdoor habitat for day time would be fine, just put a lock top on it. Using the larger square landscaping fabric, is like chicken wire but sturdier. Bring him in at night. Two of those houses would deff be better then one. An outdoor one still better. The dishes, aren't the best. A flower pot saucer is best for water and a piece of flat rock or tile is best for food. It helps keep beak and nails filed down. The CHE (ceramic heat emitter) is better for night time heat then any light.

 

[liamstortoise13]

Thanks Wellington! I am currently setting up a 54 gallon storage tub with a custom lid for my Russian who I will be receiving hopefully next Saturday,the 8th. While he Is living in there I will be custom building an indoor and another outdoor one most likely the same size. The only other thing I have to question now is ordering my tortoise. I have planned to order my tortoise from LLLreptile.com Friday the 7th so I get him Saturday the eighth. I just want to make sure that is a reliable site and it is safe to order my tortoise so I don't have to buy it from a cheap petstore who's doesn't take care of them and although I would like to save them it's better for me not to so they don't re stock. Anyway all help is greatly appreciated

Thanks

 

[TORTOISEMAN1]

looks good, u forgot the Mazuri! i can help.lol

 

[Tom]

First of all hello and welcome. You come on to a public forum and asked for opinions, and you will get lots of them here. You will need to sift through it all and decide what works best for YOU in YOUR situation.

I agree with the above that those habitats are too small for anything other than a hatchling. Even two of them together is too small for an adult Russian. Most of us have build our own enclosures as since there is really nothing store (or website) bought that is suitable.

Your tortoise NEEDS an outdoor enclosure, even of you only use it during the day and fair weather. Coyotes are everywhere in North America. You just have to make a suitable enclosure to keep them out. There are examples for this in the links in my signature.

The best water and food bowls are terra cotta plant saucers from any hardware store. The pet store type are usually no good.

You don't need night heat for a Russian unless your house is dropping below 55 at night. This is according to GB who is one of our top Testudo keeper/breeders here. So you can skip the second fixture, stand and night bulb.

The tortoise block won't hurt anything, but many of them ignore it. A cuttle bone from the bird section of any pet store works just as well.

You also dont need the special halogen reptile basking bulb. A regular flood bulb from the hardware store will work just as well. Ditto with the deep domes. Regular fixtures are fine as ong as they have the ceramic fittings and not the plastic style.

You still haven't told us what size Russian you are getting. A 54 tub is still too small for an adult, but will be fine temporarily for a baby. All tortoises need room to walk. Russians even more so than some others. Locomotion helps with digestion and overall fitness. Cramped quarters are fine for some snake species, but not for tortoises. For an adult Russian, my preference for an indoor enclosure would be 4x8'. 3x6' would be adequate, but larger is better. Outdoors I would go even bigger. Much bigger.

About LLL: They are a great company with a great leader. They offer quality stuff at great prices and have excellent customer service.

Some other items you may want to look into. Russians eat broadleaf weeds. There are several places that sell a Russian tortoise seed mix so you can grow your own food. If you do this in an outdoor enclosure, you won't even have to feed your new tortoise. Just put him in there and he can graze all he wants. If you intend to feed grocery store foods look into a product called Salad Style. It's basically finely blended grass hay that you sprinkle on top of grocery store greens to give it some much needed extra fiber. You will also need a temp gun and remote probed thermometer to check, adjust and verify your temps. You'll also need some decorations and hiding areas. There are many ways to accomplish this.

Good luck. Happy torting.

I am ordering my Russian tortoise supplies today and just wanted to make sure everything im ordering is the best so these are the supplies

*Zoo Med tortoise house
* 2 cubic feet of cypress bedding
* 2 dishes
* 18 inch UVB light fixture
*15 inch bulb
* 2 deep dome light fixtures
* 1 100 watt day basking halogen bulb
* 1 60 watt night bulb
* 2 small lamp stands
* one tortoise block
*one can of calcium dust
Ok that's it please tell me if I'm missing anything and/or have stuff I don't need. Thanks!

 

[liamstortoise13]

Wow...thats a lot of helpful information. So the tortoise I'm getting will mostly likely be about 4 inches when I receive him so the 54 gallon tub will be his home while I build the custom ones, which shouldn't take more than a month. I will bring him outside every day for at least an hour so he gets some play time. After the outdoor enclosure is built I will leave him in there from 7-3 while I am at school. So I was wondering if the outdoor enclosure should have a bottom or just put chicken wire farther down which might be hard to do. The indoor space will be about 6 feet by 3 feet with a 1 foot hide build in. I will go to home depot to get the dish and have him eat off a rock as I was recommended to do by another user. The out door could probably be 5x5 at the most with a corner hide. I do have a huge backyard though if there are easier ways to build a simple outdoor habitat. I'm seriously considering buying a mercury vapor bulb not only to save money but because I heard the strip UVB bulbs are dangerous to tortoises. That's it for now and thanks for the help