Turtle Care Help

[rfickau]

Hello Everyone!

This Christmas I received a Russian Box Tortoise. So far everything has been quite interesting. She has adjusted quite nicely and is roaming the house like it is her own.

I do have some questions about the amount of food to give her. I usually give her a decent size plate of lettuce (not iceberg), a few cut up baby carrots, green peppers, and a little cilantro twice a day. Is this too much?? She eats it all, so that's why I'm a little concerned if it is too much or not enough.

Also, how much is normal for a tortoise to poop/pee? She's going once a day.

Thanks for all of your help and suggestions in advance. Hope everyone has a happy New Years!!

Robert

 

[tortoises101]

Welcome to the forum!

First things first, you should never allow a tortoise to run freely around the house. There are lots of unsafe things (paperclips, magnets, carpet fibres, loose string, etc) that a tortoise can eat and be injured beyond repair. Tortoises have also electrocuted themselves urinating too close to heat lamps and have started fires accidentely as well. They may also get lost and/or accidentely stepped on. The average household temperature is also too cold for russians; they need a basking spot of 97F and a cool side of 82F, far hotter than the temperature people can stand. If you have other pets like dogs they may see your little tortoise as a chew toy and severly injure or even kill it.
Russians should ideally live in a large, spacious indoor enclosure of at least 5' x 3' when it's not weather permitting for them to be outdoors. The ideal enclosure would be a plastic storage bin, such as a Rubbermaid tote or a storage bin. You can pick up one for $20 at Walmart, or buy a Christmas tree storage bin from those holiday sales. The substrate should be a 50/50 mix of topsoil and play sand, or 50/50 play sand and cypress mulch. Add some timothy hay as a burrowing medium, and landscape the enclosure with rocks and logs. Some people grow weeds inside their enclosure so their tortoise can graze, though I haven't had success with dandelions. Give them a shallow water dish and a food dish, with an overhead basking lamp. You have a few options for the basking area; either a mercury vapor bulb (Megaray or Solar Glo will work, as well as Powersun) or an incandescent bulb and a 5.0 UVB tube. The nighttime temps should be in the 70's, anything below that and you probably want to use a ceramic heat emitter or a black incandescent bulb. And when the weather allows, you should give them a well designed outdoor enclosure so they can enjoy the sun and graze naturally. Here are two good articles that can give you some ideas for an outdoor enclosure; http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/habitatdesign.htm and http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/pentips.html

As for the diet, they shouldn't be fed lettuce and veggies. Russians will need a diet that's high in fibre, low in protein, and high in calcium. The staple of the diet should be weeds. Good choices are dandelions, plantain (plantago), sowthistle, clover, cat's ears, hawk's beards, vetch, mallow, and chicory. Flowers such as hibiscus, nasturtiums, and gazanias should also be offered on a regular basis. The inclusion of grape leaves and mulberry leaves also helps. Greens should only be given a few times a week, or in winter when weeds are unavailable. I don't recommend pelleted foods, but if you must use them, use them no more than once every two weeks. No fruit or meat should ever be given, as fruit causes parasite blooms and meat is simply unnatural and unhealthy. Veggies like peppers, squash, pumpkins, etc should be given only occasionally as over-relying on these items will not give the tortoise enough fibre.
You should give your tortoise a bit of food everyday, and scatter them around the enclosure so he/she can graze. Then remove the uneaten food. Russians are only active around 3-6 months a year, and based on their hibernation/estivation cycles are easy to overfeed. I suggest feeding every two days with the way I recommended and give your tortoise some "days off."

The amount your tortoise urinates/defecates will depend on the diet, fibre levels, hydration, etc. It's pretty hard to just make a general guess.

Check out russiantortoise.org for some more info.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Robert:

Welcome to the forum!!

May we see a picture of your tortoise just to be sure we are talking about the same thing?

A box turtle is one kind of animal, and a Russian tortoise is another.

Where are you located?

The russiantortoise.org site is a good one for info on your Russian tortoise.

 

[ChiKat]

I agree with Yvonne that a picture would be great to confirm if you have a Russian tortoise or a Box turtle
Here's a direct link to a Russian tortoise care sheet (if that is what you have!)
http://www.russiantortoise.org/care_sheet.htm (from the link that Yvonne posted)

 

[Smithen]

I do see the confusion as most pet stores around where I am atleast sell them marked as Russian "Box" Tortoise. I do agree that a picture to confirm would be nice.

Tyler

 

[ChiKat]

I do see the confusion as most pet stores around where I am atleast sell them marked as Russian "Box" Tortoise.

Ugh really? How obnoxious

 

[Yvonne G]

I'm wondering if some new-to-the-forum people might think that our forum is like a chat room. The OP asked his question then never came back on since that first post.

 

[Smithen]

I do see the confusion as most pet stores around where I am atleast sell them marked as Russian "Box" Tortoise.

Ugh really? How obnoxious

Sadly yes, I have talked to store managers and even a store owner before to tell them otherwise but still no change.

Tyler

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Tortoise 101...BTW...I feed my indoor Russian tortoise lettuce as well as some of what is mentioned above. I wouldn't be telling newbies not to feed lettuce while it is winter and weeds are hard to come by. I know you are trying to give good advice (and you are) but you also need to consider that it is winter and lettuce is most of what can be found...

 

[rfickau]

Hello All!

I'm sorry I haven't had a chance to reply to all of your wonderful comments and suggestions. Been busy with work, etc...

As far as the heating situation goes, I do have plenty of radiant heat for her. I live in an apartment building with hot water radiators, which her "area" is. The radiator is extremely hot (I can barely touch it for more than a few moments). Tortuga (her name) seems very happy right next to it.

As for classification, my fiancées mother picked her out and the pet store owner did say that she was a Russian Box Tortoise. I have attached a picture for hopeful verification.

With regards to Tortuga roaming freely, I have all hardwood floors which are always kept clean. I feel that leaving her boxed up in a tote or aquarium just doesn't seem very fair. I have noticed that she does have a little personality and I like to be able to watch and interact with her.

Thanks to all who have commented and please keep them comming! Hope everyone's New Year was as much fun as mine!

Robert

 

[jwhite]

Hi Robert always good to see other milwaukeeans here.
I hope you don't take offense, but even though your floors are always kept clean letting her roam your house just isn't the best. You are going to have cold drafts comming from under doors and you may miss something on the floor that the tortoise finds and swallows. Also it is much easier to control their climate needs if you keep her in some kind of enclosure with the proper lighting

Jon

 

[Yvonne G]

I'm not sure, because the picture is a bit small, but I'm thinking that Tortuga may be a little on the thin side. I'm judging this by the front leg right above the "elbow."

And yes, it IS a Russian tortoise. No box turtle about it. Her official name is Agrionemys horsfieldii or Testudo horsfieldii .

If you think she might be bored in her small enclosure, then maybe you can get her a bigger one. I really like this one:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000YUUOH0/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

They really do do better when they have their own habitat and things are the same all the time...same place for heat, same time of day for food, same place to hide. They are creatures of habit and while they DO roam for many miles in search of food, the always go back to the same place to sleep at night.

 

[dmmj]

ok that is a russian tortoise AKA horsefield tortoise. It is unwise to let a tortoise roam freely, simply because it can go places that you can't and could get stuck somewhere, also could pick up and eat things, not saying you can't do it, just unwise IMHO. so what is it's diet like, pet stores often mislabel tortoises either through ignorance, or trying to make it sound more exotic and therefore charge more, I personally think it was ignorance since I have seen a few places call them a russian box turtle. box turtles require vastly different care and diet than a russian tortoise I have 3 russians myself and I find them a great tortoise to have.
Welcome and enjoy your visit.