New Russian Tortoise! Would like tips please! - 2008/12/22 04:36I'm now the proud owner of a Russian Tortoise! Actually it's a Christmas gift for the little boy, but I will be the primary caretaker I've got the basic feeding & housing requirements handled, but was wondering if anyone raising these had any helpful pointers or tips, things to watch for, etc. I want to give it the best quality of life possible. I'm giving him chopped fruits, veggies & greens with calcium powder. Are there any foods that are toxic to these animals? I know avocados are bad for iguanas, and the guy at the pet store told me not to use oranges, but other than that I'm not sure. I have coconut husks in there in hopes of keeping the humidity up, and from what I understand, we need both uva & uvb. Am I forgetting anything important or crucial? Any tips are greatly appreciated! Thanks & happy holidays!
New Russian Tortoise! Would like tips please! - 2008/12/22 17:32Diet needs to be changed out. You should be feeding greens, [mine get a mixture of collard, turnip, mustard greens] and some mango maybe once in a great while. During the summer months they wild feed outside once a day and that is all I give them. If they are in the house all year long then yes they will need the UVB also. If they spend the summer outside then you don't need to provide the UVB in the winter. My substrate consists of 1/2 bed-a-beast and 1/2 childrens play sand. They have 2 pots in the cage for hides plus a big ol fake bush that they climb on and hide under. Make sure it is a sturdy one cause they will try to destroy it. You should provide them with a bowl of fresh water daily to soak in if they wish. And Mine both use it. I have only had mine, 1 for six months and 1 for 4 months. So am by no means an expert on them. Jacqui is our expert on the turtles/tortoises and is the one that helped me out tremendously. So I am sure she will correct any thing I have told you that is wrong and will add more valuable information to help you out..
New Russian Tortoise! Would like tips please! - 2008/12/25 06:11Their diet should consist of Green Leaf , Red Leaf lettuce, Endive, Escorole, Cactus , Raddichio,and mustard and turnip greens.These should be fed in variety and switched and mixed up every feeding. They should also get grasses like bermuda grass and timothy hay. You can buy botanical hay mix from carolinapetsupply.com and their house specialty TNT supplement which is most of the grasses and hays they but ground up fresh into a powder that you can sprinle over their food.
I personally would not feed them any fruits what so ever. If your russian is wild caught than he will already have parasites and fruits cause parasite blooms. If its captive bred and free of prarasites, than once in a great while its ok. The water bowl idea in the cage is a good suggestion by Dee too. Or just soak them at least 2 times a week. Where did you get the tortoise from ?
Go to russiantortoise.org for some top notch care guide their !
New Russian Tortoise! Would like tips please! - 2008/12/25 23:22What everybody is saying is fruit should be a rare treat. TNT is great, but at the very least get a cuttle bone for it to get added calcium. Feed about what it will eat in 20 mins. These guys can be piggies and beg you to feed extra until they become too fat.
I like the bed-a-beat/sand mixture because it holds humidity well...which these guys need. Plus easy for them to dig into.
If an adult the UV light can be optional...if it can get sometime outside in the summer.
This time of year, they can be trying to hibernate, so watch for that.
So tell us more about this great gift. Where did you get it? It's age? Sex? What kind of setup do you have?
New Russian Tortoise! Would like tips please! - 2008/12/27 04:01Thanks everyone! I got him at Petco (where the pets go) lol. and he appears to be nearly full grown; his shell is about 6 1/2 inches front to back. And he has a good sized tail, which would make him likely to be a male, right I figure my vet will be able to tell me more about that once I take him in for his initial check up after the holiday craziness is finally done with... Any time I bring a new critter home, I like to take them in right away & make sure he has a clean bill of health. There's only 1 reptile vet in this town but he's excellent... Anyhow, I've just got him in a 10 gallon tank with a small heat lamp & a water dish large enough for him to get in now... Again, once we recover financially from Christmas I plan to set him up with a bigger house... What should his warmest day/coolest night temps be? I mist him often to keep the humidity up... Thanks for the pointers on the diet also!!
New Russian Tortoise! Would like tips please! - 2008/12/27 18:31Make sure to get him a uvb/uva lamp to and the rubbermaid containers are actually pretty cheap.
New Russian Tortoise! Would like tips please! - 2008/12/27 18:33The coolest he should every get is about 62-68 F and the warmest around 95-100. And i would spray the bedding and than mix it around but i woudlnt spray the guy.
New Russian Tortoise! Would like tips please! - 2009/01/03 01:13With a Russian low temps won't do serious damage. Remember these torts naturally do hibernate. However the best temps are those mentioned above. Cool temps at night are best, as it's more natural and he needs the higher temps during the day to get him eating and digesting his food.
Misting both him and his substrate is fine. Just remember that cold and wet is bad, while warm and wet is ok. So make sure temps are up and kept up right after spraying him.
Main thing when getting him a new tank, is to get one lrge enough he can have the gradient in temps and can freely move on his own from one temp to a warmer/cooler one.
New Russian Tortoise! Would like tips please! - 2009/01/03 03:49Thanks so much! My research has told me that most of these are wild caught, have a rough journey and typically are loaded with parasites by the time they get to you... my guy is showing signs of an eye infection, and he's super wrinkly which leads me to believe that he's underweight... his vet appointment is Monday, so hopefully we get him all straightened out
New Russian Tortoise! Would like tips please! - 2009/01/03 04:16Could also be a bit dehydrated, as too often we think of deserts as dry, but fail to think how much humidity they get from their burrows. That can lead to eye troubles too.
Tonkatruck : It is hard to explain the site in one little paragraph, but if you have a specific question someone should be able to help. And welcome to the forum…
littlelizzies : guess not
littlelizzies : anyone there
littlelizzies : will come back later
littlelizzies : guess no one is out there
littlelizzies : hello i'm new to this chat...just exploring how it works
Forums 
post new topic
I've got the basic feeding & housing requirements handled, but was wondering if anyone raising these had any helpful pointers or tips, things to watch for, etc. I want to give it the best quality of life possible. I'm giving him chopped fruits, veggies & greens with calcium powder. Are there any foods that are toxic to these animals? I know avocados are bad for iguanas, and the guy at the pet store told me not to use oranges, but other than that I'm not sure. I have coconut husks in there in hopes of keeping the humidity up, and from what I understand, we need both uva & uvb. Am I forgetting anything important or crucial? Any tips are greatly appreciated! Thanks & happy holidays! 
I figure my vet will be able to tell me more about that once I take him in for his initial check up after the holiday craziness is finally done with... Any time I bring a new critter home, I like to take them in right away & make sure he has a clean bill of health. There's only 1 reptile vet in this town but he's excellent... Anyhow, I've just got him in a 10 gallon tank with a small heat lamp & a water dish large enough for him to get in now... Again, once we recover financially from Christmas I plan to set him up with a bigger house... What should his warmest day/coolest night temps be? I mist him often to keep the humidity up... Thanks for the pointers on the diet also!!