Re: I need these important questions answered

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Posted by brad on December 18, 2001 at 15:02:30:

In Reply to: I need these important questions answered posted by Sam on December 18, 2001 at 13:51:58:

Most of these are answered at places like www.tortoise.org and www.tortoisetrust.org.

I'll answer things quickly but you need to do the research.

: I have a russian tortoise now i need to know these things...

: 1)how big will it get?

Maybe 8-9 inches. I have one adult male that has stayed at around 4.5" for about 3 years. I have one old-looking female that is 6.5", but I have had her only a couple months.

: 2)does it look healthy by the pic I posted a little earlier (see "Can anyone Id my turtle)

Looks OK to me, but often they have "internal" problems in the form of parasites. Take a fresh fecal sample and your tortoise to a reptile vet
for a checkup.

: 3)I know what to feed it, but how often should I do it?

Leave it a small pile of food every other day or so. If it eats it all, add a little more next time. If it leaves some, give a little less. If it gets fat (looks like it can't pull into its shell), feed less.

: 4)the guy that sold it to me told me not to feed it any lettuce at all, but what i've researched, lettuce and greens are practically their whole diet. Maybe he meant no iceberg lettuce but romaine is ok right?

No iceberg. Romaine isn't great. Grocery greens are OK but have problems. If you can get at weeds and grass, that's better. Read the websites.

Be sure to put some calcium/d3 powder on the food once a week.

: 5)Is soaking it once a week in lukewarm water for about an hour ok?

An hour is probably too much. Go for 15 minutes once or twice a week. Mine seem to get very unhappy if I go over 15 minutes.

: 6)it's pretty small, so I have it in about a 50 gallon rubbermaid bin for the winter. When it becomes warmer out i'm gonna make him an outdoor cage and then get him a new huge rubbermaid type tub for indoors. Those kind of tubs are good right?

But you could get more space for fewer $ if you used a kiddie pool (those round, plastic ones with pictures of mermaids) or built something yourself out of plywood.

: 7)Right now I only have a heat lamp above him and his tank is like 85-90 degrees in the basking spot. I'm gonna get one of those flourescent lights from the pet shop soon.

I save money by using GE Sunshine bulbs instead of the petshop stuff. They emit a little bit of UV and cost maybe $8 for a 48" bulb. I got a work shop light fixture at Home Depot that holds two 48" fluorescent bulbs. I installed two 48" GE Sunshine bulbs. The whole thing cost about $22. You spend more than that on one 18" petshop bulb. You can't really depend too much on the UV bulbs to do the job by themselves since they can lose their "UV" without warning and you can't tell if they are defective to begin with. So I use a cheap and low UV light that gives off a natural-looking light and rely on vitamin D powder to keep the torts in good health. And they get to stay outdoors about 6 months of the year which provides added insurance against bone/shell problems. I don't give them vitamin D when they are outdoors.

I also do not use petshop heatlamps or basking bulbs. Cheap incandescent bulbs do the same job.

I have not tried the new Active UV type of bulbs. They are supposedly much better than fluorescents but are also very expensive. They may be a good solution if you have the $ and a large enclosure. Wouldn't use them on an animal in a 50gallon rubbermaid tub. Might overheat.

Good luck.

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Re: I need these important questions answered Sam 12/18/01 (0)

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: Most of these are answered at places like www.tortoise.org and www.tortoisetrust.org. : I'll answer things quickly but you need to do the research. : : I have a russian tortoise now i need to know these things... : : 1)how big will it get? : Maybe 8-9 inches. I have one adult male that has stayed at around 4.5" for about 3 years. I have one old-looking female that is 6.5", but I have had her only a couple months. : : 2)does it look healthy by the pic I posted a little earlier (see "Can anyone Id my turtle) : Looks OK to me, but often they have "internal" problems in the form of parasites. Take a fresh fecal sample and your tortoise to a reptile vet : for a checkup. : : 3)I know what to feed it, but how often should I do it? : Leave it a small pile of food every other day or so. If it eats it all, add a little more next time. If it leaves some, give a little less. If it gets fat (looks like it can't pull into its shell), feed less. : : : 4)the guy that sold it to me told me not to feed it any lettuce at all, but what i've researched, lettuce and greens are practically their whole diet. Maybe he meant no iceberg lettuce but romaine is ok right? : No iceberg. Romaine isn't great. Grocery greens are OK but have problems. If you can get at weeds and grass, that's better. Read the websites. : Be sure to put some calcium/d3 powder on the food once a week. : : 5)Is soaking it once a week in lukewarm water for about an hour ok? : An hour is probably too much. Go for 15 minutes once or twice a week. Mine seem to get very unhappy if I go over 15 minutes. : : 6)it's pretty small, so I have it in about a 50 gallon rubbermaid bin for the winter. When it becomes warmer out i'm gonna make him an outdoor cage and then get him a new huge rubbermaid type tub for indoors. Those kind of tubs are good right? : But you could get more space for fewer $ if you used a kiddie pool (those round, plastic ones with pictures of mermaids) or built something yourself out of plywood. : : 7)Right now I only have a heat lamp above him and his tank is like 85-90 degrees in the basking spot. I'm gonna get one of those flourescent lights from the pet shop soon. : I save money by using GE Sunshine bulbs instead of the petshop stuff. They emit a little bit of UV and cost maybe $8 for a 48" bulb. I got a work shop light fixture at Home Depot that holds two 48" fluorescent bulbs. I installed two 48" GE Sunshine bulbs. The whole thing cost about $22. You spend more than that on one 18" petshop bulb. You can't really depend too much on the UV bulbs to do the job by themselves since they can lose their "UV" without warning and you can't tell if they are defective to begin with. So I use a cheap and low UV light that gives off a natural-looking light and rely on vitamin D powder to keep the torts in good health. And they get to stay outdoors about 6 months of the year which provides added insurance against bone/shell problems. I don't give them vitamin D when they are outdoors. : I also do not use petshop heatlamps or basking bulbs. Cheap incandescent bulbs do the same job. : I have not tried the new Active UV type of bulbs. They are supposedly much better than fluorescents but are also very expensive. They may be a good solution if you have the $ and a large enclosure. Wouldn't use them on an animal in a 50gallon rubbermaid tub. Might overheat. : : Good luck.

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