Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok, here goes, I am not new to reptiles, I have twenty snakes between me and my boyfriend, two desert torts, and four leopard geckos. I do all kinds of research before I get my animals, but this one is an exception. I work at a pet store and I had a lady come in and ask where she could leave her russian tort and I asked what was wrong, etc, etc, and she told me her kids were not interested in taking care of it anymore She asked who would take it and my bf and I were thinking of getting into russians anyhow, and she offered to let me have him if I could just give him a good home. Being the animal lover I am I jumped all over it! I took him home and I immediatly set him up. My questions:

He is in a 30 gallon tank right now, until this weekend, I will be making a wal-mart run for the upgrades. I am using a walnut shell litter (commonly used for birds, may also be known as lizard litter) as the substrate. I have been using this in my desert torts terrarium, and it seems to be the only thing they like. By "like" I mean they don't eat it, or smell it and make "gagging" faces, and they come out and really roam around on it. If this sounds like a bad idea, please let me know.
He has access to water and has a daytime heat source for basking in the day. Should I get an infared heat and use it farther away from the cage at night, but still have a drop in temp, for the night?
Greens are the diet: collards, mustards, romaine, etc. No fruits, and a small variety of veggies. So far her loves carrots the best, however they will be served sparingly for lack of nutritional content. Any veggie suggestions?

>>Now for the major stuff:
I soaked him a luke warm bath, chin deep, and the porr thing drank and drank and drank!!! He must have drank for a full ten minutes! I sat and watched him closely, it really concerned me. I washed and wiped off so much dirt that had caked on to him it that the color underneath was amazing! Sad huh? It gets worse! He was so weak the first time I fed him he was so weak that he drug himself over to where I set the food and attempted to bite, but he couldn't even bite hard enough to bite through the collards. I ripped up some of the softer greens and hand fed him little bites for about twenty-five minutes. He perked up a bit, just enough to drag himself over to the heat and closed his eyes and slept. He has been in the heat for almost two full days now. I feel so bad that he was so mistreated...makes me happy and sad that I have him. Happy because I can take great care of him now, but sad that I came across him under such horrible circumstances. Anyway, please help in anyway you can. I have been to dozens of websites, but please give any inside info. I would like to know what the cuttlebone does? Provides calcium, correct? Any little tidbits or helpful hints would be much appreciated! Thanks to everyone who took the time!

Laura
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~Laura

Rejoice, the age of the fall has begun
We'll dance as the palaces burn.
--Lamb of God, As the Palaces Burn

I completely agree with you, it is very sad that this tortoise was so mistreated and not cared for. Just another example of people who purchase pets and don't know the slightest bit about taking care of them. Well, I don't know all that much about tortoise husbandry, you seem to be doing a good job. Much better than what he was before for sure. You may have just saved this guys life. He's in good hands now, but I would get something bigger than a 30 gallon tank. I would recommend at least an enclosure 48 inches by 36 inches, as tortoises need a fair bit of room. Best of luck to you. Hope he's doing better.

He seems to be doing better already! He is moving a bit more and is eating very aggressively, although he is not eating on his own, I still am hand feeding. He still has his little eyes closed all day, and only opens them for a little bit while eating. Is this normal? Is there a reason why he does this? As help would be much appreciated! Enjoy! Sorry some of the pics are not more in focus

Here are some pics of the lil guy!!! By the way I decided to name him dude...I have just been saying things like " hey little dude, c'mon lets eat" stuff like that...lol

Here I am looking how I normal look:

Here's me with eyes open!

And here is my backside, I am pretty sure I am a boy, what do you think?

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~Laura

Rejoice, the age of the fall has begun
We'll dance as the palaces burn.
--Lamb of God, As the Palaces Burn

Good to hear he's doing well. My guess is he has his eyes closed most of the day because of the poor care he's been recieving before you took him, and it might get better. He's probably still pretty weak. He might just need to adjust, but I'm not too sure exactly. You might want to try to take him to a veterinarian that has experience with reptiles and get a vets opinion. Tell the vet what kind of care he's been recieving before you started taking care of him and tell the vet what you're doing to look after him now. It's probably best to get a good medical opinion to make sure he's healthy, and if there is something wrong, you can see what it is and deal with it the best you can. Good luck again.

I hope its just that he is weak and needs some recuperation time. I would love to take him to a vet, but unfortunatly there are no reptile vets anywhere around me. I would have to transport him over and hour and half drive time just to take him down there. That would probably be too stressful on him. He could just be adjusting. But if things stay the same for too long or worsen, then I will take him down to a vet. Thanks for the reply
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~Laura

Rejoice, the age of the fall has begun
We'll dance as the palaces burn.
--Lamb of God, As the Palaces Burn

No problem, best of luck to you.

hi -- way to go with the rescue. i breed russians and hate to see this happen to any of them.

a couple things. keep up the soaks, he (definitely a male) looks dehydrated. add turnip greens to your diet mix. then when he starts getting stronger add chopped up timothy hay to the greens, just a few tablespoons at first. these guys (hind gut fermenters) do amazingly well with that type of roughage.

the best website for complete care, plus a good forum is russiantortoise.org.

yes, cuttlebone is for calcium, but don't expect him to go chowing on it very often.

it's good to allow temps to drop to room temp at night. they seem to perk up a bit more when the heat lamp comes on.

keep up the good work,

matt

if it isn't too late, you may want to reconsider the aquarium purchase. they can drive you (and themselves) crazy trying to get through the glass. for adults, opaque sides are better. an inexpensive way to go is those black tubs from home depot/lowes that are used for mixing concrete. or the 50-gallon size rubbermaid totes.

matt

Hi,
Mrand seems to have pointed you to a great website and also has given other good tips.

Soak everyday and also leave a saucer of water in the enclosure at all times. Make sure the temperature in the enclosure is right. I would maintain a basking area of 90F and temp gradient of 85F to 75F.

Finally with feeding provide dandelion greens, turnip greens, mustard greens, endive and escarole and ocassionally collard, kale etc. Once he starts eating regularly then start adding chopped hay.

Good luck.

Michael

Soo! I cute! I hope he (yes, a he) likes his new home. I hope he is less stressed out too. Best of luck to both of you. What's his name?

His name is Irwin. He has been adopted by a wonderful loving family, and is doing fantastic now. Thanks.
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~Laura

Rejoice, the age of the fall has begun
We'll dance as the palaces burn.
--Lamb of God, As the Palaces Burn