Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I had a Russian tortoise and he died within 5 days. I gave him everything he needed, he was a baby, and was about 7 inches long. After he died I got another one and that one died in 3 days. He was eating well too. Thanks, bye.

At 7" long your russian was not a baby anymore. In fact it was probably almost a full grown adult. The fast rate of death might be because the animal was overstressed and dehydrated from being imported, or was in very very poor health (and was thus on the brink of death when you purchased it). Very strange that you had two die that fast. What conditions were they kept under, where were they purchsed, how much did you pay, what were they fed, did both RT's come from the same place (store dealer ect.), give details maybe someone here can help explain...

-Ian

I was told that it was a baby at the petstore. I beleive they were $20.00, and online it said they get 13 or 14 inches. I was kinda confused. I had them in this black thing, kinda hard to explain. It's like this big bin, that you would find at construction sites I think, or something like storage. It's big. I had one UV light on one side. I had a little dish with water. He ate brocolli, carrots, lettuce, and cantelope. I didn't give him alot of fruit because I thought the acids might do someting to him. He had reptibark as substrate. I think that's it, I might be forgeting something because it happened 2 weeks ago. I was trying to figure out why he died. Thanks, bye.

For only $20 the animal was surely imported, not captive bred. Also, I'm not really into RT's but I am almost positive that they will never reach 14". You had a full grown adult, that was probably sick and/or dehydrated which caused its death. Check out http://russiantortoise.org there is a lot of info on russians on this site. Also, the diet of broccoli and fruit is far less than optimal, the site above will tell more accurately what a RT should be fed. However bad the diet was I wouldn't expect that this was the cause of the animals death because of the short time you had the animal.

Your cage (concrete mixing pan I am assuming) might be a bit small for an adult but sounded adequate (depending on what size pan was actually used). A few questions: was any heat provided, was the "UV" bulb just a UV bulb or was it a UVB bulb (there is a big difference, UVB is the beneficial rays, UVA and UVC are not really important (and UVC may actually be harmful in some way, im not quite sure), was the animal/cage kept outside or inside, could the RTs have baked in the sun, what were the temps in the cage? None of these factors would likely have likely have led to such a quick death but are factors to consider for future tortoise purchases (except maybe the baked in the sun question, that could kill even a healthy tortoise: when outside in the yard the animal need some place to retreat from the hot sun).

After reading the info on the site above if you stilll feel up to keeping a tortoise you ought to try a CAPTIVE BRED russian, probably a real baby (maybe 2-4 inches). You would probably have much better results!

Good Luck

-Ian

No, it was not concrete. It was plastic, it was what a couple of websites suggested. OK, thanks, I wasn't sure about if it was a baby or not, I like to get my reptiles as babies, and CB. Then again, I don't think it would hatch 7 inches long. Just one more reason I won't get a reptile from a petstore. It was inside, and it was UVB. I get mixed up. I'd like to have them outisde if I was in a place where its warm year round or some other tortoise. I also had a heat pad, wich didn't do much good I think since it had deep substrate. The temp was 69 to 78 degrees on cool side, and 90 to 96 on the basking light side.
thanks, bye.

Ha, I wasn't implying that the pan was made of concrete, the pans are made to mix concrete and mortar in, they are used by bricklayers. Your setup sounds good, with good temps and such. GEt yourself a CB juvinile and you will probably have much better luck!!!

-Ian

Those are Red Foots.

Next time you buy one. Pick one that feels heavy.

Thanks .

I'd love to see the adult size of a tortoise that hatches 7". That's definitely pushin' full grown for a russian. I don't know the record, but out of the 200 or so I have dealt with, 8" was by far the largest that I saw (granted most of them were the typical 5" imports). As for why your's died, I say you should do some deeper investigation into possibilities of what caused the deaths. Out of all the imported russians I have seen, about 3 died in my care after refusing food for a month or so. Three days is too short, and the fact that they were eating leaves me even more skepticle if you may have let them get too hot. Russians are typically very hardy animals. If you can't keep an adult russian alive, I wouldn't bother spending money on a captive bred baby just yet.
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2.3 Salmon Boas
1.5 BCI
23.58 Various Corns
1.3 Albino Sinaloans

You may have your head on straight, but I have a better view!

Yeah, it was probably just that they were wild cought and were home sick. Bad care at the petstore was probably it too. I'm having someone come in to check my stuff, so, hopefully that will provide an answer. If nothings wrong, they probably had diseases. Bye .