Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I decided today that I would order the tortoise. I found that lllreptile (a reputable company that I trust), had baby russian tortoises that were captive bred. I chose to go with them because I trust them, they work with their local breeders, and they have a health guarantee, which is something that private sellers don't usually give. I understand that they have recieved less attention than one that was being sold by its breeder (most likely), and that I don't get a choice in which I get, but I have faith that I will be satisfied with my first little tortoise.

I got the enclosure setup today. I got a rubbermaid container that's approximately 34"x14"x12" (considering the tortoise is only 1.5" right now...it will be fine in there for a little while). I cut the whole center out of the top and attached a 30"x12" screen to it, which is where I have a heat lamp and UV lamp set on. Inside the enclosure I have about 3-4" of dirt, a warm hiding spot and cool hiding spot (made out of the plate part of a clay pot), a shallow water dish sunk into the dirt a little, and a pile of timothy hay in the corner. Right now I'm trying to get the dirt heated up a bit so I can get the temps figured out.

We're going to start working on his/her final home pretty soon. It's going to be at last 4'long and 2'wide.

Thanks for all the help so far!

There's very few dealers/wholesalers I'd recommend... LLL is one of them. They've built a nice reputation and, what's tougher, have maintained it... so far. That's very tough in the reptile business and very commendable.

>>I decided today that I would order the tortoise. I found that lllreptile (a reputable company that I trust), had baby russian tortoises that were captive bred. I chose to go with them because I trust them, they work with their local breeders, and they have a health guarantee, which is something that private sellers don't usually give. I understand that they have recieved less attention than one that was being sold by its breeder (most likely), and that I don't get a choice in which I get, but I have faith that I will be satisfied with my first little tortoise.
>>
>>I got the enclosure setup today. I got a rubbermaid container that's approximately 34"x14"x12" (considering the tortoise is only 1.5" right now...it will be fine in there for a little while). I cut the whole center out of the top and attached a 30"x12" screen to it, which is where I have a heat lamp and UV lamp set on. Inside the enclosure I have about 3-4" of dirt, a warm hiding spot and cool hiding spot (made out of the plate part of a clay pot), a shallow water dish sunk into the dirt a little, and a pile of timothy hay in the corner. Right now I'm trying to get the dirt heated up a bit so I can get the temps figured out.
>>
>>We're going to start working on his/her final home pretty soon. It's going to be at last 4'long and 2'wide.
>>
>>Thanks for all the help so far!
-----
Ed @ Tortoise Keepers
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

Hi congrats. on your russian. They are good torts. I have a suggestion though its acctually up to you but here it is. Well i have 3 greek(spur thigh tortoises) and i had them on dirt sand mix but you know what works better for the babies. Towels. Get some old towles and put them on the bottom and get timothy hay and put it on half the enclosure. The towels work well since it gives babies grip and they can eat it and get dirt in there stomachs which can cause sickness. Babies tend to eat dirt for some reasone. But its totally up to you on if you want to do this or not, I reccomend it. You can save the dirt till he gets bigger and knows not to eat it.

Also whats good about the towels is you can make little fake hill so they dont have flat ground only.

I'm sure I'll spend quite a bit of time viewing the little guy/girl's tendencies, and if I notice any regular dirt eating, I'll put the dirt on hold for a bit and try something else. Probably the towels thing. I am interested as to why they might eat the dirt though. I would think that from the climate they come from, they would be used to dirt, right? Strange.

I thiught the same thing so i had dirt for like a day. Of course they tried eating it. So now i use all towels and they still bite at it but at least they cant swallow it. lol. Also you can put hay on one end. Mine just like to sleep in logs and stuff. The towel idea is cheap and good. Also you can just throw it in the wash.

Yeah. I've got hay on the cool end. If he/she tried to eat the dirt, I'll just throw an old towel over it until it's time to try again.

I wonder why they do that.

Typically when a reptile is put into a new environment with things it is not used to or has never seen (like soil, for instance), they will investigate it for a day or two, and eventually leave it alone. Maybe if you had given it a little longer, the baby torts would have stopped licking/eating the soil? I'll give mine two days and see.

Hi! Congrats on your new baby! One suggestion, when you change the substrate, you might want to try a mixture of sand and bed-a-beast. These have worked really well for me. They maintain the heat well. Also, it is easy to see waste that needs to be cleaned out and it can easily be scooped. When I first got one of my baby Russians, I had him on dirt and he never tried to eat it, but I had trouble keeping the temps up. Anyway, post a pic when he gets there!
-----
TurtsandTorts Discussion Group
2 Russians (Harley and Marley)
2 RES (Sunny and Fatty)
2 Gerbils (Sydney and Vienna)
1 Cat (Abby)

Thanks for the info! I'll try the dirt first for now. I have a 60 watt standard light bulb over the tank right now, and when I don't dim it (which I do) it goes up to around 105, so I don't seem to have any problem getting the dirt to heat up. I have the same bulb in my bearded dragon's enclosure right now for basking, and he loves it. I just switched it in, because before I had a halogen bulb in his enclosure and it got way too hot, but I didn't realize just how hot it was getting during the daytime until today. No wonder he hasn't been basking. I do use a halogen bulb for my mali uromastyx, and it seems to get the temps just where she wants them. She moves on and off the basking spot constantly during the day, and she poops regularly. Both of those animals are kept on dirt....I like it a lot. Having a bone dry substrate just causes problems, which is I think why a lot of bearded dragons and uromastyx succumb to Renal failure. I'm afraid my dragon might be going in that direction now too because of the dry substrates I once kept him on, and the high protein diet he had when I was younger and dumber.

But anyways, thanks again for the information! I am definately going to take some pictures once he comes in (WEDNESDAY!!!!)