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

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