Hi LeoLady,



Congratulations on your new russian tortoise. Please don't feed him eggs! These tortoises need a low protein/high fibre diet, and weeds and flowers are the best food for them. Check out the Russian Tortoise site

http://www.russiantortoise.org/ for good advice on care and diet.

Also, perlite is not good as a substrate, as it could cause problems if ingested. I'm afraid I don't know what Carefresh is, but the best substrate is either a 50/50 mixture of topsoil and playsand, kept very slightly damp so it doesn't get dusty, or finely shredded aspen. Russian tortoise love to dig and burrow, and so the sand/soil and/or aspen substrate will allow them to do that.

Finally he will need to be kept well hydrated, so bathe him in warm water up to his chin several times a week for about 15-20 minutes.

Russians have great personalities, and once he's settled in and has the right environment, he should be very happy.



Nina



Also, russians really love being outdoors, so if it is possible you should have a good outdoor run for him when the weather is warm enough (but you have to be careful that he can't dig out). Indoors he will need a good source of UVB light and a temperature of around 90F at one end of his enclosure and 70F at the other, and no heat indoors at night.



Tanks are not a good environment for tortoises, as they do far better in an open environment with air circulating (the humidity that builds up in enclosed environments like tanks can cause mould to grow; it's hard to get a good temperature gradient in an enclosed environment, and the floor space of tanks usually isn't big enough). You can make an excellent tortoise table by just turning a set of bookshelves on its back, and take the shelves out. What you are left with is a big open box, and this is ideal for tortoises.e



Nina

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