The fella looks great. From the look of it, it appears to be a female, though I couldn't be sure unless you gave me a plastral view (bottom shell; you can tell the sex by the length of the tail; males are long and wide, females are short and narrower). Your tort is wild-caught, so don't worry about pyramiding; worry about getting it accustomed to captive life. Make sure to take it to the vet to get treated for parasites; if the petstore didn't do this already, it will be very difficult to acclimate.

Ensure that it has secure housing outdoors, with lots of sun and hiding spaces. Where do you live? Whenever the temperature rises above sixty five degrees and it is not raining, send him out. Remember, russians don't like damp! They can get this nasty disease called shellrot, whereby bacteria destroys the bone around the plastron in this horrible, leprosy like fashion. This is very difficult to treat and costs a great deal of money and time, so don't let the animal remain in conditions of damp for over five or six hours.

Does it eat? How much, and what? Try to give it a diet focused on weeds, especially during the spring, summer, and autumn months. Dandelion and clover are a good start. Supplement this with romaine lettuce, kale, collard greens, sowthistle, petunias, hibiscus, mulberry, grape leaves, grasses, etc. (all of which should be available at a local nursery or grocery store; just make sure it is pesticide free).

Though you may want to overwinter the animal during the first year of keeping, you will eventually have to face the need for hibernation/brumation. This process is essential for the animal's longterm health, and to continuously overwinter the animal is detrimental. A good source for all info regarding russians can be found at chelonia.org. This is the tortoise trust website, and it is chalk full of articles, pictures, and other little goodies to fill one's mind with tort knowledge.

T.G.

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