Care Sheet for TortoisesAverage Rating Given To This Care Sheet Is 4.25 (1=lowest, 5=highest) Last Updated: 02/14/2004 |
Main Category: | Aquatic/Land |
Sub Category: | Tortoises |
Care Sheet Submitted By: | Elfomatic |
Years Experience: | 5 to 10 Years |
Species: | Russian Tortoise |
Other Species or Phases this Care Sheet May Cover: | AKA. Steppe, Afghanistan, Four-toed Tortoise. |
Sexing and Characteristics: | Females are larger at about 8"-10". Males are about 6"-10". |
Mostly Active During: | Day |
Substrate and Water Needs: | Newspaper, peat moss, or a 50-50 mix of sand and bed-a-beast. |
Lighting and UVB: | 75-100 W basking lamp; UVB required. |
Temperatures and Humidity: | High daytime temps. at about 95-100 degrees under the basking lamp. Nightly temp. drop is a must. They seem to be okay in the mid-60’s at the lowest.
They need high humidity at about 60%. The substrate must be slightly moist, too. In this senario, however, you MUST provide warm temps. otherwise skin problems and respiratory infections may occur. |
Heating and Equipment: | No heat rock or undercage heater is recommended. |
Caging Provided: | 50 gal. rubbermaid container. Aquariums are not recommended for any tortoise. They offer poor air circulation and tend to be more high than wide. Rubbermaid is cheaper than a 75-gal. aquarium (min.) by far at only about $15. Also, it is important that your tortoise cannot see out as it is scary for them.
An alternative is a tortoise table. http://www.unc.edu/~dtkirkpa/stuff/table.html tells you how to make one.
Outdoor pens are, of course, best. |
Diet: | Herbivorous |
Description of Diet: | Absolutely no meat!! No fruit either!!! They eat mainly veggies--broad leaf plants like romaine lettuce. Don’t ever feed them regular lettuce because it has virtually no nutritional value.
The best thing for them are weeds (leaves and flowers). They also like different types of hay.
The most important thing is variety. If you have a good mix than that is what is most important.
Romaine lettuce
Red and green leaf lettuce
Endive
Escarole
Radicchio
Turnip greens
Mustard greens
Collards
Spring Mix (mixed salad greens)
cabbage
Green Beans
are all good. And can all be readily found in the grocery store. |
Supplements, Nutrition and Usage: | Regular reptile calcium supplements are recommended to be lightly sprinkled over meals. |
Maintenance: | Occasionly you may need to clip their toenails. Don’t let them get overgrown. You may need to trim their beak every now and then too. Use toe nail clippers -- like for dogs -- on the toenails and a dremel or like tool can be used on the beak. Just use an easy brushing motion and don’t apply too much pressure. |
Some Words on this Species: | If properly taken care of these little guys will outlive you. They are great b/c they don’t take up that must space and are relatively easy to care for. When you get one make sure it gets to a vet for a check-up. A lot of these tortoises are not native or captive bred no matter what the breeder says. They tend to come with a lot of parasites so make sure you get that taken care of. |
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