I have a young one. I got him a little over a year ago and he was supposedly 8wks old when I purchased him. He is about 3-4" long. He has been growing at a steady rate, he was about the size of a silver dollar when I first got him. I feed him a spring mix with a carrot stick sprinkled in calcium poweder every other day.
Does his age sound about right?
Also should I trim his nails or are they supposed to be left long?
Thank you!
2007-03-01 06:29:35 · 5 answers · asked by tml4593 1 in Pets ➔ Reptiles
Russian tortoises generally don't grow to be over 8 inches long. I don't trim my tortoises nails because they are designed to dig with them. I do have logs and a habba hut for them to crawl on, and rocks will help keep them trimmed down. The calcium powder every other day is probably a good idea, since he is still growing...he needs plenty of calcium for shell growth.
Make sure you have a 5.0 or 10.0 UVB light, also. You don't want him to develop bone disease, so make sure he has the UVB light and sprinkle the powder and he'll be fine.
Also, too much protein will make his shell very deformed, so don't feed him meat or dog food. These foods are big no no's with Russian tortoises.
2007-03-02 07:58:26 · answer #1 · answered by sunnybabi1986 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Russians need a diet with some good fiber in it- hays and grasses along with the veggies. They also need a little fruit (about 10% of the total) and a little meat (less than about 5%). A great diet article can be found at:
http://www.petdoc.ws/TortDiet.html or
http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/basicmedfood.htm
You may want to cut back on the calcium powder- try it a couple times a week in small doses- a bare sprinkle, like salting the food. That will help with the nails as well. You can add some nice rocks to the tank for it to walk on to help wear the nails a bit.
Make sure it has a nice humid retreat- more and more, studies seem to suggest that humidity is a key element to prevent pyramiding.
2007-03-01 13:27:32 · answer #2 · answered by Madkins007 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I have a Greek Tortoise who I estimate to be five years old. He is about 7-8 inches long. I haven't really measured him. You should get a book on them if you don't already have one. What kind of terrarium do you have? I have a 40 gallon for mine. Why do you want to trim his nails?
2007-03-01 09:30:00 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Russian tort get to be about 12in full grown and yes trim their nails
2007-03-01 06:49:25 · answer #4 · answered by Brigit B 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
sounds like she might have a parasite. you will could take her to a vet and that they're going to probable do a definite therapy to get rid of them. it extremely is extremely undemanding and if it extremely is the beginning up tiers it would be extremely undemanding to handle.
2016-11-26 22:27:05 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋