Tortoise dude!

[buck2003]

This is the Horsefield tortoise i came back with today, he's a little shy at first but he'll come out of his shell lmao ( I couldnt resist)

[hisba]

very cute, so yellow! How big is he? Looks like a lil' fellow!

[buck2003]

yeah I liked him cause his shells lighter than normal! I guess he's about 5" or so I'm not 100% sure tbh. He's a speedy lil fella though, I put him down for 2 secs and whoosh he was gone lol!

[Frostfairy3]

Good morning -- I have two Russians (Horsfield's) and for about two weeks after I brought them home, they did not eat. Now they eat like mad. I was feeding them tomatoes until I FINALLY realized this was not correct and am now giving them soaked Mansouri, red lettuce, romaine, parsley, grated carrots, cucumber, watercress. Of course, not everthing mentioned at the same time. I understand variety is important. I am not experienced with Russians and would appreciate any advice. P.S. Mine are not as yellow as yours.

[buck2003]

Anything I lean here is for everyone to share! so that we can all learn together as one big happy family!
This lil guy will eat his lettuce ok but thats all he seems to want to eat really. I'm gonna go find some dandylion leafs later for him.
I dont know where you are but if its the uk, you can pop to a super store like asda and buy a bag of mixed leaf veg which is handy lol. I'm dusting it with repti boost too. Also he has a Uva 30% and uvb 5% tube ( One tube lol) and of course his IR heat lamp.
He's still settling in at the mo but seems a comical lil guy, the wife and kids seem to love him already.
He's just had a paddle in luke warm water too to clean him off a bit. ( a bath and shower after his long journey )
I've read lots of care sheets on them but I like to hear about other peoples first hand experience! So any tips or info share! PS post some pics...We love pics!
PPS Welcome to RTB

	Ultra Violet Radiation B Ultra Violet Radiation B

[Bartman]

Nice! I was asking to see a pic on your gecko thread

I have a big female, but yours has a nice amount of yellow, or lack of black. Nice looking speciman.

I wouldnt house it on newspaper though. Keep it on a mix of coconut fibre and sand. About 1 to 3 parts, coco fibre to sand. Give them as deep of a substrate as you can. They really love to burrow so you need to let them be able to try at least. As well, to help them feel as if they are burrowed is to throw in a bunch of hay on one end. This will let them dig under the hay. You can also throw some cork bark so they can dig under.

Feed them dandelion, endive, and escarole as much as you can. Try and stay away from any lettus really as most are basically just water. Don't use fruits to much, but occasionally strawberries and I find they love banannas.

Heres a picture of mine and her tank.

[Bartman]

Oh and ive changed the tank a bit. Put a big flat piece of cork bark where the hay is and not as much cocofibre now.

[buck2003]

NIce pics there! I tried getting some good ones but my cameras rubbish.
He was only on news paper the 1st night, as the other substrate which the viv was set up with was no good.
He's now on a wood chip stuff. He likes to burrow in it. Heres a pic of him.
Sadly here in the UK I havent seen any coconut substrate or other such stuff so I/we have to make do with whats available.
Still he seems happy

[leerankin]

thats one nice tortoise buck ,hope it continues doing well for you
Lee

[buck2003]

Thanks lee, I'm sure he will.

[Bartman]

You can also use potting soil.

You should check out, www.russiantortoise.org

[buck2003]

Thanks for the Link, I'd already stumbled across that site and bookmarked it (added to favourites) cause I liked it. Thanks for the thought though!