SOP Care Sheet

Enclosure

Our schools Russian Tortoise lives indoors. For indoor living, a Russian Tortoise needs to have sufficient space. Our lives in a horse's water trough. On the floor of the trough you should layer it with a thin layer of newspaper and after that you should put a thin layer of Reptibark (1inch or 2.5cms deep). Most reptiles and turtles/tortoises need a humidor box (a container filled with moistened coconut husk) to keep their shells healthy. To moisten the coconut husk follow the directions and periodically you will have to re-moisten it. For the container of the coconut husk, you can use a large Tupperware container (make sure it is deep enough for the tortoise and has room for movement) and just cut a hole big enough for your tortoise,*keep in mind the size of adults, if you have a juvenile*. For hiding (which almost all tortoises need) use a half log hideout extra large. For water and food containers, use a climb in water container and for a food dish use a low to the floor flat container.

Daily Care

Spot clean cage, and provide fresh water daily. Strip cage completely every 3 weeks.

Lighting and Temperature

Tortoises are diurnal (awake during the day) and will need a light. A PowerSun Flood Lamp 100 watt bulb will work and the bulb will need to be 12 inches or 30.5 cms away from the animal. You will also need a timer for your light because Russian Tortoises only need 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness. You will also need to create a temperature gradient, where one side of the housing unit contains heat and the other side is cooler. A temperature range should be room temperature (70 degrees F or 21 degrees C) to (100 degrees F or 38 degrees C)

SOP Feed Schedule

Feed a fruit and veggie plate three times a week. (Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays)

You can use Romaine lettuce, Carrots, Peas (Green), Corn, Red and Green leaf lettuce, Endive, Escarole, Radicchio, Chicory, Turnip Greens, Mustard Greens, Kale, Collards, Spring Mix (mixed salad greens), Hibiscus (flowers and leaves), Hosta, Sedum, Mulberry leaves, Hen and Chicks, Prickly pear flowers- fruit and pads (burn spines off), Dandelion, Mallow (flowers and leaves), Henbit, Rose (flowers and leaves...make sure no systemic pesticides were used), Chrysanthemum flowers, cornflowers Plagiobothrys ssp, Forsythia (flowers and leaves), Dayflower Commelina diffusa (flowers and leaves), Californian Poppy escholzia, Chia Salvia hipanica.

To feed, all you do is defrost (if using frozen food items), cut up to bite size (for the tortoise, not human bite size) and put on food dish. Depending on size and other factors you may have to feed more but standard for an adult Russia Tortoise is 1/2 cup all together.

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