Horsfield Tortoise Care
February 1st 2010 16:43
Horsfield Tortoises are more commonly known as Russian Tortoises. I personally have two of these buggers and love them to death! If I had the space, I wouldn't mind a few more.
Russian Tortoises are one of the smaller species of pet tortoises, which makes them more popular as pets. But, just because they're a little smaller, ranging from about 6" to 10" as an adult length, that doesn't mean that they can live happily and healthily in a small aquarium.
These guys to best in a minimum of a 50 gallon rubbermaid storage tote. If you can find bigger, GET IT! I'd also highly suggest an outdoor enclosure as well. The inside enclosures are great when the weather is bad, but all tortoises are happier when they're able to go outside and get real sun rays. Plus, being outside allows them to exercise and graze like tortoises are meant to do.
When inside, you want to try to keep the tortoises, enclosure around 95 on the hot side where the basking area is. The best way to provide this temperature is via a UV/heat emitting bulb. During cooler weather months, you may have to add a ceramic heat emitter in addition to the UV bulb.
I prefer using the T-Rex Active bulbs.
The diet is pretty simple. No vegetables and no fruits. You want a diet of leafy greens, weeds, and flowers. There are some that are safe and others that you want to avoid. The easiest base diet for a Russian Tortoise is going to be a bag of Spring Mix from the grocery store, which contains about 4 or 5 different greens. Just make sure that you offer a cuttlebone for calcium, and TNT from carolinapetsupply.com for added nutrients.
The TNT is great but should only be supplemented once or twice a week. It is made of dried and ground weeds and grasses so that the tortoise doesn't miss out on those nutrients.
Horsefield tortoises are usually pretty calm and docile. You may get some interaction, but you'll find when you ignore them, they'll try more to get your attention. You will also find that they will pay you more attention when you have food.
When inside, my Horsfield tortoises are near the refrigerator that has their greens. They know when I open it, it's dinner time. They both come running, and if you've never seen a tortoise run, it's pretty funny. They're much faster than you think. But, in most cases, one of mine tortoises will hang in the food bowl when he knows it's about time to eat, whereas the other is a little more patient and will wait till the fridge door is open.
Russian Tortoises are one of the smaller species of pet tortoises, which makes them more popular as pets. But, just because they're a little smaller, ranging from about 6" to 10" as an adult length, that doesn't mean that they can live happily and healthily in a small aquarium.
These guys to best in a minimum of a 50 gallon rubbermaid storage tote. If you can find bigger, GET IT! I'd also highly suggest an outdoor enclosure as well. The inside enclosures are great when the weather is bad, but all tortoises are happier when they're able to go outside and get real sun rays. Plus, being outside allows them to exercise and graze like tortoises are meant to do.
When inside, you want to try to keep the tortoises, enclosure around 95 on the hot side where the basking area is. The best way to provide this temperature is via a UV/heat emitting bulb. During cooler weather months, you may have to add a ceramic heat emitter in addition to the UV bulb.
I prefer using the T-Rex Active bulbs.
The diet is pretty simple. No vegetables and no fruits. You want a diet of leafy greens, weeds, and flowers. There are some that are safe and others that you want to avoid. The easiest base diet for a Russian Tortoise is going to be a bag of Spring Mix from the grocery store, which contains about 4 or 5 different greens. Just make sure that you offer a cuttlebone for calcium, and TNT from carolinapetsupply.com for added nutrients.
The TNT is great but should only be supplemented once or twice a week. It is made of dried and ground weeds and grasses so that the tortoise doesn't miss out on those nutrients.
Horsefield tortoises are usually pretty calm and docile. You may get some interaction, but you'll find when you ignore them, they'll try more to get your attention. You will also find that they will pay you more attention when you have food.
When inside, my Horsfield tortoises are near the refrigerator that has their greens. They know when I open it, it's dinner time. They both come running, and if you've never seen a tortoise run, it's pretty funny. They're much faster than you think. But, in most cases, one of mine tortoises will hang in the food bowl when he knows it's about time to eat, whereas the other is a little more patient and will wait till the fridge door is open.
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