Russian Tortoise exercise question Please help!?

Hello :)

I have a Russian. He is a male and is very healthy. We have him on a very good diet consisting of Mexican cactus, butternut squash, kale, collard greens, envide, and radicchio. On occasion he gets papaya and strawberries.

He is a happy little dude from what I can see. During the winter (now) he does not get much exercise. We have an outside pen for him in the summer (basically the whole yard which is big). In the winter he has an indoor pen.

Vets instructions were that he does not need to hibernate if we keep him at 65F at night which we do. I take him out of the pen and he walks, eats, basks, but I am not sure if he is getting enough exercise.

During the summer he stays out until dusk. Then we bring him in.

Also what I can do to make him safe during the summer. The neighbor has roaming cats!
Thanks in advance!

2014-03-01T16:56:22Z

Vick Tisshus, thank you for your answer and concern. I am only following the instructions his personal vet gave me. The stable foods are dandelion leaves, endive, escarole, opuntia cactus, mustard greens, turnip greens, collard greens, papaya, watercress.

Foods that compliment the main diet are sweet potato, carrots, mango, butternut squash, kale,
strawberries, beet greens, blackberries, yellow squash.

The vet is highly qualified obviously and she was the one to give me this list of foods to feed him. I feed kale and strawberries one or twice every two weeks or so. Those are not staple foods.

I am no sure why the information is so controversial. I just want to give him a good home.

2014-03-01T17:01:39Z

How can my turtle hibernate? How do we prepare him for hibernation. Should I take him to the vet before hibernation. I took him last summer and everything was OK.

Thanks again for the links will check them out!
I will reduce the intake of kale and collards as both of you agree on that. I will start to research more about hibernation. According to the vet as long as the temp is 65F he does not need to hibernate. Why would she tell me this?

Ernie, thanks the pen is bigger than the one you describe. Thanks for the link I will take a look.

?2014-03-01T09:11:01Z

Favorite Answer

Get rid of the fruit in it's diet (it causes all kinds of GI tract issues for Russian's that can take a while to show up) and reduce the amount of Kale and Collards as they are high in oxallic acid.

Add more fiber by putting Kaytee timothy hay in his pen.

Hibernation is important to the overall health of these guys and not difficult to do as long as yours is in good health.

Lastly, a long as you have a 3 foot by 6 foot indoor pen for when it's not outside, he'll be fine.

That's the size of the indoor pens I've had for my Russian's for over 13 years and they work great and give them plenty of space to move around.

As for outdoor pens, here's a link to what one of mine looks like and you won't have to worry about any critters getting at them.

http://pinterest.com/pin/563512972095017619/

Good luck

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Anonymous2014-03-01T02:26:53Z

This diet is wrong. Tortoises should not be fed with root vegetables, squash or anything of the sort. Kale is high in oxalic acid which prevents the absorption of vital calcium. The same goes for cabbage, broccoli, sprouts, spinach etc. Fruit should be given ONLY as the occasional treat. Say one small strawberry once every other week.

The diet should consist of dandelion, sow thistle, hedge mustard, hawksbeard, chickweed, bindweed, common mallow, chicory etc. Go to www.tortoisetrust.org

The Horsfield (Russian) Tortoise is a hibernating species and thus should be hibernated. There is gathering evidence that hibernation is not just beneficial, but may be essential.

You should also visit www.tortoise-protection-group.org.uk

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