Thinking about getting a Tortoise. Any tips?

Russian Tortoises are by far the very choice it tortoises. They are farely simple to take care of too.

Russian Tortoises...

First of all if you get one you can keep it in a rubbermaid tub thats like less then 10 bucks at Target. if you get more then one you need to increase the space, however building an outdoor pen is by far the best way to keep a tortoise, however if your like me and live in a place where its cold 8 months out of the year it might be easier to have them live inside. Mine live in a 4' by 8' "tortoise table" me and my dad made

FOOD - pretty much any kind of vegtible that is totally orgaic, most store brought organic veggies are good, NEVER fruits or anything else. they love clovers and mine REALLY live dandelions, leaves and flowers you can get from your backyard.

SUBSTRATE - in pet stores they sell this stuff called bed a beast, even if its not called that ask for it and they will know what your talking about it. It comes in a brick and is really hard but when you soak it in water it expands, put some with water in a bucket and after a while take it out, squeeze the water out and put it in there cage. your pen (if indoors, outside you dont need anything but grass and or dirt) should be 50/50 play sand and bed a beast.

WATER - though they dont drink much keep some water availible at all times, Soak them in luke warm water, not to high cause they cant swim about mid shell height, about every day to a week.

HEAT/LIGHTING - They need UVB and UVA light, I have multiple lights to provide this. They need a warm and cold side, cold side should be around 70, warm side around 80 with a basking spot of 90-95. put water on cooler side.

These tortoise can get very friendly and do become attached in a way to their owners. When mine see me, and arn't sleeping or sleepy, they usually walk right up to me, let me rub their neck and stuff. They are a great pet. I think if you got one you wouldn't regret it.

There is also Red and Yellow footed tortoises, in my mind they look cooler but Russians have for personality and in my opinion friendlier.

Good luck on your decision and I advice you to take a look at this website below to see pics of RTs and get even more information.

Also, sorry I forgot to add this, NEVER keep russians or any tortoise in a glass aquirium, they get confused by glass and sometimes try to walk through it. It is dangerous to them.

Also... My little sister is 8, about same age as your daughter and she LOVES the tortoises, she likes to feed them, hold them, and watch them. She likes them so much she is even willing to help me clean out the cage, which since my tortoise table is sooo big it can be alot of work. I am even thinking of getting her another female RT to live with mine in my cage for christmas.

Research on the type of tortoise. Sulcatas are expensive and live a long life and grow quite large. You do not want them to grow too quickly however. A russian is less expensive and usually very easy to care for. Don't think this is an easy pet, they still require fresh food and water dailey, which may include a variety of vegatbles (chopping) How old is your daughter? Most kids get bored with them after the inital excitement. They also require warmth and excerise and daylight simalar to their origins.

If you get one, get a russian tortoise from a reputable source.

They really aren't as easy to care for as you would think. They need a lot of space, and do best in secure outdoor pens rather than a tank in the house. They don't really play or show affection. They need to be fed a variety of leafy greens and other veggies every day; there's no "Tortoise Chow" to feed them (or at least none that is good for them).

I have two sulcata tortoises, and I would tell you to DEFINATELY stay away from that type. They get huge and are very destructive. My sulcata is 5 years old, 53 pounds, and has caused several hundred dollars worth of damage to my property (Digging huge holes, snapping pipes by trying to walk through them, breaking fences). Sulcatas get huge (over 150 pounds) and are only appropriate if you have a lot of land.

Grass and hay is a physically powerful staple weight-alleviation plan, far greater acceptable than advertisement diets. you additionally can supply him kale, collards eco-friendly, dandelion vegetables, squash, and, as you suggested, pumpkins. you are able to feed him some end result too like apples or bananas, yet do not bypass overboard on those as he shouldn't get too lots sugar. we don't use supplementations with the aid of fact our adult men look high quality devoid of it. notice: broccoli, mustard vegetables are good, organic components of calcium. you need to use cypress mulch or hay as a substrate. you will bypass with the aid of countless it nonetheless. whilst the sulculta's small you need to use aspen bedding, yet this incredibly isn't financially useful whilst they get larger. additionally, determine it would not consume the bedding. maximum critically, they could stay to be seventy years old and weigh over 2 hundred pounds. So with acceptable care it is going to in all probability outlive you. additionally, it is going to soak up a ton and area and it can not be clutter field knowledgeable. subsequently, you will finally end up sacrificing an entire room on your tortoise and paying to mild that room with UV lighting fixtures and warmth it to eighty 5 tiers. even nonetheless in the summer you are able to construct an outdoors pen for them.

yeh they are very easy but very boring ive got 2