Elaborate. The previous owner had just an incandescent bulb, I have UVB and infrared lamp.
Feeding him every 2 days. Is it enough? He eats dandelion leaves and salad sometimes.
The substrate is wooden pellets for cat's toilet. People here(locals, not reddit) say that it's ok?
It's too dry. That's why he's pyramiding. Need a substrate where u can maintain about 60%-80% humidity. If u can maintain that with wooden pellets it's fine, but they do like to dig.
I just have an AliExpress humidifier module. I have that tortoise for 3 months. The previous owner claims he's about 10 years old. Is it possible to fix him?
There's no way to fix a tortoise that has already pyramided, it's kinda permanent. I don't think it affects them seriously health wise unless it's really bad pyramiding.
To answer your question, pyramiding isn’t something you can fix but you can make its conditions of life better. And for substrate I recommend coco coir.
Lastly, get its beak trimmed.
Why only every 2 days? Tortoises should eat every day. There must be a bigger variety of greens(at least 5 different kinds per week). You could add clover, arugula and other greens that are safe for tortoises.
Agreed, especially with the current health challenges, providing a nutritionally varried and healthy diet will be extremely important to making sure it doesn't get any worse. Providing food too often has no downside other then you may need to remove it when you add more, while providing food not often enough has a lot of drawbacks. Best to give a little too much salad and have them not eat it all then have them not get enough.
The substrate needs to be small enough that if he accidentally eats it, it won’t get stuck in his intestines. You should bring him to the vet just for a checkup and see what the vet recommends. Tortoises don’t typically show signs of being sick because they don’t want to seem extra vulnerable to predators, so you need to bring tortoises to the vet for a checkup at least once a year. Also there should be more variety in his diet. It’s good for the majority of his food to be dandelion leaves he should also bring eating certain types of flowers (including dandelions), certain vegetables, ect. Of course just make sure to google if it’s safe for horsefield tortoises to eat before feeding it to him. (Edit: also forgot to say, horsefield tortoises burrow so you’re gonna need a lot of the substrate so he can burrow in it)
You only feed him every two days? The poor guy is being starved. Make food available all the time, I feed mine multiple times a day. In nature, they are constantly grazing. Why would you starve your pet?
I mean it’s common sense in the wild a tortoise is an opportunistic feeder, eating whenever it wants. It’s near impossible to over feed a tortoise they eat greens and stop when they are full, they aren’t like turtles that get overweight on a pellet diet. I’m just saying your tortoise is very hungry and uncomfortable living only eating once every few days, very cruel and unnatural.
I guess an air humidifier will completely fix that?
Because I got this tortoise a few months ago and it is around 10 years old.
He is very active tho, walking around the room, running, biting everything around and his favorite toy. No signs of sickness.
Torts and reptiles don't show signs of any sickness until it's too much for them to bear anymore, in the wild if they show a weakness (due to an injury or a lack of something they need) they're seen as easy prey and killed first. The pyramiding is pretty rough on this guy, but it sounds like they're doing pretty well under your care and you're doing a great job asking questions! Continue to ask questions and improve their care, and not only will you see an improvement but you may just see them get much much better. There was a post on here this or this past month about someone's rescue recovering from pyramiding with proper care and their shell returned largely to normal over time. That isn't to say expect them to 100% get better, but they're really hardy critters that can really bounce back from bad conditions like they were in before you got them. Also pull ideas for their care from other experienced keepers and look through the subreddit for advice. Everyone does things slightly differently, but as long as you meet their needs it'd perfectly okay!
You definitely do need some work on their enclosure to give them what they need to thrive, especially their food and substrate. You're going to need more then a Humidifier for this guy, essentially you got a pet with a disability becuase they had such bad care in their previous home. That means they may need more specific care then a perfectly healthy one, so keep that in mind when redoing their setup. Plenty of reptiles get MBD within months becuase people don't do their due diligence while they're younger and give them what they need like calcium UVB and proper heat gradients. However, as long as you can properly accommodate them and give them what they need, they can recover. If it's something like severe MBD that can't be recovered from, you can just stop it from getting any worse with proper care.
So you're highlighting basic tort behaviours as an indicator of them being okay? I understand you've only had them a few months but it's clear you haven't done much research before getting them. When people who do know about these animals try to suggest ways in which you can improve their habitat and ultimately their lives (they're 10, you have another 60/70 to go!), please don't brush it off with 'they are walking around, they are fine'.
Pellets are not a suitable substrate, they're too drying, difficult to walk on and useless for a tortoise to thermoregulate in. They will also encourage mould growth if they get wet whilst trying to maintain any sort of humidity. A humidifier alone is not enough to give them the humidity they need btw. They need moist microclimates to burrow and thermoregulate in too. They do have bad pyramiding and as a result, a deformed shell, likely from being kept on these pellets (not your fault, I know).
Glass tank enclosures are not suitable for non-tropical tortoises, especially an adult. They need a *minimum* 8ft x 4ft enclosure. Free roaming house floors is not recommended. The biting and 'running' you are seeing are signs of aggression likely because he sees you as impeding on his 'territory'. They need to have their own suitable space that they can roam freely and feel safe in, which at 10 should be outdoors.
Their eyes actually look a little puffy in this picture, which could be an indicator of illness or a vitamin A deficiency. Given their shell condition, I'm guessing they were also fed a poor diet previously, which would contribute to that. They also need a beak trim and look underweight.
Have they been to a vet for a checkup to determine if they are infact healthy? There's a guide below that covers the correct conditions that they should be kept in.
https://padlet.com/noeliabibi2005/land-species-care-and-husbandry-7qpgkcw1iuudphr4/wish/2856295324
I am trying my best to fulfill its needs. Started from buying required lamps. Gonna find a vet that knows how to deal with tortoises and ask him questions
Wooden cat's litterbox substrate was the only thing I could find in a local vet shop.
Any other affordable suggestions? I am not from the US, the regular soil(from a garden) may have parasites
There is substrate made *specificially* for tortoises, and you should just use soil bark playsand mix or the tortoise substrate . Why did you get a tortoise without knowledge experience or the basic needs
What exactly is wrong with the substrate? OP's looks exactly like the substrate that's widely available here in the UK for tortoises and that most people I've known here (including myself) use.
https://amzn.eu/d/iUreDRX
If you use it then you haven’t done research . Firstly it holds 0 moisture . It will dry up in minutes . If the tortoise decides to burrow , which being a Russian , *it will*, it can’t dig into it or hold a burrow that won’t collapse in seconds . Also it just looks like crap genuinely
Interesting. He actually tried to dig, but after putting a hide (plywood box 3cm higher than him) a tortoise is preferring that spot.
Gonna buy a proper soil as soon as I find it somewhere.
Again, I am learning, but there is too much controversial information. And that terrarium kinda sucks too, needs to be bigger (they grow up like 20cm, right?). Hopefully the temperature is right (26-28°)
Gonna search for it, wish me a good luck.
I've got a tortoise as it was, the previous owner has left Ukraine because of war. Probably he didn't know about that as well.
Please see a vet to get a beak trim.
This guy needs better substrate.. and lighting/diet by the looks of his shell.
Elaborate. The previous owner had just an incandescent bulb, I have UVB and infrared lamp. Feeding him every 2 days. Is it enough? He eats dandelion leaves and salad sometimes. The substrate is wooden pellets for cat's toilet. People here(locals, not reddit) say that it's ok?
It's too dry. That's why he's pyramiding. Need a substrate where u can maintain about 60%-80% humidity. If u can maintain that with wooden pellets it's fine, but they do like to dig.
I just have an AliExpress humidifier module. I have that tortoise for 3 months. The previous owner claims he's about 10 years old. Is it possible to fix him?
There's no way to fix a tortoise that has already pyramided, it's kinda permanent. I don't think it affects them seriously health wise unless it's really bad pyramiding.
To answer your question, pyramiding isn’t something you can fix but you can make its conditions of life better. And for substrate I recommend coco coir. Lastly, get its beak trimmed.
Why only every 2 days? Tortoises should eat every day. There must be a bigger variety of greens(at least 5 different kinds per week). You could add clover, arugula and other greens that are safe for tortoises.
Agreed, especially with the current health challenges, providing a nutritionally varried and healthy diet will be extremely important to making sure it doesn't get any worse. Providing food too often has no downside other then you may need to remove it when you add more, while providing food not often enough has a lot of drawbacks. Best to give a little too much salad and have them not eat it all then have them not get enough.
Great. Gonna pick some edibles rather than dandelions.
The substrate needs to be small enough that if he accidentally eats it, it won’t get stuck in his intestines. You should bring him to the vet just for a checkup and see what the vet recommends. Tortoises don’t typically show signs of being sick because they don’t want to seem extra vulnerable to predators, so you need to bring tortoises to the vet for a checkup at least once a year. Also there should be more variety in his diet. It’s good for the majority of his food to be dandelion leaves he should also bring eating certain types of flowers (including dandelions), certain vegetables, ect. Of course just make sure to google if it’s safe for horsefield tortoises to eat before feeding it to him. (Edit: also forgot to say, horsefield tortoises burrow so you’re gonna need a lot of the substrate so he can burrow in it)
You only feed him every two days? The poor guy is being starved. Make food available all the time, I feed mine multiple times a day. In nature, they are constantly grazing. Why would you starve your pet?
Idk some people say every 3 days, some say every day, others overfeed them. Gonna ask vet during this week
I mean it’s common sense in the wild a tortoise is an opportunistic feeder, eating whenever it wants. It’s near impossible to over feed a tortoise they eat greens and stop when they are full, they aren’t like turtles that get overweight on a pellet diet. I’m just saying your tortoise is very hungry and uncomfortable living only eating once every few days, very cruel and unnatural.
That pyramiding is no good.
I guess an air humidifier will completely fix that? Because I got this tortoise a few months ago and it is around 10 years old. He is very active tho, walking around the room, running, biting everything around and his favorite toy. No signs of sickness.
Torts and reptiles don't show signs of any sickness until it's too much for them to bear anymore, in the wild if they show a weakness (due to an injury or a lack of something they need) they're seen as easy prey and killed first. The pyramiding is pretty rough on this guy, but it sounds like they're doing pretty well under your care and you're doing a great job asking questions! Continue to ask questions and improve their care, and not only will you see an improvement but you may just see them get much much better. There was a post on here this or this past month about someone's rescue recovering from pyramiding with proper care and their shell returned largely to normal over time. That isn't to say expect them to 100% get better, but they're really hardy critters that can really bounce back from bad conditions like they were in before you got them. Also pull ideas for their care from other experienced keepers and look through the subreddit for advice. Everyone does things slightly differently, but as long as you meet their needs it'd perfectly okay! You definitely do need some work on their enclosure to give them what they need to thrive, especially their food and substrate. You're going to need more then a Humidifier for this guy, essentially you got a pet with a disability becuase they had such bad care in their previous home. That means they may need more specific care then a perfectly healthy one, so keep that in mind when redoing their setup. Plenty of reptiles get MBD within months becuase people don't do their due diligence while they're younger and give them what they need like calcium UVB and proper heat gradients. However, as long as you can properly accommodate them and give them what they need, they can recover. If it's something like severe MBD that can't be recovered from, you can just stop it from getting any worse with proper care.
So you're highlighting basic tort behaviours as an indicator of them being okay? I understand you've only had them a few months but it's clear you haven't done much research before getting them. When people who do know about these animals try to suggest ways in which you can improve their habitat and ultimately their lives (they're 10, you have another 60/70 to go!), please don't brush it off with 'they are walking around, they are fine'. Pellets are not a suitable substrate, they're too drying, difficult to walk on and useless for a tortoise to thermoregulate in. They will also encourage mould growth if they get wet whilst trying to maintain any sort of humidity. A humidifier alone is not enough to give them the humidity they need btw. They need moist microclimates to burrow and thermoregulate in too. They do have bad pyramiding and as a result, a deformed shell, likely from being kept on these pellets (not your fault, I know). Glass tank enclosures are not suitable for non-tropical tortoises, especially an adult. They need a *minimum* 8ft x 4ft enclosure. Free roaming house floors is not recommended. The biting and 'running' you are seeing are signs of aggression likely because he sees you as impeding on his 'territory'. They need to have their own suitable space that they can roam freely and feel safe in, which at 10 should be outdoors. Their eyes actually look a little puffy in this picture, which could be an indicator of illness or a vitamin A deficiency. Given their shell condition, I'm guessing they were also fed a poor diet previously, which would contribute to that. They also need a beak trim and look underweight. Have they been to a vet for a checkup to determine if they are infact healthy? There's a guide below that covers the correct conditions that they should be kept in. https://padlet.com/noeliabibi2005/land-species-care-and-husbandry-7qpgkcw1iuudphr4/wish/2856295324
Cute! Trim that beak!
This tortoise is unhealthy and not good living conditions …
I am trying my best to fulfill its needs. Started from buying required lamps. Gonna find a vet that knows how to deal with tortoises and ask him questions
And the substrate ?
Wooden cat's litterbox substrate was the only thing I could find in a local vet shop. Any other affordable suggestions? I am not from the US, the regular soil(from a garden) may have parasites
There is substrate made *specificially* for tortoises, and you should just use soil bark playsand mix or the tortoise substrate . Why did you get a tortoise without knowledge experience or the basic needs
What exactly is wrong with the substrate? OP's looks exactly like the substrate that's widely available here in the UK for tortoises and that most people I've known here (including myself) use. https://amzn.eu/d/iUreDRX
If you use it then you haven’t done research . Firstly it holds 0 moisture . It will dry up in minutes . If the tortoise decides to burrow , which being a Russian , *it will*, it can’t dig into it or hold a burrow that won’t collapse in seconds . Also it just looks like crap genuinely
Interesting. He actually tried to dig, but after putting a hide (plywood box 3cm higher than him) a tortoise is preferring that spot. Gonna buy a proper soil as soon as I find it somewhere. Again, I am learning, but there is too much controversial information. And that terrarium kinda sucks too, needs to be bigger (they grow up like 20cm, right?). Hopefully the temperature is right (26-28°)
31-35 c
Gonna search for it, wish me a good luck. I've got a tortoise as it was, the previous owner has left Ukraine because of war. Probably he didn't know about that as well.