All Turtles Message Board

cherbear · Level 2 Joined: 04 Dec 2005 Posts: 26

Hi I just bought a russian tortoise at petsmart Thur. evening. I'm starting to get worried about him because he has not ate anything yet. He's not moving around as he was when we got him. I've never had a land turtle before and I don't know if I'm doing something wrong or if he is just stressed. At the pet store he was in a ten gal tank with a female. I have him in a 20 gal long tank and I think he has everything that he had there. The only thing that is different is that their tank was very high humitity. I don't know how they did that. The day I got him they said he loves tomatos and just ate some. I have offered him tomatos, romaine lettuce, and today bananas. He eats nothing. He also holds his mouth open for no reason. I've had 2 res for a year now with no problems. I also have the same basking light that I use for res on one side of the tank. Any advise would be greatly appretiated. I'll probably have more questions. Thanks so much Confused

cherbear · Level 2 Joined: 04 Dec 2005 Posts: 26

I'm not sure but I think he's dead. If he's not then he's so weak he's just not moving. But it's not looking too good. I can't understand how he can go from healthy at the pet store to dead in 48 hours. I don't know what I did wrong.

turtbert · Level 3 Joined: 14 Jan 2006 Posts: 272

thats such a shame Sad

They had him in totally the wrong conditions though. Russian tortoises don't like too much humidity and should no be kept in glass tanks most people keeping them indoors use wooden tortoise tables. They should also not really be fed lettuce, tomatoes or fruit (treats only), rather their diet should be comprised of weeds.

I hope these links help
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/cheloniauk/KeepingRussianTortoisesintheUK.doc
http://www.chelonia.org/Articles/russiantortoises.htm

cherbear · Level 2 Joined: 04 Dec 2005 Posts: 26

Yea he definitly died. I took him back to petsmart today and they exchanged him for the female that was still there. They were pretty nice about it. They sold me a little heat pad that sticks to the side in case my tank was too cold, and I got a higher wattage basking light(75 watt). I agree with you about the humity but they said the substrate should be moist. They seemed to do great at the store. There was water on their glass. That's the one thing I still not sure about. Well so far this one is doing very well. It's been eating and had a bowel movement. Something the other one never did while here. Thanks for the info. I'll probably have more questions.

turtbert · Level 3 Joined: 14 Jan 2006 Posts: 272

I really would follow the advice in the links though and not listen to what they say in the store, dampness can kill russians

cherbear · Level 2 Joined: 04 Dec 2005 Posts: 26

Thanks I think I'll follow your advise.

sunny41 · Posted: Tue Aug 15, 2006 8:29 pm Post subject:

in general petstore dotn know nothing some are speicalist but you have to find them from vendors or reptile store or a reptiles show and also meet vendors who are selling reptiles and showing or most better to find is a russian tort breeder.breeders are experts.
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cherbear · Level 2 Joined: 04 Dec 2005 Posts: 26

Yea It seems like they're just guessing about stuff. The female I got is doing really well. I've been taking her out in the yard for excersise and boy can she go far. She's been eating just about everything I give her and although she has a shallow bowl of water I never have seen her get in it or drink from it. Does she get enough water from her food?

sunny41 · Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2006 8:15 pm Post subject:

i know how much room they need.they need 4ft by ft of room.yes they can get big.they dont grow only 4-5 inches they grow up to 4-10 inches.they need 40% of humidity.that all i know.heer go to www.austinsturtlepage.com and go on care sheet and on the bootom they ahve box turtles care sheet and tort care sheet.
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cherbear · Level 2 Joined: 04 Dec 2005 Posts: 26

Thanks

turtbert · Level 3 Joined: 14 Jan 2006 Posts: 272

don't forget that the listed humidity is less than 40% not 40% otherwise you might end up with a poorly turtle Wink

Though basically if they're kept in an open top enclosure the humidity will be fine!

Also need a temperature gradient from high under the basking spot to normal room temp away from it if indoors, and a shady area to get out of the sun if outside. Russians love to be outside if you can provide a little enclosure. Rabbit runs are good for small tortoises or indoor pet cages with wire tops

jacey · Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2006 4:51 pm Post subject: Im sorry.......

I have had enough of petsmart, and petco, I have seen,reported, and cried at the conditions these poor turtles are in while under the care of these places. Before I became employed where I am now, I applied at petsmart, Not just for the job, but for a way to hopefully make things better for these beutiful babies. They ended up giving the job to a 16 year old, that knew NOTHING about reptiles, or turrtles.. or anything for that matter, I know, I went to petsmart the other day, They are selling Russian Turtles. And they are in glass tanks, HIGH HIGH Humidity, and they look just plain SICK. I strongly urge everyone to be an advocate for these creatures, PLEASE! Report the abuse!! SCREAM, YELL!!!!! They are worth it!! These pet stores only look at cash, and hire incompentents!!!

I am tired of watching them die in these stores

Thank you everyone...

JDB
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turtle_grl77 · Level 4 Joined: 18 Nov 2005 Posts: 985 Location: Florida

[quote="jacey"]I I strongly urge everyone to be an advocate for these creatures, PLEASE! Report the abuse!! SCREAM, YELL!!!!! They are worth it!! [/quote]

I have said something to the pet stores. It came over me one day when I saw not 1 but 2 dead baby turtkes at this one store. And there was another who a tortise was upside down in the tank and the guy said something about he was trying to get into the water dish. Thanks goodness he was still alive!

sunny41 · Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2006 10:46 pm Post subject:

me too i have enoguh of those companys pet stores.i dont like pet smart care sheet and info on fishes.they lied about how big they get.and i dont know about a koi need 20 gal.but i seen russsian tort in pet smart a lot now seems like they dont sell RES nomore.i felt like buying a russain tort but i dont know nothign about then well some information i know and some i dont understand and i have no room though.i herd some pet co has bad fish department.and shame on pet smart cuz they hire a person who know nothing.they should hire only the people that know s or at least a expert.gosh im goign to run a pet store bissnese but a smal bissnese in a large store(i do need ot of room for stuff and lot of room for animals)and im only hireing at least person that is well knellege ofr an expert and divede them into two so two employese will be in charge of the reptile section and 2 other will do the fish sectons and so one.and make price CHEAP and make season sales to make it more cheap.and give out the real care sheets for each aniamls.plus they get free book so they can read about the aninal they purchease so they can know more about them and what to do and what not to do and i will give out advise what to do.(when i get more smarter)
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jacey · Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2006 9:19 pm Post subject: They need..

Employees that have background experience in handling these creatures, and some one who can come in on a regular basis and check up on them. OR they should STOP SELLING THEM.

JDB
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hoover05 · Level 3 Joined: 26 Oct 2005 Posts: 137

Guess I'm a little late on this but...

Let me just say in the defense of the Pet Co that I went to, they had an EXTREMELY nice RES setup, possibly the nicest I've seen (especially in a petstore! LOL)!

We didn't like the way the setup looked in Pet Smart. So we decided to look over at Pet Co. Boy am I glad we did. They had a lot of RES turtles to choose from, all looked perfectly healthy and happy. A large swimming area with probably 1' of water if not more and a large basking area that was easily accessible to the turtles. All of the turtles they had were probably no smaller than 4-5" and definitely no bigger than 6". They really seemed to know what they were doing, or at least the person making the setup did Laughing

My turtle is still happy and healthy. I know that SOME pet stores are bad, but not all of them are!

Now, as for a petstore in a mall from here... I've been in there a few times. They've had quite a few different RES turtles since then. Every time I've been disappointed from their setup. It hasn't changed at all though, so it's not surprising. It's a 10 gallon tank with rocks in for the basking area, and only enough water for the turtle to sit in. One time, the one turtle was in the water, and the other turtle was on top of it trying to get in the water! I've only seen them have 2 turtles in it once though.

The turtles there never look happy. I think next time I go in there I'm going to say something. I know the kid that works there has admitted that he doesn't know much about turtles (we go in there a lot to look around, and to buy my turtle food, etc).

Maybe I will just be like "Can you do me a favor? Will you add some more water to that turtle tank? They need to be able to swim some, and even if they're only here for a short time, it makes it seem like that's what their environment should be like to the customers."

Or something like that. Very Happy

The kid is really nice. I call him a kid but he is older than me... probably early 20's. He seems to know a lot about fish though, and seems to actually care about the animals so don't curse him to much! LOL
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sunny41 · Posted: Sat Sep 09, 2006 2:44 am Post subject:

hmm....i never like pet co or pet smart.pet smart allways put VERY low water.and right now somewhere faraway frokm my area their is a pet co their and they wheer sellign res in a 50 gall on tanl(the set up is ok it had lot of water in their itwas deep and the gravel i was dissapinted the gravel was smaller then the turtle head butt heir was no turtle in their though)but anyway since it a 50 gal tank in pet co they siad they will ONLY put 1 res at a time.9thet means that when 1 res is sold they put another one in their and so on and so on)ussally i just buy food and product and crickets and fishes at pet smart or pet co.mainly i will buy reptiles in retail store.then rather then pet smart or pet co...
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Jericho199 · Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2006 8:33 pm Post subject:

I work at Petco.

turtbert · Level 3 Joined: 14 Jan 2006 Posts: 272

tenacious donna · Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2006 12:24 pm Post subject: wow

wow...since i got my RES's I have been looking in petco, petsmart, pet supermarkets here and I have yet to see any kind of set ups or selling of RES's....Myself, i purchased mine threw a family owned pet shop, not a chain! I wonder if down here in florida the petco's,petsmarts,etc will be getting RES's !

Idea

tenacious donna

turtle_grl77 · Level 4 Joined: 18 Nov 2005 Posts: 985 Location: Florida

The ones in my area do.

tenacious donna · Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2006 6:41 pm Post subject:

Where are u in fl? I am close to Hollywood

Eleanor Smith · Level 2 Joined: 16 Sep 2006 Posts: 45 Location: NJ

turtle_grl77 · Level 4 Joined: 18 Nov 2005 Posts: 985 Location: Florida

about 20-30 min north of cocoa beach

tenacious donna · Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 4:25 pm Post subject:

thats odd that they dont sell them down here in so fla...strange

tenacious donna Confused

sunny41 · Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 11:30 pm Post subject:

wow you work ayt pet co then u most know about the breed that pet co selling.but now im kind asuprize that the employese at pet smart are kinda well aboiut the repiles but they still dont give more information in the paper.now im made an new rules for me im buying reptiles in reptile show sicnce they are healthy plus i might buy reptiles at pet co or pet smart but not fishes.ussallly when i buy fishes at pet co or pet smart they ussally die in a week or less then a week.it get me mad though but it a good they had those garente thingy.
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