Strictly Reptiles and Underground Reptiles are both located in Florida. States like Florida, California, Texas, and Arizona have an abundance of reptile stores because the climate and environment is more agreeable than states in the northeast, midwest, and everything in-between.
I actually had a video of me opening both of my shipments from my order from each of these companies, but then the videos got deleted because I was editing it on my phone while my toddler was crawling all over me and the touchscreen — anyway, I still wanted to write a review since a lot of the posts I see on forums in regards to reptiles are people asking what’s a legit online place to buy from.
I’ve already did a PSA to stay away from Backwater Reptiles/Wholesale Exotics because they are a drop-shipper. They have no inventory and instead act as the “middle man” by getting orders, and then sending the orders to the supplier for shipment, while getting a cut of the payment… it’s why if you have ordered from them before, your shipment most likely came from Florida somewhere.
Well, two of the suppliers that does partnerships with drop-shippers like Backwater, are Underground Reptiles and Strictly Reptiles. Both companies are legit, but of course you’re going to get unhappy customers no matter what though, so this is just my own personal experiences with both companies.
Both offer overnight shipping. Strictly Reptiles is done through FedEx, while Underground Reptiles is done through UPS. The first company I ordered from was Strictly Reptiles just for the fact that they had inventory of what I wanted right away.
I ordered Sunday night, Monday I received an email saying my order was completed (but did not receive any tracking information), so I had to call for tracking info. They do answer their phones though, so that’s always a good thing. I spent all day refreshing the tracking info on the FedEx page, and even signed up for text updates from FedEx.
I’ve always had bad anxiety, but online shopping is definitely a trigger for it, especially when not ordering from a big corporation retailer like Walmart or Amazon. Some of the bad reviews I’ve read (and replies to comments) were about people getting sick or dying reptiles; and a lot of the replies were in regards to the customer having missed deliveries.
I did relax after I saw the package info finally being updated on FedEx, instead of just being a label created (it finally updated around 5:30PM my time, which I’m guessing was when it was finally dropped off or picked up by FedEx). I did not sleep well because of my anxiety over the order. I spent $370 on my order.
I basically waited by my window the next morning for my delivery, it finally arrived around 11:30AM. I saw the FedEx truck pulling up. The box itself was not very big, and I noticed that it seemed as if they were trying to hide the fact that there were live animals in the box… which bothered me a bit. I immediately knew that some of them were at least alive because I could actually feel them moving in the box.
I took the box outside to my yard to open immediately. I didn’t have to worry about “setup” because my whole yard is basically my setup. Anyway, I had ordered tortoises. They came in these small flip-lid takeaway containers, each individually with a tortoise. The lids weren’t snapped shut, instead it was left with gap openings in each and taped closed with the open gaps. This was so that they had air to breathe. It was actually packaged surprisingly well, and there was no way for the tortoises to hurt or bump into each other. Also, there were two ice packs in the box. All the tortoises were alive.
My next order was with Underground Reptiles. I ordered on Wednesday night and they processed the order on Thursday for overnight shipping. Their customer service was a little bit better, they tell you that you will receive a tracking number in the evening. They ship via UPS. Also, with Underground Reptiles, I left a notation that I wanted females and how to sex them, and I got what I wanted (that wasn’t really an option with ordering online with Strictly Reptiles). Most importantly, Underground Reptiles was less expensive than Strictly Reptiles.
Friday morning, I actually got an email stating that they were already delivered from Underground Reptiles — it was delivered around 9:30AM. The box was actually left on my porch for over an hour, and I wouldn’t have known unless I checked my email (that’s UPS though, and has nothing to do with who you ordered from). I was a little worried after realizing they’ve been on my porch for a while, but I wasn’t overly concerned. Right away, I liked the shipping box. In big, bold green letters it says live animals all around the box. The box itself also wasn’t very big either.
I went out to my yard to open the box. Strictly Reptiles definitely packaged better, even though the actual box for Underground Reptiles is a lot more practical. Underground Reptiles packaged the tortoises in individual cloth pouch bags that were knotted tightly shut. That didn’t seem the best method for air circulation, although I hope the fabric was cotton. Also, there was no ice packs in the box. Not only was the packaging done badly, but it seems that it was very likely for the animals to get knocked into each other and tossed around in the box. Surprisingly though, they all seemed okay.
Now, whereas all the tortoises from Strictly Reptiles were active as soon as I took them out of their containers and put them on the ground — there was one from Underground Reptiles that was a bit “sluggish” it seemed. (She was inactive and didn’t seem well at first, but she’s fine now.)
I highly recommend that you get your repitles in the warmer months if you live in a state that has seasonal weather conditions, because the best way for animals like reptiles to “settle” in is to be outside. You don’t have to worry about things like heating lamps and UV light bulbs and whatever else either when they’re in outdoor enclosures.
Despite the poor packaging, I would recommend Underground Reptiles as my first choice for the better prices and customer service. (However, Strictly Reptiles is also a good alternative if you can’t find what you want.) I definitely felt I had better options with regards to what I wanted with Underground Reptiles than I did with Strictly Reptiles. The price difference was only about $5-$10 dollars if you’re just buying one, but adds up to a lot if you’re buying in bulk (shipping also cost less with Underground Reptiles); and also it seems you can be specific with the sex of what you want with Underground Reptiles as long as you tell them how to sex the animals.
There are many articles out there about tortoises, each claiming to be an expert in whatever species they like the most. I’m not a herpetologist, but I am an enthusiasts and hobbyist (and breeder) of Russian tortoises, and these are information that I find are accurate in my own experiences.
Russian tortoises (testudo horsefieldi) are wonderful little tortoises with big personalities. Ranging in average size from 5-8 inches long and weighing about half pound to 2.5 pounds, they are the smallest species of tortoises (as well as the most popular pet tortoise); they can be kept outdoors or can do relatively well indoors too. Check out all my articles on Russian tortoises, under The Russian Tortoise category of my blog for more info on proper husbandry for them.
Most of the Russian tortoises are wild-caught animals and are very stressed by the time they are brought home from the store. It is common for newly purchased tortoises from pet stores to have various parasites, herpes viruses, upper respiratory infections, etc. (Make sure to always wash your hands after handling them.) In contrast, captive-bred babies are usually very hardy and rarely develop problems if their husbandry is good.
Russian tortoises do the best in outdoor enclosures. They may stay outside year-round with appropriate hibernating spot, and keeping out predators and rodents. Despite the name, they are also found in other countries like northern China, Afghanistan, and other nearby countries. If you have access to a yard, a garden bed can serve as an outdoor enclosure. If not, a bookcase on the floor, with the shelves removed can be an inexpensive indoor enclosure that’s also very large. For the most affordable enclosure, a huge plastic storage container is sufficient. Make sure the container is not clear though (as being able to see out of its container will lead to stress for the tortoise constantly trying to go “beyond”). You can get like a 50 gallon plastic container from Walmart for under $20.
Whatever kind of enclosure you end up with, it is important that the space has shade and sunny areas at opposite ends, if they do not have free range of a yard area. Shade can be provided by plants (I never understood the plastic plants that some people use as décor for the enclosures, why not plant real plants in the enclosure???).
I’ve seen crazy YouTube videos of people feeding their tortoises mixed salad greens from the grocery store… I guess you can do that, but I don’t. I actually don’t feed my tortoises at all. They eat on their own, like in the wild. My original Russian tortoise, Oscar, he loved dandelions, clovers, and was absolutely crazy about red Russian kale (go figured!)… it probably reminded him of home. My husbandry for Oscar (and my current tortoises now) have always been to mimic their natural environment and habits while as pets.
Also, don’t fall for the cutesy videos on YouTube or photos on Facebook of people feeding their tortoises strawberries and other weird, unnatural stuff. I’ve always stated that RT are observational pets. People will tell you all sorts of things like their tortoises loves watermelon and to be held and kiss and cuddle and whatever else — that’s irresponsible pet owners, who are probably also what are called “pet-tubers” and “pet-sharers”/”pet-likers”. Basically they’re doing it for the same reason why someone posts 50 selfies of themselves in one day… for the social media attention and gratification.
As a general rule a male Russian tortoise will not tolerate another male in the same enclosure. It may also harass a female, so many breeders end up only keeping the male with the female for brief periods of time during the breeding season. I do not recommend that you house two Russian male tortoises together since it is likely that the least dominant one will end up injured, flipped on his back, or chronically stressed and susceptible to disease… unless your tortoises have free range of a large fenced in outside area, where they can hide and escape. Females are typically tolerant of each other, but some can become bullies and cause the subordinate females to hide a lot and become sick from stress.
If you do try to keep herds of Russian tortoises together, provide plenty of hiding spaces and lots of plants so they can easily hide from each other. A larger enclosure provides more variety for the tortoises to explore. Make sure there are plenty of ways that the tortoises can stay out of each other’s sight if they want/need to. The downside to free range of the yard is you have to be diligent with keeping the gates closed at all times (which is how I lost my beloved Oscar).
Russian tortoises can climb surprisingly well, they can also tunnel beneath even better. If the fence is solid, the tortoise will not try to escape. However, if a tortoise can see through the fence (like a chain-link fence), it will focus on those gaps and constantly try to leave. This can result in injuries or even death, so I do not recommend wire or chain link fencing without something that is solid blocking the visual.
Standing water may lead to the spread of diseases and other protozoan parasites. The best way to provide water for tortoises is to be as natural as possible; but in an inside enclosure I do not recommend having a water dish, instead I recommend “soaking” your tortoise a few times a week. A weekly sprinkling of the yard will also offer your Russian tortoise an opportunity to drink, which mimics their natural environment of drinking during rainstorms. (I have two saucers in the yard for them to drink from, they’re the inexpensive planter saucers that you can get at Walmart.)
Russian tortoises are great diggers, and these are burrowing species of tortoises. You should mark the mound of dirt where your tortoise has naturally burrowed under so that it’s easy to locate them. When Oscar was ready for brumation last November, I couldn’t locate him for 4 days until I dug up my garden and found him during a rainstorm.
Basically, the enclosures for hatchling and juvenile tortoises are the same as the enclosures for adults, only with the enclosure suited to their smaller sizes. I absolutely do NOT recommend hatchlings or yearlings to have free range of the yard. Also, they need higher humidity, so I recommend a high moisture soil (you can get the reptile soil bricks that they sell at stores and online, works great). Soaking in warm water every week will make sure that the small tortoise stays well hydrated. Mesh netting may be placed over the top of the tortoise enclosure to prevent predators from getting to the babies when they’re outside. Direct sunlight is essential, and even the most expensive light bulb that you’re buying is inferior to the sun. Since baby Russian tortoises can quickly succumb to ant bites, it is important to thoroughly check the enclosure for any developing ant mounds and to destroy any that is found, especially if it’s an inside enclosure.
Round enclosures (such as round cattle troughs that you can buy at farm supplies stores) provide more area to roam than the typical narrow rectangle troughs, but are often difficult to maneuver through hallways and fit into small rooms. Hatchlings may live quite comfortably in a 20 gallon container though. Since it takes a lot of knowledge and expertise to properly care for babies of any species, I recommend getting either an adult or a juvenile. People usually want hatchlings or yearlings because they are just so cute and adorable, but then tend to blame the breeders when they die… and the death rate is very high for any baby species.
Different tortoise keepers swear by different methods of husbandry. Personally, good old dirt is an excellent substrate for Russian tortoises. The dirt has to be collected from an area that is not contaminated with pesticides, herbicides, motor oil, or other toxic substances, and is not contaminated with parasites or diseases from other tortoise species. Cypress mulch works well for most situations when dirt is not practical, timothy hay or alfalfa hay are often used with small tortoises too. Care must be taken to spot clean it daily and to completely change the substance out at least once a month to avoid mold growth if not an outdoor enclosure. Tortoises will do well on paper towels or newspapers for short periods of time, like when relocating to a new home or traveling, but should not be used as a long-term substrate.
A mistake many people make is to assume a tortoise doesn’t need water. In fact, Russian tortoises in the wild seek out burrows that have a higher humidity than the surrounding ground surface. When kept indoors, you can make a simple “hide box” made out of a small planter or container, filled with damp sphagnum moss and an opening, for the tortoise to shuttle back and forth between moist and dry areas as needed. The moss needs to be changed regularly and needs to be kept slightly moist rather than sopping wet. While adult tortoises may do perfectly well without a humidity box during their time indoors, young growing tortoises may suffer from a shell deformity known as “pyramiding” if they do not have access to higher humidity on a daily basis. Again, it’ll be a very expensive death if you are not an “expert” when it comes to a particular species of animal that you want as a baby.
As with the outdoor tortoises, standing water that has been dirtied by the tortoise seems to promote certain intestinal parasites. In my experience, soaking is the best way to hydrate your tortoise. You cannot replicate all the qualities of natural sunlight with light bulbs. Nevertheless, tortoises may be successfully kept under artificial lighting long-term. Ultraviolet-B must be provided by one of the bulbs to aid in calcium metabolism and other important physiological processes. There are many different brands of bulbs that claim to provide this. These should be on for 8-12 hours a day to appear like the sun — which is important to stimulate feeding behavior and other activities in many tortoises. The light should be on 8 hours a day during the winter and 14 hours a day during the peak of the summer. It will also need to be provided a warm basking area, where the temperature reach 95°F during the middle of the day. Generally a combination of fluorescent bulbs, incandescent bulbs, and a mercury vapor lamp may be needed to provide the quality of light needed to keep Russian tortoises healthy indoors (if you can, it’s best to let them outside for natural sunlight even if they are housed indoors).
Hibernation is part of the natural cycle a Russian tortoise experiences in the wild. As the day shortens and cooler weather begins in the fall, Russian tortoises stop feeding and seek out shelters (hibernacula) to protect them from the harsh winter. Since a Russian tortoise is a reptile, it is unable to generate its own body heat; when the temperature around them falls, their metabolism also slows. Feeding stops during hibernation because the tortoise is no longer using the same amount of energy as it does during warm weather. A tortoise will often emerge from its burrow on sunny winter days to bask briefly, and may even drink water if it is available, only to go deep back in its shelter if sky turns overcast and the temperature falls again.
A tortoise has to be healthy to survive the rigors of brumation (“hibernation”). It also must choose a burrow or other shelter that stay above freezing. If a tortoise lacks sufficient body fat to last through hibernation it may die during this time, or may emerge in the spring so debilitated it is unable to regain its health. If the hibernaculum gets too cold, the tortoise will freeze to death. In some cases, the tortoise will survive brief exposure to freezing temperatures, but become blind or develop other health problems. This spells death for a wild tortoise, but captive tortoises can be cared for with these conditions. (I wrote a whole article on hibernating Oscar, so I’m not rewriting all of that here… but check out that post for more info.)
Hibernation cues the Russian tortoise’s reproductive urges. Captive female tortoises that are kept indoors may not produce eggs that year, and male tortoises may show no inclination to court and mate. It also appears that hibernation is important to maintain a tortoise’s overall health; for captive tortoises that are kept from hibernating over several years, those tend to have shorter life spans than ones that do hibernate regularly.
Captive tortoises may hibernate either in an appropriate outdoor hibernaculum, such as a properly constructed artificial burrow; or in an insulated container kept in a cool room of the house, where the temperature stays between 40 and 60°F. (I had Oscar in a large planter, under about 18 inches of soil, and in the garage.) If the temperature is constantly above 60°F in the winter, the tortoise may be active and use up its energy stores too quickly. If the temperature is constantly freezing, the tortoise may develop health problems or even die. Brumation should not be attempted until you are confident with your husbandry skills and knowledge.
Russian tortoises also undergo a period of rest during the hottest, driest days of summer known as “estivation”. If the enclosure has plenty of shade and gets regularly watered, a Russian tortoise may remain active at this time. Otherwise it may retreat to its burrow and only be active early in the morning or in the evening before it gets dark.
Adult Russian tortoises are easy to sex. Typically they have to be about 4 inches long before it’s a sure thing to tell just by looking at them. (There’s a whole article about that on my blog too, go check that one out as well.)
When you bring home your new Russian tortoise, you may wonder if its name should be Victor or Victoria. If you bought it at a pet store or online, there is a good chance you were told some nonsense about the tortoise, and whatever sex they happen to think it is based on who knows what on the day you inquired.
You most likely have a male though, especially if you purchased it from the pet trade — which prefers to sell males because they are smaller and they won’t produce eggs. In my own experience, unless I’m able to handpick the tortoise myself from a supplier, I always end up with males.
For example, when I got Oscar from Pet Land, the woman helping me out that day had no idea that every tortoise in that fish tank enclosure was a male, not just Oscar — but I handpicked Oscar though; not that it mattered because they were all males anyway. She told me what she knew based on knowing what she knows about turtles… which isn’t saying much, since I was buying a tortoise.
Females are more valuable for the same reason why all female species are valuable; even for a retailer or wholesaler who has no clue what the sex is — they generally don’t want to give you the bigger tortoise (which is always a female), simply because it’s bigger. However, some females do show up at pet stores, and many show up on Craigslist or other online markets.
Determining the sex of the Russian tortoise is not overly complicated, it’s mostly based on their tail. Unlike other tortoise species, Russian tortoise males do not have a concave plastron; it’s flat just like the female. The body shape of males and females are the same, with adult females being bigger than adult males. Size at maturity can be one clue — mature males are significantly smaller than mature females, males are usually about 5 inches and rarely grow larger than 6 inches (exceptions do occur), while females usually end up about 8-10 inches large.
Google images will help you to get a visual of what you should be looking for on its tail to determine the sex. Males have long tails that are tucked to the side, which is very noticeable when you see them walking. Females have a short, stubby tail that sticks straight out and looks like a triangle. This is important for easier passing of eggs, which are about the size of chicken eggs. The vent (“slit”) gets stretched out during egg laying, so a mature female’s tail will look different after she has laid eggs.
Keep in mind that a small tortoise (4 inches or smaller) will sometimes look female just for the fact that the tail hasn’t grown yet. As mentioned, a male Russian’s plastron is NOT concave as it is in other similar tortoises, so that will not help you in figuring out the sex. The shape of the anal scutes of the plastron, right above the tail, can vary widely in young Russian tortoises, and is also not a reliable method to sex a tortoise, unless it is fully grown. If you just have one tortoise, then it really doesn’t matter what you have… it only matters if you want to be a breeder (and for correct naming purposes, of course).
It’s been 2 weeks, but I don’t care. I’ve read incredible stories of people reuniting with their Russian tortoises even as long as two years after losing them!
I was thinking of microchip-ing any future tortoise I have, but as my husband accurately stated, it only works if someone takes it to a vet — which most people won’t, because most people will think they found a wild turtle instead. This is true.
In my quest to find Oscar, despite me asking people, “Have you found a tortoise?” They always reply with turtle, even after I specifically just stated tortoise. Also, I’m starting to come to accept the real possibility that if someone found him, they might want to keep him. It’s not the same as a dog or a cat, which are readily available for free on Craigslist, or multiple shelters… Russian tortoises usually cost you around $100-$200. Oscar was $110… and unlike all the options of getting a free dog or cat, you usually can’t get a free tortoise (although you definitely can get a free turtle by hanging around a pond somewhere).
Secondly, I’ve seen many people find box turtles in their yards and then decide to keep them as pets. This is making me realize the fact that someone might be reluctant to give up a free “turtle” they think they’ve found (finders keepers, losers weepers); especially one that does not require a lot of husbandry compared to a cat or dog — and unless you’re getting a sulcata, tortoises are generally small reptiles that you can keep just about anywhere.
I lost Oscar because I refused to put him in the same type of fish tank that he was living in with 4 other tortoises when I bought him from the local Pet Land store. I tried putting him in a large wooden planter, a mini patio pond that I filled with soil, and even those huge plastic storage containers… but ultimately, I wanted him to have free range of the yard because the most space you can provide, the better. Unfortunately, I got lax with making sure that he was secured in the yard at all times, which includes constantly making sure the gates are properly latched shut — especially since the kids are in the yard all the time now because it’s summer.
Mostly, I feel that people are reluctant to give up a found tortoise because they are actually very cute when you find them. Like, people actually will go and pick up a box turtle they find walking around and take it home because it’s just cute when you find them in the street or in your yard (and they’ll do the same for a lost pet tortoise too)… and so it’s reasonable to assume that it’s probably the same outcome if Oscar was discovered by someone.
The most I can hope for is to continue to post signs all over the neighborhood so that hopefully Oscar is found if he is still out there, or if he has been found that the person feels enough guilt to return him.
This weekend, I lost Oscar, my Russian tortoise in Fort Campbell. One of the gates to my wooden fence was unknowingly left ajar. I couldn’t find him in my yard, and I’ve come to accept that he’s most likely lost. His lost was actually foreshadow yesterday afternoon, when he wandered off because my daughter left the gate opened while we were digging for worms in front of our gate, and fortunately our neighbor found him right away and alerted us… I’m praying to God that lighting strikes twice.
Often when people grieve about pets, it’s because pets have died, but there is another type of loss that is just as heartbreaking and significant — the loss of a missing pet.
Every day, our beloved pets go missing. It’s especially devastating because unlike death, you do not get the ambiguity of “closure” because there’s always hope of getting it back. This hope is a double-edge sword; with death, there’s a finality so that you can eventually heal, but with lost/missing pets there’s no finality and always a slim possibility of continuous hope that seems impossible as more time passes.
Available statistics do suggest that, thankfully, many dogs and cats are reunited with their owners within approximately twelve weeks. For some though, reunification may never occur — especially when the pet is not as common as a dog or cat.
Coming to terms with a loss of a companion can be extremely difficult and stressful. When a pet goes missing, owners may be faced with many unanswered questions and feelings that takes a long time to work through.
You may be faced with many unanswered questions surrounding the fate of your beloved animal and this can make closure very difficult. In addition to feelings of sadness and loneliness, you may experience intense feelings of fear, guilt and anger. If a pet has wandered from home and not returned, there may be fears for their safety. If a beloved pet escaped through an unlatched gate for example, pet parents may be left with feelings of guilt. They may be haunted by the “only if…” loops of tormenting themselves.
There may also be feelings of anger. A pet may be feared stolen and the anger may be directed at whoever stole the animal or found them and never returned them. Anger may also be directed at another household member if they had unknowingly left a gate or door open.
The grief experienced from a lost animal can be described as ambiguous grief. A particularly stressful type of grief… again, because there’s no finality like death, and there’s always the possibility of being reunited, however unlikely it may seem. It’s a torturous kind of hope. It can be a stressful kind of loss that some people find very difficult to resolve.
There are several reasons why ambiguous loss experienced from a missing pet can be particularly difficult. The loss is often unexpected and sudden so there is no opportunity to say good-bye. This form of loss may also not be openly recognized by others, especially when it’s not a traditional companion like a dog or cat. There is ambiguity surrounding the loss because, while the pet is physically absent, they may still be alive, but the bond with the pet has still been broken and a loss has still occurred.
Pet owners may also find this loss particularly difficult because they may fear that having “closure” means giving up on finding their pet. This, however, does not have to be the case. It is still possible to regain a sense of peace without giving up on them. Sadly, if this loss is not resolved, pet owners may experience the pain of grief for many years.
Recognize that ambiguous grief must be expressed and processed just like any other loss. This, of course, can be easier said than done especially if a pet has gone missing because of something like an open gate, for example. It is, however, important to remember that for someone to be truly “guilty” there must be intent — for example, a lot of people who adopt dogs/cats or get puppies/kittens sometimes intentionally lose them when they’re no longer wanted. It’s the same as abandoning them, but done in such a way as to justify the action… like, intentionally leaving a window open, a door unlocked, a dog unleashed, etc. — with the expectation of the animal disappearing on its own. So that person did not “abandoned” the animal in the literal sense, and are able to justify the outcome by convincing themselves it was an act of chance or fate that made the pet disappear. That is true guilt.
We are human, and being human means that we make mistakes. Unless you wanted to lose your pet, you’ll need to find a way to work through your guilt and blame. Sometimes it can be comforting to write about it. Putting your thoughts and feelings down in written words can be very healing. This can help you to gain a sense of control over the event and make sense of your experiences.
Without news of the fate of your pet, closure may be difficult and gradual, or it may not occur at all — and that is completely okay too. You do not have to give up on your pet and forget about them for you to move forward and readjust to life without their presence. Coping may just be your ability to accept the ambiguity of not knowing. It may also be your ability to be at peace with the coping of loss and the possibility that they are alive and may someday return.
There are many pet loss and missing pet support groups available online through social media. If you cannot find one that is the right fit for you, you could start your own support group in honor of your beloved pet. These groups can provide both validation and support during this stressful time. Social support is really important at this time. Seek support from those who understand and validate your loss. If you’re finding the loss of your missing pet overwhelming, it may help to speak with a professional who specializes in loss and coping.
Grief is so powerful. It can be a very difficult process to overcome… but, there are many who have shared the same experiences, and that really does help to have that connection, even if you never receive any closure.
So over the weekend I finally took Oscar out of brumation.
Brumation is kind of like what mammals do when they hibernate, but it’s the reptile version of it. Reptiles depend on their environment for body temperature; so tortoises in the wild that “hibernate”, will start digging a burrow that’s really quite deep as a sleeping place. When the temperature rises, they should automatically come out of their burrows on their own.
However, often that’s not the case with a lot of pet tortoises. I’m not an expert, so my experience are just of my own with my Russian Horsfield tortoise. I had read and watched a lot of YouTube videos from self-claimed experts and breeders about what to do and what not to do… but I didn’t pay a lot of attention to most of them, as a lot of them were typical tortoise owners from pet store chains who just went off of whatever nonsense the employee told them.
I put Oscar in this huge 25 gallon round planter that until fall was holding one of my cherry tomato plants (that I’ve grown from seeds). In the first week of November, I pulled out the remnants of the plants, and used it for Oscar’s brumation. All the videos and article I’ve read said to use a shoebox or small container, put newspaper and blahblahblah… I couldn’t understand why you couldn’t brumate your tortoise in as close a natural environment as possible (a shoebox definitely is not natural).
One of the reasons why I didn’t let Oscar stay in the garden is because I had lost him for about 4 days. He had dug a burrow that was already about a foot deep, and I didn’t know where it was, but by chance I managed to find him when I was determined to start digging up my little garden plot to search for him. Even in the wild, a lot of tortoises will die during brumation because they cannot get themselves back out for a number of reasons. Also, we’ve had so much rain I was worried that his little burrow would flood and he would drown.
When I put Oscar in the planter, I buried him about 5 inches, and my hubby moved the planter to the garage. I haven’t seen Oscar for 3 months already, and to be honest I wasn’t even sure if he was still in the planter or had crawled out, or if he was in the planter I didn’t know if he was still alive.
I decided 3 months was ideal because they don’t need to brumate for long anyway, and because the weather has been very mild (we’ve hardly had a winter at all). Also, they shouldn’t brumate for more than 3 or 4 months anyway because they have a limited amount of energy supply that they’ve stored up in their body. Also, I decided to do it now because I’ve noticed that the sun was starting to stay out longer, and that it wasn’t getting as dark quite as early.
Well, I dug up the soil from the planter, about a foot of it, and then I decided to just tip the planter over because if Oscar was still in there, he most certainly would be at the bottom (and he was). He was all the way at the very bottom, so that when I turned the planter over and all the soil came out, I didn’t even have to dig for him. He was motionless and looked dead, his limbs were out so that he was spread eagle style, and even his head was out of his shell.
I picked him up, and he still had a nice weight to him. I immediately put him in the laundry room, where we have a basin, and I “soaked” him in warm water for about 30 minutes. He started moving around, and I was ecstatic because I knew he had gone through brumation alright.
Since the weather was mild, I let him out in the yard so that he could get some sun, and also because I wanted him to eat or drink. The ground was still wet from the rain that we’ve had recently. He’s currently in our large inside planter bed that I had made into his little habitat for when I have to bring him inside.
I do want to say though, that I’ve been soaking him every day in warm water, because hydration is very important. I’m not sure if he’s been drinking or not though, because usually they poop after they’ve been soaked — but at the same time, it could be because he’s not eating, which means he wouldn’t have anything to poop out anyway.
I do want to say that if you brumate your tortoise, you’ll have to be sure they haven’t had anything to eat for about two weeks so that they can clean out their system. Now, I didn’t have to worry about that because Oscar is an outside tortoise, and I knew that his natural instincts would tell him to do that on his own. Another reason why I decided to put him in the potted planter was because I hadn’t seen him for almost a week, so I knew that he had naturally made himself ready for his long sleep.
Today I moved my fishes (and nerite snail) to the whiskey barrel, and transformed my mini patio pond into Oscar’s new enclosure.
If you have kept up with my blog (and vlogs), then you already know that I was using a 35 gallon Beckett preformed pond liner from Home Depot as my mini patio pond, but it was just too much work to maintain. It also didn’t help that I had live plants and pebbles and river stones in there, it just contributed to the algae and waste byproducts. This preformed pond liner has three shelves as part of its design, which is great for putting plants and giving it a more natural and ecological look.
Since it was in direct sunlight, the algae was really out of control, and I would end up doing 100% water changes like every week. I have bio balls, the substrate, the plants, and the sponge media filter which keeps all of the beneficial bacteria even with the 100% water changes… but it took me about three hours or more to change the water, and at every water change my snails would crawl out. I lost all three at various water changes, and eventually found all three — with only one surviving, and that was because I found that one the same day it went missing and it was immediately put back into water.
I’ve had numerous fishes and shrimps died (or get eaten), and to be honest — the only fish I cared about was Lincoln, and although I wanted every fish I bought to survive, after Lincoln I didn’t bother naming any of them and didn’t grow any sort of attachment to them either… I’m wondering now if it was a toad that ate Lincoln? It’s still such a mystery to me.
It’s kind of like with my Venus flytraps. They cost me about $75, and I even put them through a dormitory period in the winter and they survived, but when we lived in an apartment in Georgia they ended up dying. Afterwards I never wanted another exotic plant and just went back to buying my Walmart plants (which, by the way, their house plants are actually really nice).
With the dead fishes, I was upset that they died, but more upset when they were MIA (which meant they were eaten) because I felt I got cheated out of its value. Even a dead fish is valuable. With me, the fishes that went bellied up became natural fertilizer for my garden and plants… you can’t do that with a fish that became something’s dinner. (Whatever, I’ll get over it in like 20 years or so, ha!)
I was using a plastic storage container that I bought from Walmart for about $15, for Oscar’s enclosure. I only put him in there during thunderstorms and prolonged rain… he’s only spent the night time in his container, and it’s only been like a total of 5x that he’s been in his container. Storage containers are the most affordable DIY vivarium ideas for a tortoise enclosure. The biggest dislike for me for a storage container is that most (at least the inexpensive ones anyway) are not very wide, and have a narrow rectangular shape. Even with fishes, surface space is much more important than height, and I feel it’s the same with any captive animal.
My preformed pond liner is about the diameter of a kiddy pool (it measures about 3.25 feet), and it’s about 15 inches tall — it’s definitely more spacious than the storage container I was using before. I only have it filled with substrate up to about 10 inches though. I have 3 live plants that are planted directly into the substrate (the emerald queen fern that I adore because of its bushy look), and the small ceramic pot my hubby made in college (I also have another one he made in college in the whiskey barrel for the fishes to hide in)… I bought a small terra cotta saucer to use as a food dish, and I put it on top of stones so that the food doesn’t get dirtied by the substrate.
Now, to be clear, Oscar roams freely in the yard. I actually leave him outside 24/7; on the few occasions I had to put him in his former container, it was during night time and because it was raining. The new setup will be used for the same thing (and for brumation) — now that it’s no longer filled with water, I can actually move it around easily, even with all the stuff in it. Water weight is HEAVY, even the whiskey barrel won’t budge now that it’s filled with water (and it’s much smaller than the mini pond).
I have a mix of top soil, brown mulch and red mulch, pebbles, stones, and rocks as the substrate. I do worry about ants because they’re all over my patio, and there’s a lot on the patio pallet, and even a lot in the soil that was in the storage container… so I put diatomaceous earth in the substrate, and I’ve read conflicting things about it. I do know for a fact that water will make it basically ineffective and that it has to be dry for it to work, and that inhaling the stuff is bad… but is it safe otherwise? Have you ever used it in any of your reptile enclosures or garden?
I mean, in the wild (and even in the yard), tortoises come across multiple bugs all the time; and since these are burrowing tortoises, I’m sure they’re going to come across these nasty bugs in a deep dirt hole — but it’s still gross to see any bug infestation, at least that’s how I feel about it anyway. Oscar will only be in the enclosure during heavy rainstorms (where I’ll have to move it under the roof of my patio), and during the fall/winter when I’m preparing him for brumation… so I’m hoping to get rid of any ants in the substrate before November arrives. I’m only going to put him through a three month brumation period.
If it gets to 32° or below, I’ll have a covering over the enclosure to block out gusty winds. I ordered a shrub covering that is 6 feet circular with a drawstring opening. It’ll fit perfectly over the round shape, and will protect the plants in the container from frost too. I plan on leaving it covered from December 20th to March 1st, and then I’ll remove it and let Oscar come out of brumation on his own in the following weeks leading up to spring.
What you guys think of the new setup for Oscar and the fishes? I might take out some of the substrate so that it’s a bit lower, maybe about two or three inches more, so it’ll be leveled with the edges of the shelves.
NYC Gal Out ♡ 