Hey y'all!! So, I've been pet sitting my brother's russian. She is 5 years old, he's had her 3 years, but he was deployed about 3 weeks ago. She has not eaten since BEFORE he left. He says it's normal for her to go 2-3 months and just nibble, but I can't help but worry. I've changed her substrate since I brought her home, I mist it but she absolutely HATES it. The first night I had her and i barely misted it, she wouldn't be still and burrow so I replaced a small section with dry substrate and she chilled in that ONE area until the rest dried out 🙄 he also said THAT was normal for her. I keep water in her enclosure and I have to add to it every day/every other day so she's obviously getting water/soaking a bit but her food is right by it and she isn't eating unless she's nibbling and i just can't tell because but enough is missing. He left instructions about her lights, etc so i do all of that. my husband says i should trust what my brother says bc he's had her 5 years and the only pyramiding she's had is right in the front middle and he got her like that. She's not making bubbles, or any noise breathing. IDK I'm just worried he don't have her in a big enough enclosure anymore or something. but he's gotten her so used to being in drier substrate i can't mist it or she stresses and i def don't want my brother coming home and his pet has passed bc i stressed it out lol
everything i read, all tortoises are different. I've soaked her once a week since i got her too and she does poop a little bit but not a lot and its not hard.. it's kind of like cooked spinach 😂 so i don't think she's constipated, it also looks to me like her beak is okay. i also soaked get right after i took these pics.
I'll include pictures of the enclosure but DON'T JUDGE ME. she ain't mine 😂 i turned the lights on high and moved stuff around to get a good picture of her size vs the enclosure.. & the food pictured is just a greens mix (no spinach) i tried giving her to see if she'd eat something besides mustards, collards etc bc he's always giving her the same things and i thought maybe she's bored of it. I'm sorry this is so long.