Russian Turtle House Pet Care & Feeding

The Russian turtle is a popular pet due to its small size and because it is easy to take care of, according to the Premium Tortoises website. A Russian turtle is 4 to 8 inches in size. They come from areas such as China, Iran and Afghanistan. These turtles have flexible limbs so that they can dig.

  1. Food

    • Russian turtles are easygoing when it comes to the food that they eat. They will eat a wide variety of foods because they "never know when food is going to be available" in their native habitat, according to Premium Tortoises. They are grazers, and so their best diet consists of weeds, including dandelions, according to Russian Tortoise.

    Feeding Pets

    • Russian turtles that are kept as pets can be fed a number of commercial foods and natural plants. This includes cabbage, kale, cucumber, bananas and carrots. They should not be fed iceberg lettuce because it has no nutritional value, according to Premium Tortoises.

    Indoor Habitat

    • Russian turtle pets can be kept in a variety of different habitats both indoors and outdoors. An indoor habitat can be as small as 20 gallons, but should be 40 gallons, according to Premium Tortoises. Two turtles can live comfortably together in a 40-gallon enclosure. Aquariums can be used as a home, as can Rubbermaid containers, according to Russian Turtles. It is best to have one side of thick substrate and one side of thin substrate in the cage because Russian turtles love to dig, according to Premium Tortoises. Substrate can be made of fir, sphagnum and peat moss.

    Outdoor Habitat

    • A Russian turtle that is kept outdoors still needs to be in an enclosed environment because they are good at escaping when their environment is not secure, according to Premium Tortoises. An enclosure for the turtle should be dug around 8 inches down to help prevent the turtle from escaping. Russian turtles also need a cover to help to shield them from the environment.

    Hibernation

    • Russian turtles can hibernate for nine months when they are living in the wild, according to Russian Tortoise. When kept in captivity, though, these turtles can hibernate for as little as eight weeks. Before your pet hibernates, you should have it checked out by a veterinarian. If the turtle is not in good health, or if it has parasites, it should not hibernate, according to Russian Tortoise.