Boris the Russian Tortoise

Boris the Russian Tortoise  
 
Age: approximately 15 –20 years old 
 
Recent Past: Boris has been in foster care since 2020. Boris has been residing in a loving home for the past 5 years. Unfortunately, the foster care provider had to move across country and could not take him along. 
 
Early Years:  Boris was surrendered to the Wisconsin Humane Society (WHS) in Milwaukee in 2020. The facility was very full and there was concern he wouldn’t get the proper care or placed in the best living environment, so he went to live with a WHS employee until this time.  
The information provided when surrendered in 2020 is limited. A woman brought Boris in because she could no longer care for him. Boris had been placed in her care by the woman's adult daughter. The information that was shared is as follows: Boris was living in a basement with a large open space to roam around. He lived with another large, female tortoise that bullied him. He was mainly feed lettuce, and this is why we think he is not open to trying new foods because he never was exposed to anything other than lettuce. At the time the woman surrendering Boris believed he was 10 –15 years old (that was five years ago). 
 
When Boris was surrendered the foster caregiver noticed a health concern. He was seen and treated by the veterinary staff at WHS for an intestinal blockage. He must have been living in an enclosure with wood chips and ingested some, causing the blockage.  
 
I would recommend NOT using wood chips in his enclosure. 
 
Feeding: 
Boris has a limited diet because of his care by his first owner. In the past 5 years under foster care with my family member, he was exposed to many different food options, but he would never show interest or try anything other than varieties of good quality bulk romaine lettuce, green leaf lettuce or on occasion he will eat a small amount of lacinato (dinosaur) kale. 
 
He has also been feed calcium from cuddle fish bone shaved on wet lettuce and dried flowers for tortoises. I would encourage Boris’s new owners to continue to try to expose Boris to new foods appropriate for a tortoise. 
 
Boris has been enjoying having some of his lettuce leaves placed inside a hanging ball for enrichment. 
 
Bedding: 
Boris has been living in an enclosure that was filled with a combination of organic topsoil along with coco fiber, tortoise sand and jungle mix. To add interest in his enclosure there was clean rocks placed throughout the enclosure. 
 
Enrichment:   
When the weather is suitable for Boris, he loves to explore outside! But be careful, he is fast and needs constant supervision. 
 
Health:   
In the past five years, Boris has been relatively healthy, besides his intestinal blockage that was discovered at his 2020 surrender and treated successfully. Boris was seen by a Veterinarian on August 29, 2025. He was given a good bill of health and only needed to have his beak filed down a little bit because of a bit of over-growth. It was observed that Boris did not eat much at all for a week after the beak filing. Also, Boris does tend to slow down a lot in the winter months in both activity and appetite. 
 
Temperment: 
Boris will express his dislike of something by hissing. Otherwise, he is a very friendly boy! Boris has been placed in many different areas of our home, and we have observed that he really seems to enjoy being around the noise and commotion of everyday life activities and being talked to.
 
We wish Boris a happy, long life with his new family!