new here and new tortoise

[vicaxwicka]

Hello, my name is ben and I recently purchased a russian tortoise from the local petco, where they had 11 RT in a tall narrow aquarium. they were 1-2 to 2 1/2 inches at them most. it had poor ventalation and they were feeding them with commercial tortoise food and crickets, which they do not eat.... . i have made my new little guy a temporary setup until i can move him into i large rubbermaid which is 3 f by a ft and a half, i have a small budget but im trying to the best for my little guy, so he is currently in 12 gallon aquarim with repti bark, a large drinking and soaking dish a basking area and a "food ramp" because i ran out of room. the food in the bowl in the pic is actually some box turtle food because i am unable to take care of him for a few days so my friend is taking care of him (HE HAS LOTS OF REPTILES) and he made a quick setup, with newspaper a water dish food and a hidey spot, here are the pics, but i have no current pics of him, because i dont get to upload my pics very often and these were takin about two weeks ago when i was working on the setup

 
in this picture it shows the food ramp and the water dish underneth it.


the hidey spot( the wood chips on the top are glued on and are solid so they wont fall off) and the basking area


in this pic, it shows the black paper that iv placed around the tank so as to prevent stress from the turtle trying to escape


a uva/uvb bulb that i switch out when dark faal so the tortoise can sleep with out light but with warmth

and that are all the photos i have right now

[Zookeeper]

Hello and welcome to the forum vicaxwicka.  It's good that you're going to get him out of the aquarium.  You need to get rid of the wood chips for substrate.  Wood chips are dry and dusty and can dehydrate your tort very quickly.  Switch him to a substrate combination of Bed-A-Beast and play sand at a 50/50 ratio.  You can increase the amount of Bed-A-Beast up, I use an 80/20 ratio.  The substrate needs to be a minimum of 3" deep in his habitat but if you can get it deeper that's even better.  It also needs to be kept moist, you should be able to pick up a handful of substrate and squeeze it in your hand and no water drips out but when you open your hand the substrate remains in a clump.  About the food, I hope your tort doesn't become sick from eating Box Turtle food.  Knowing what Boxies usually eat I would assume the commercially prepared food is too high in protein for an RT.  Please read the following links:
http://www.russiantortoise.org/russiantortoisediet.htm
http://www.russiantortoise.org/edible_plants.htm
http://www.russiantortoise.org/plant_photos.htm
They are an expensive bulb but I would invest in a T-Rex Active UV Heat bulb and get rid of everything else.  The T-Rex provides UVA/UVB and heat all from one bulb and the UVB output will last approxiamately one year.  You shouldn't be using a heat bulb at night unless the temperature of your room where your tort is housed drops below 55 degrees.  RT's need a nighttime drop in temperature.
 

[vicaxwicka]

thank you, the box turtle food he wont be eating, but i was just puting it in there for the pic. i will try to switch his bedding soon . today i boufht some calcium supplement for him to sprinkle on his food. thats okay right, and do you have any name suggestions?

[Zookeeper]

today i boufht some calcium supplement for him to sprinkle on his food. thats okay right,

Not really, calcium supplements are not recommended, it is too easy to overdose.  You're better off to follow the diet list on the link I supplied above, the greens listed there have goodly amounts of calcium in them.  You can also keep a cuttle bone in your torts habitat, if he/she needs calcium he/she will chew on it.  For a general supplement you can order TNT (Total Nutrition for Tortoises) from Joe's webstore here:
http://carolinapetsupply.com/catalog/

do you have any name suggestions?

Is your tort male or female?  If it is too young to tell then pick a unisex name or one that is easily switched from gender to gender by adding or subtracting letters.

[janeyboro]

isn't that food in the photo the stuff that causes pyramiding ?
If it is i have heard really bad things about it, not only does it make your torts shell grow lumpy
but also gives them relay bad health problems in the long run

[vicaxwicka]

heello, im back  I  am not feeding my tortoise, that food i know all about pyrimiding and having to provide enough fiber and little animal protine and iv changed the habitat alot and ill probebly be posting pics somtime in the next week