Good morning everyone,

Well, I finally got a chance to change the substrate of Farishta’s indoor enclosure last Wednesday (now it’s sand/bed-a-beast/aspen mix) and got all excited about her finally having started eating that day and taking a nice, long “run” around the garden outside (boy, did she move fast!); and then after she spent the night “above ground” in the corner of the enclosure underneath a pile of moss, my husband told me that she dug a hole and buried herself while I was at work the next day, and she hasn’t emerged since….The only evidence of her existence is a sink-hole in the corner she sleeps in.

Has she gone straight into hibernation right after finally starting eating again after at least a month of pre-hibernation fasting and cleansing??

What should I do – dig her out and soak her/feed her/take her out for another jog around the yard?

It's been really cold in central L.A. recently, and even with the new substrate and heat light, ceramic heater, etc., I can't seem to get the temps around the perimeter of the enclosure much above low to mid 60's F at night and high 60's to mid 70's during the day. The central areas directly under the heaters/lights ranges from 80's to 100's. Should I move her house into the bedroom where the ambient temp is generally warmer and still gets a reasonable amount of natural light?

Any advice is greatly appreciated as always!

Thanks again,

Brenda K – frustrated newbie tort mom

I can generally raise my temps by covering it with something like plexiglass. Mine is an indoor enclosure though. Do you have any type of covering to help keep in the heat? This also raises humidity I have found so you have to watch that too. (by the way I do not have any russians, just sharing what I use)

This post was last modified: 12-29-2007 12:13 PM by barbie69.

Right now my Russians ambient air temperature is about 60F. They are still eating up a storm, so your temperatures are just fine.
I'd pull her out for feeding times until she gets used to what time you feed her.
She just needs to get used to everything.

Danny