# Tortoise has stopped Eating, Pooping and Sluggish



## mzrousar (Feb 20, 2011)

Hello Fellow Tortoise Owners,

I am new to this community as I stumbled upon it while performing some google searches with my Tortoise symptoms. I appreciate any comments or suggestions you can provide for my situation.

I have owned a Russian Tortoise since June 2010 when I got him at 9 months old from a breeder. So he is now approximately 1 year and 4 months old. For the first 6 months of his life he (his name is Gary) had 2 separate bulbs (heat emitting and 1 UV light). In early January we upgraded Gary to a larger enclosure and replaced the old bulbs with a mercury vapor bulb. The temperature under the light is ~95. The cool end is 70 and the enclosure is large enough that Gary is able to choose his climate. Initially he seemed to like his new enclosure as he spent time exploring and basking. 

However, over the next 2 weeks in early January he gradually stopped eating and pooping. It has now been over 3 weeks since we have seen him eat anything or poop. He also remains in his hide box for most if not all of the day (can't say for sure since obviously we don't watch him all the time). Lastly, when we take him out of the hide box to show him food or soak him it takes him a while to open his eyes and then he just seems generally more sluggish. The switching of enclosures could just be coincidental as he should have had plenty of time to adjust by now.

I've read about common Russian Tortoise symptoms such as running nose, watering eyes or shell rot and Gary doesn't seem to have any of these symptoms. We live in the Chicagoland area so we are in cold winter months right now but Gary's temperatures have not changed. I read about some tortoises that had a "sense" that is was winter and went into somewhat hibernation. I don't know if this could be the case but in all other respects seems healthy.

Thank you for your input and suggestions and please let me know if you need further information. Cheers!


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## onarock (Feb 20, 2011)

sounds like hibernation to me


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## dmmj (Feb 20, 2011)

Even when kept under the best circumstances they will often try to go into hibernation, I would think he is to cold and wants to sleep until it warms up.


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## mzrousar (Feb 20, 2011)

dmmj said:


> Even when kept under the best circumstances they will often try to go into hibernation, I would think he is to cold and wants to sleep until it warms up.



So even though his enclosure temperature hasn't changed at all you think he could still "feel" the cold outside and go into hibernation?

So do you continue to try and feed your tortoise during these hibernation months? How long does it typically last for everyone else? Do I need to make sure he's soaked or brought out occasionally so that he gets his sun vitamins? 

Thank you for your prompt responses!


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## dmmj (Feb 20, 2011)

it is not just heat alone, light cycles also play a part in it, the way you describe him it sounds like he is sluggish, and that IMHO sounds like the "winter blues" to use an expression. Mine hibernate but 2 years I took in a sick female who required vet visits, (respiratory infection) and even though I kept her warm she still went into a mini hibernation despite my best intentions. As long as he does not have puffy eyes, discharge from the nose and stuff like that I would continue to offer food every day, though in less amounts so you can tell if he is actually eating, and make sure he does not lose any weight.


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## mzrousar (Feb 20, 2011)

dmmj said:


> it is not just heat alone, light cycles also play a part in it, the way you describe him it sounds like he is sluggish, and that IMHO sounds like the "winter blues" to use an expression. Mine hibernate but 2 years I took in a sick female who required vet visits, (respiratory infection) and even though I kept her warm she still went into a mini hibernation despite my best intentions. As long as he does not have puffy eyes, discharge from the nose and stuff like that I would continue to offer food every day, though in less amounts so you can tell if he is actually eating, and make sure he does not lose any weight.



Dmmj - thank you very much for your response. The only follow up question I have is should I take him out of his hide box every day when I put the food in the enclosure or should I just leave him be? Thanks again!


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## dmmj (Feb 20, 2011)

Since you don't want to hibernate this year I assume, just take him out and place him in front of his food, that way he has to move around.


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## bikerchicspain (Feb 21, 2011)

I am lucky in the hibernation respect, Non of mine go into hibernation or estivation, They are still running round like mad and eating me out of house and home,
Mini is even trying to build a nest.
I have my mercury bulb set on a timer, so when the sun comes up it switches on and at sundown it switches of, The i have a ceramic heat buld on 24/7


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## Yvonne G (Feb 21, 2011)

Hi "Mzrouzar":

Welcome to the forum!! May we know your name?

Sounds like hibernation to me too.

Because you don't want him to hibernate, if it were my tortoise, I'd tuck him away in a quiet place, in a box packed with shredded paper and leave him alone for 2 weeks. Then at the end of that time, get him out for a warm soak, put him back into his habitat, and have your light cycle mimic the long summer days. Sometimes this is the only way to trick a tortoise into thinking he has hibernated. Some of them are just bound and determined! Its not just the length of the day or the temperatures, it has to do with barometric pressure too. And just because you have his habitat nice and warm, he's still feeling that its winter time.

Good luck and keep us posted.


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## mzrousar (Feb 21, 2011)

emysemys said:


> Hi "Mzrouzar":
> 
> Welcome to the forum!! May we know your name?
> 
> ...



Howdy emysemys,

My name is Mark - nice to meet you and many thanks for taking the time to respond to my question. So if I were to just leave him alone for 2 weeks should he just be at room temperature (~65-70) or should he continue to be under the head lamp during those 2 weeks. 

Thank you to everyone for your awesome comments. I'm a first time Tortoise owner and I just want the best for little Gary. Cheers!


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## Yvonne G (Feb 21, 2011)

Hi Mark:

Well, you're trying to make him think that he has hibernated, so I would put him into a closet so he'll be on the cool side. Don't let it last for any longer than two weeks though. You don't want him to starve.


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## Tom (Feb 21, 2011)

You need to pick one way or the other. Either shut the lights off, stop feeding and put him some where cold for a couple of weeks OR bump your temps up even more, add some light like a big florescent or something and put the lights on a 14 hour timer. Right now he's sort of in between and that's not so good. Its too warm to go without food, but not warm and light enough to kick his appetite and activity level up. I'll take your word for it on the temps, but its harder to maintain warm temps in a larger enclosure. How are you measuring?

If you are SURE that he has not eaten anything for at least two weeks, I'd shut the lights off and give him room temp soaks for a few days and then put him in a box and stick it some where cold and dark. Temps in the forties are just right. Don't let it get anywhere near freezing, but 60's is too warm. Then you can do like Yvonne said and wait a couple of weeks or wait until Spring really gets here and wake him up gradually at room tempo for a few days and then finally turning back on all the heat and lights.


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## mzrousar (Feb 22, 2011)

Tom said:


> You need to pick one way or the other. Either shut the lights off, stop feeding and put him some where cold for a couple of weeks OR bump your temps up even more, add some light like a big florescent or something and put the lights on a 14 hour timer. Right now he's sort of in between and that's not so good. Its too warm to go without food, but not warm and light enough to kick his appetite and activity level up. I'll take your word for it on the temps, but its harder to maintain warm temps in a larger enclosure. How are you measuring?
> 
> If you are SURE that he has not eaten anything for at least two weeks, I'd shut the lights off and give him room temp soaks for a few days and then put him in a box and stick it some where cold and dark. Temps in the forties are just right. Don't let it get anywhere near freezing, but 60's is too warm. Then you can do like Yvonne said and wait a couple of weeks or wait until Spring really gets here and wake him up gradually at room tempo for a few days and then finally turning back on all the heat and lights.



Howdy Tom,

I have a temp gun and have regularly checked the surface temperature underneath the heat lamp and it is always around 95. 

I have seen Gary nibble on lettuce (very little) over the past week so I wouldn't feel comfortable hibernating him at this point. I'm going to continue to take him out at least once a day and show him his food along with increasing the light time in his enclosure to 14.5 hours (it was at 13).

Hopefully he'll start to get the clue that it's not time to hibernate. Maybe next winter I'll do some more research and properly hibernate him. I just don't want to mess with it this winter as I haven't had time to do any proper research and I don't want to hurt him. 

If anyone has any good articles on hibernating Russian Tortoises I'd very much appreciate it if you could post them here so that I can prepare for next winter. Thank you very much!


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