Russian tort only comes out to eat...

stardustytort

New Member
Joined
Mar 5, 2018
Messages
4
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
Hey guys!

I've had my russian tort for a few months now, and lately I've started to notice that he is only walking/digging around in the hide I have for him, and only comes running out when he hears food being put in. He used to bask after eating all of his food, but now he immediately goes back into the hide and only eats half, saving the rest for the next morning.

Lights: His lights are on a timer and go from 9:30am to 10:30pm (13 hours) with 90 degrees of heat in one spot, 80 in the middle, and 70-80 in the hide.

Humidity: fluctuates between 50-80% (I pour/spray water in after school every day to spike it up a bit and mix the soil, spot-cleaning) and I give him baths 3-4 times a week.

Food: fed two varieties of kale, mustard greens, and collared greens. Occasionally give him broccoli, and very very occasionally give him strawberry and watermelon. I spray his food with water before feeding him and sprinkle a small amount of Repashy for calcium.

Recently I forgot to turn on the timer from a power-outage and the lights weren't on until 2pm, then the next few days were out of wack too. I think the fluctuation in light/heat is making him inactive, but I'm just concerned over him not eating all of his food until the next day. Also, another problem is he is 'peeing/pooping' out white crust/powder, and I think it's the high oxalates in his food, I just don't know what else to feed him. I'm pretty sure it's not dehydration since I try really hard to keep the humidity up, give him baths, has a water dish cleaned every day or so, and wet his food. Any advice is much appreciated!!! :)
 

stardustytort

New Member
Joined
Mar 5, 2018
Messages
4
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
How big is your enclosure? If its too small, that makes them less likely to go out and move around, since there's no reason for it.

My enclosure is about 40-ish gallons for a 4 1/2 inch male russian tortoise. I built my own tortoise table out of waterproof/primed wood and some clear sheets to prevent soakage into the wood. It's about 4 feet by 2 feet if I remember correctly, I forgot the actual dimensions of it but I calculated the gallons in it and it was around 40-50. There's a log for a hide, a few plants that I double-checked were safe, a water dish, food plate, and some small rocks to keep the nails and beak groomed.
 

Eduardo Hernandez

Active Member
Joined
Mar 17, 2017
Messages
205
Location (City and/or State)
Orange County, California
That's too small of an enclosure. Check out our care guide, but I like to recommend at least an 8x4 enclosure, thats big enough for them to walk around and have interesting things to do. In a small enclosure they may not exercise enough and don't get motivated to walk around.
 

New Posts

Top