Activity Levels...

[Joanne]

Hi Guys,

So I've noticed that Shermann is a lot 'quieter' than he was initially. He seems to sleep more and hide too.

His appetite is good and he is regularly doing his peeps and poops.

One thing that has changed is that I have been taking him to his outside enclosure. Could this be stressing him out? It's too cold still here in the UK to leave him out overnight, so I bring him in to his table.

I will more often than not find him like this in his table:

He is about 2 years old, I got him in April, so that is how old his MVB is. Temps are 20*C cool side, 30*C warm and 35*C basking. Overnight is room temperature, no lower than 16*C. Humidity is currently 60%, but I just watered his substrate.

Could it be too warm for him? I guess with it being warmer outside it has bumped the temps up in here...

 

[JoesMum]

Your temperatures sound fine... what happens at night? Do the lights and heat go off?

We live in the UK and Joe, aged 50ish, is staying out 24/7, but I do have a dog kennel with a heat lamp in it for him to toast under on the cooler mornings like today.

My observation of Joe over the many years that we have had him is that he does react to what's going on outside even when he's inside. If the temperatures are cooler and the skies grey he will be less active... and he certainly is less active this week than he was last!

Personally, I would not worry. As long as he is eating, drinking, peeing and pooping and his weight remains stable, don't worry. Indoors, you might want to give him extra light so that he associates the warmth with it being daytime. If light levels are low, he will snooze more. Use a tube fluorescent fitting that doesn't makes things even hotter.

When you weigh him, don't do it too often! Once a fortnight is plenty. Do it at roughly the same time of day each time you do it and don't freak out at weight loss unless it is significant and sustained... The weight of a tort varies throughout the day, and from day to day, just like yours does. It will be just your luck that he's just done a particularly big poop before you weighed him and that is the weight loss!

 

[LeopardTortLover]

I don't know anything of the species, sorry, but if you have a UV MVB I do know they should be replaced every 6 months to a year.

Also, mine has been out more recently and Is also more quiet around his indoor box.

 

[Joanne]

Yeah he has the MVB for basking and I have a strip light which is underneath his second floor to light up that side. Both are off at night. Thermostat in the room is set at 16*C so it will never go underneath that.

My plan for when he is fully grown is to have an outdoor kennel with a CHE or bulb and have the run of the garden, but not until we make sure nothing can get in or out!

Last week he was out in his outdoor pen, but he would just eat, then go and find somewhere to hide.

The first couple of months of having him he was a speedy thing. Maybe he has just chilled out!

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I haven't weighed him for a bit actually... I'll do that later, as I usually weigh when I come home from work at 5ish.

 

[JoesMum]

The outdoor enclosure is new to him and it will take time for him to get used to it and to being taken out there.

I carry Joe around in an old washing up bowl as it seems to stress him less and there's less chance of dropping him if he struggles (He weighs 3.2kg / 7lb!)

If your tort is full of food, there's nothing else to do other than snooze, so that's what he'll do! If he's hungry, he'll go looking for something to eat.

 

[Joanne]

That's ok then! He does like to eat