Aestivation or something else?

[ryvanzandt]

I am a frequent browser of the forums, just not much of a poster. Usually find all the info and answers I’m looking for by searching. I think or hope my tortoise is just summer hibernating, but wanted your opinion.

I have had “Crash” for about a year now. Got him from Carol from here on the forum. He has lived in his 2x2x4 critter condo for the last year. He went thru a little hibernation period last fall. He has been doing great. About 3-4 weeks ago he started coming out in the am basking for a bit then returning to his hide, then come out a few hours later. Every couple days he would have a nibble of salad. He would poo and urate in his soak like normal every couple days. His temps where 95ish at the basking area but only getting down to 79 on the cool side even with the glass door open. I felt his enclosure was getting to small and on the warm side so I started his permanent home build.

Just put him in his new 3x8 foot table this week. He comes out in the am warms up then roams around for a few hours. Still has not eaten anything in the last few days that I can tell. No poo or urate in his soak today. He always burrows right near his basking area. I have tried many hides and different things, but he always returns to this area. New basking area is around 95 with the area where his lights are staying high 70s. Rest of the table hits room temp at about 72 degrees. Doesn’t drop below that during the summer.

Usually feed him escarole, endive, greens, radicchio, kale, occasionally mazuri. He has a 12% Arcadia bulb over his basking area. Still hitting a 6 on the uvi meter. House humidity is around 50-60 percent.

Just looking for your thought on his behavior.

Thanks.

 

[Toddrickfl1]

He's most likely getting used to the new bigger enclosure. It's not comfortable to him yet. I recently moved my tort into a bigger enclosure and he didn't eat for almost a week.

 

[Minority2]

Face your lighting fixtures directly downwards and not at an angle. If the light is blinding you it's most likely blinding the tortoise. Raise the height of the lighting fixtures over their head at least 10-12 inches above the substrate level.

High 70's by the hot side near the basking bulb sounds rather low. 80-90F would be much better. You may need more additional heating elements to achieve that in your new open enclosure.

How high are the side walls in the cold side? Seems pretty low to me.

Measure humidity at the substrate level. Try to achieve 80% inside the open enclosure.

 

[ryvanzandt]

Face your lighting fixtures directly downwards and not at an angle. If the light is blinding you it's most likely blinding the tortoise. Raise the height of the lighting fixtures over their head at least 10-12 inches above the substrate level. - Waiting for my new fixture to get here. Still will only be 8 inches above basking spot. If I raise it much more I will have to up the wattage.

High 70's by the hot side near the basking bulb sounds rather low. 80-90F would be much better. You may need more additional heating elements to achieve that in your new open enclosure.

How high are the side walls in the cold side? Seems pretty low to me. They are low. I will be adding a top lip to keep him in very soon.

Measure humidity at the substrate level. Try to achieve 80% inside the open enclosure. 80% ? ? My understanding is 70% was on the high side.

 

[Minority2]

If you think 8 inches is enough then do as you wish. I personally prefer higher simply because you tend to lose about 2-3 inch of height while a tortoise's head is up. So the less apart the basking bulb fixture is, the closer your tortoise's eyes are near the fixture. The higher the fixtures are, the less likely glare would make contact with their eyes.

There is no humidity limit for tortoises. What recent studies have taught tortoise forum members is that higher humidity levels for all tortoises of all ages is a good thing. Shoot for 80-100%.

 

[Yvonne G]

Most directions on the boxes the lights come in tell you to mount it so it's at least 12" above the tortoise's shell. Also, depending upon the type of light, mounting at an angle may shorten the life of the bulb. Is your 12% Arcadia bulb a compact fluorescent bulb? Those have been known to harm young tortoise's eyes. I've changed all my UVBs to the T-5 Fluorescent tube bulbs, and for heat I now use radiant heat panels.

You may need to cover or partially cover that nice, big tortoise table in order to keep it the temperature the baby needs.

My outdoor Russians are estivating, but that's because our weather is upwards of 100F degrees right now. If your baby is indoors and in an large open top tort table, I really doubt it's hot enough to trigger the estivation response in him. More than likely he's just a little worried about having been moved to a new territory.

 

[ryvanzandt]

Most directions on the boxes the lights come in tell you to mount it so it's at least 12" above the tortoise's shell. Also, depending upon the type of light, mounting at an angle may shorten the life of the bulb. Is your 12% Arcadia bulb a compact fluorescent bulb? Those have been known to harm young tortoise's eyes. I've changed all my UVBs to the T-5 Fluorescent tube bulbs, and for heat I now use radiant heat panels.

You may need to cover or partially cover that nice, big tortoise table in order to keep it the temperature the baby needs.

My outdoor Russians are estivating, but that's because our weather is upwards of 100F degrees right now. If your baby is indoors and in an large open top tort table, I really doubt it's hot enough to trigger the estivation response in him. More than likely he's just a little worried about having been moved to a new territory.

The Arcadia is a T5 mounted about 12" above. The basking bulb is what is mounted lower.

The estivating (if that is what it is) started while he was still in the enclosed enclosure. Temps in there didn't get below 80-85 during the day.

Thanks