Bored tortoise!

[russiantortoisegirl]

Hi, I have a Russian tortoise and all she ever really does is eat and sleep. She just seems really bored. How can I make I so she isn't so bored? Or what can I add to her cage to keep her entertained?

 

[JoesMum]

To be fair that's mostly what torts do.

They get up, they bask to warm up so they can find food and eat it and then they bask some more while they digest it and then they repeat. If they've eaten their fill they relax and sprawl.

You can try not putting food in the same place each time and putting some edible plants in the enclosure for your tort to browse on. Sink the pot into the substrate so you can change it out easily when it gets eaten or flattened.

 

[JoesMum]

I will also comment on your lighting.

It looks like you have a compact CFL type UVB bulb in that double lamp holder. We regularly see these lamps cause eye problems with torts and this can make the tort hide away and 'sleep' more than it should because the light hurts their eyes.

A tube UVB mounted about 1'/30cm above the enclosure is better.

Your basking bulb must hang vertically to be effective. Yours is at an angle.

Have you read the care sheets for young Russians?

Beginner Mistakes
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

Russian Tort Care
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/

 

[SarahChelonoidis]

Outside of mating and defending territory from rivals, a tortoise's life is about finding food and finding a safe place to sleep. In small enclosures, where tortoises can see their entire territory all the time, they really have no incentive to do anything other than eat and sleep. Your enclosure is very small, so adding in sight barriers (so the tortoise has to do a bit of exploring) will be a challenge because you don't want to sacrifice what little floor space you have. Adding edible plants - or changing where the food dish is located - can help encourage more natural behaviour.

The best thing you can do to encourage your tortoise to be more active is to provide a larger enclosure that you can landscape in a more interesting way.