Healthy....right?

[brittanyNruskie]

My new baby is my very first russian tortoise and I've only had him a month. I made the mistake of letting it get a little too cold in his home and now for the past week and a half all he does is sleep and he barely eats. From what I read he is just doing his tortoise hibernation right? And should I worry if recently he has been rubbing his eyes a lot when awake?

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hello Brittany welcome to the TFO from AZ. Now to your problem : do you leave his light on more then 12 hours ? Do you give him daily bathes ? And do you you keep his temps upsay 86 degrees . See these all the things that tell the tort that it's summer not winter and they don't hibernate in the summer ! Hope this helps good luck with your RT .

 

[brittanyNruskie]

I do all of that now once I noticed how lethargic he was getting. But now that I have all that right he still sleeps and doesn't really eat. Is he trying to hibernate and should I leave him alone? Or should I continue trying to get him to wake up more?

 

[WillTort2]

Some pictures of your tortoise and his setup would help decipher your torts problems.

A basking spot of 95 degrees F is essential. A cool end of the enclosure should be closer to 70 degrees. At night the temperature can drop into the mid sixties.

What has he been eating?

Are your providing warm water soaks?

Good luck.

 

[brittanyNruskie]

This is where I am keeping him for now, working on getting something bigger and I have been looking for more plants to put in for him (and we have an outdoor area set up for when it is warmer) I fixed my temperatures and started giving him daily baths which seemed to have perked him up a lot. However, he still has not been eating much even when I give him the romain lettuce which he normally gobles right up. Is there something else I should try feeding him? I only recently learned that store bought greens aren't the best, but until I can start growing him better stuff I need to find somethin good to feed him.

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[pfara]

What substrate are you using and what kind of bulb(s)? Grocery store foods aren't so terrible if you can get the tortoise outside to graze on weeds and homegrown goods outside when weather permits. There are much better options than just romaine. Try the bags of "Endive, Escarole, Radicchio" mixes, or dandelion greens, arugula, turnip greens, etc.

 

[Yvonne G]

If you're using one of those coiled compact fluorescent bulbs, turn it off right away and toss it in the garbage. They are pretty bad for tortoises' eyes.

Also, if you're using sand as a substrate, this sometimes causes tortoises to run their eyes.