Help! tortoise only sleeps

[Tchaikovsky]

Okay so I'm a new Russian tortoise owner. His name is Tchaikovsky and I got him about a month and a half ago. So far, he hasn't really eaten much. He was super active the first few days but now all he does is sleep. Also sometimes he has little bubbles in his eyes what can I do to make him more comfortable? I really want him to start eating at least...

 

[Gillian M]

A very warm welcome to the forum!
(I like your tort's name).

Please read the "Beginners' Thread" and the care sheets. These will help you.

How about posting pictures of your tort as well as its enclosure. This will enable the experts here to help you even more.

Please keep in mind that torts take a lot of time to adapt to a new place, new climate, new owner, virtually new 'everything' so don't panic if your tort isn't eating much.

 

[Tom]

Welcome to the forum.

We'll need a bit more info.
What size enclosure?
Substrate?
Where did you get him?
What are your four temps? Warm side, cool side, basking area, and overnight low?
What heating and lighting equipment are you using?
Any UV? Coil type cfl bulb?
How often are you soaking him?
What foods are you feeding him?
Is this a baby or an adult?

These will offer some insight too:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

 

[Jacqui]

We need those questions Tom asked, to give you good help. My thought is with you being in South Dakota and it is a new animal, you may be fighting against seasonal slow down (hibernation thoughts) along with other things. So temperature and light (amount and type) will be big things to look at.

 

[Tchaikovsky]

Enclosure size: 5'x3.5'
Substrate: reptibark
I got him at a Petsmart near Minneapolis
The warm side is usually between 90 and 100 degrees farienhight, the cool side is usually between 65 and 75 degrees. I don't really know what the basking spot temperature is.
I am using a 100wt heat lamp and a 10wt coil uvb (which I've recently not been turning on because I heard it hurts his eyes)
For the past few days I've been bathing him every day in the morning before I turn his light on because I saw on here that it might make him more active and eat. It worked the first day, but since then he's back to his old habits.
I've fed him parsley, carrots, carrot leaves, and a spring mix with kale so far.
He's still kind of little, I would say maybe teenager stage. Definitely not an adult yet.

 

[Tchaikovsky]

The enclosure is basically the equivalent of a 50 gallon tank, but made of wood and just a little shorter height. I also forgot to add that I have an aloe vera plant in a different room and tried to give him some of that to eat. That didn't work either. Do you still want a picture of the enclosure?

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

Tchaikovsky, just for general principles we want pictures. Pictures help in a number of ways. Pictures enable us to see the habitat that your tortoise is living in daily. This helps us, help you, help your tortoise. And welcome to the Forum. The folks here are active sensible keepers that are willing to freely share with you all the knowledge they have gained to help keep you from making those same mistakes. On a sidenote, most information on the Internet Machine is old, outdated, incorrect information that will not help you or your tortoise. Have you found the species specific information just for russians yet?
Keep asking questions and welcome.

 

[Tchaikovsky]

Tchaikovsky, just for general principles we want pictures. Pictures help in a number of ways. Pictures enable us to see the habitat that your tortoise is living in daily. This helps us, help you, help your tortoise. And welcome to the Forum. The folks here are active sensible keepers that are willing to freely share with you all the knowledge they have gained to help keep you from making those same mistakes. On a sidenote, most information on the Internet Machine is old, outdated, incorrect information that will not help you or your tortoise. Have you found the species specific information just for russians yet?
Keep asking questions and welcome.

Absolutely. The only things I've looked at have been species-specific and I've tried to make all I can from this website, since people know so much here.

 

[Tchaikovsky]

This is his enclosure. Again, it's roughly the size of a 50-gallon tank, just a bit shorter in height. He's currently sleeping under his log in the picture. I have Timothy hay scattered around the enclosure, which I think maybe he's been eating? I took him outside today in my backyard and he ate a few dandilion leaves! I'm so proud of him! it's the first time I've ever seen him eat.

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

Food-wise russian tortoises are mainly broad leaf weed eaters. Yes they'll eat grass if they HAVE to, but their first choice will always be broadleaf greens as you saw out in the yard. Dandelions. Weeds are abundant everywhere, the biggest drawback is people tend to poison weeds, and that is very bad for a tortoise. Washing the weeds isn't even a good option because the weed will take the poison up in the roots and then distribute it inside the plant. No fertilizer is good either. Broad and narrow leaf plantain is a great weed, mallow, grape leaf, squash leaves, the list is endless and very diverse. There is a food list in the russian tortoise beginner threads that will help you very much. The very important thing is variety in these foods for health in your tortoise. Well good variety, regular soaking in warm water and good enclosure temps. with the correct lighting. Keep studying, you're doing a great job.

 

[dmmj]

any update on the tortoise?

 

[Russianuncletwo]

Regarding updates, particularly the bubbles you see at the eyes-that one's throwing me for a loss.

 

[dmmj]

bubbly eyes are usually a hydration problem.

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

bubbly eyes are usually a hydration problem.

In what way? Too much ? Not enough? Please offer further explanation, please.

 

[dmmj]

not enough could be dehydrated I'm wondering if it wasn't from the eyes but from the mouth if it might have overheated or not hard to say without seeing it. is it constant or periodic or did it only happened once?

 

[Tchaikovsky]

not enough could be dehydrated I'm wondering if it wasn't from the eyes but from the mouth if it might have overheated or not hard to say without seeing it. is it constant or periodic or did it only happened once?

I would say that at least once a day I will see him with bubbles. I'm almost wondering if he has allergies? It's usually only when I take him outside or right after a bath. Sometimes I'll just take him out of his cage and there will be bubbles too though :/ so

 

[dmmj]

tortoises don't have allergies like mammals do.if its right after a bath or when he goes outside. I wouldn't worry about it too much right now then. it's definitely unusual but I don't think it's anything serious at the moment if he drinking and smoking he's probably not dehydrated doesn't sound like a respiratory infection. Unless you want to take him to the vet and ask a vet I would just watch him and see if any behavioral changes happen.

 

[Tchaikovsky]

Food-wise russian tortoises are mainly broad leaf weed eaters. Yes they'll eat grass if they HAVE to, but their first choice will always be broadleaf greens as you saw out in the yard. Dandelions. Weeds are abundant everywhere, the biggest drawback is people tend to poison weeds, and that is very bad for a tortoise. Washing the weeds isn't even a good option because the weed will take the poison up in the roots and then distribute it inside the plant. No fertilizer is good either. Broad and narrow leaf plantain is a great weed, mallow, grape leaf, squash leaves, the list is endless and very diverse. There is a food list in the russian tortoise beginner threads that will help you very much. The very important thing is variety in these foods for health in your tortoise. Well good variety, regular soaking in warm water and good enclosure temps. with the correct lighting. Keep studying, you're doing a great job.

My dad only sprays for weeds in very early spring. My mom has done like a dish-soap and vinegar thing but that was a while ago. Would he eat some marigold flowers or leaves? I have some outside and the frost will probably kill them before the end of the month...

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

My dad only sprays for weeds in very early spring. My mom has done like a dish-soap and vinegar thing but that was a while ago.

Anything that kills a plant is no good for your tortoise. In the, "wild" they'd not come across sprayed plants as food. After a period of about 12 months or-so after being sprayed is a reference point but really not sprayed is best.

 

[Tchaikovsky]

Update: he's been eating all of the dandilion leaves I've been giving him! So happy now all I have to figure out is why he's sleeping so much :/