Hibernation

[Tito17]

Hi everyone,
About a week ago my Russian tortoise stop eating buried itself underground, I dug him up and put him in a storage bin. I live Southern California and the temperatures have been pretty hot so he was still awake when I found him. I don't want hibernate him because I just got him this year. I have a heat lamp that keeps the temps at around 85 degrees but he still doesn't eat and isn't very active, any advise on what to do ? Thank u

 

[Yvonne G]

They usually don't go instantly to sleep when they first bury themselves. The are awake for several days or even up to a couple weeks. So he probably wasn't hibernating yet. But he WAS in slow-down mode. So, soak him every day in warm water and keep placing him in front of the food dish every time you think about it all throughout the day.

 

[Tito17]

Thanks for the advise @Yvonne G