Hissing?

[stephaniem]

My daughter got a Russian tortoise on Monday afternoon. The first two days she explored a lot, we found her on top of her hide twice and moving all over. The temps seem good, warming to near 90 on the warm side within about an hour of turning on her lamps each morning but the humidity has dropped from about 45 to 30% in the past few days. Today we let my daughter handle her enough to soak her and take her out for some sunlight. She, on 3 separate occasions, has hissed at her. And each time she comes near has put her head in her shell and remained still until no one is around.
My daughter is a bit discouraged and worried this means she may not be social. So here are my questions: Is this hissing a valid concern or is it likely just still an adjustment? Is the lower humidity a problem? And Lastly she is only eating about 1/4th of a cup of veggies each day, is this enough?

 

[wellington]

Hello and Welcome. First the hissing sounds is not really hissing. It's the air being expelled when the head and or limbs are pulled in. Also, give him/her some time to get adjusted to the new surroundings and these giants ( you and daughter) that keep watching over him/her As for food, feed a large handful. If that is all eaten, give some more. Be sure to give as wide a variety as possible. The tortoisetable.org is a great place to find safe edible plant items.

 

[stephaniem]

Thank you so much!

 

[Tyrtle]

Our Russian always hisses at me when I go to pick him up in the morning to take him outside. I didn't know it was air being expelled, but I suppose that makes sense since his head always shrinks back when I do this. Anyway, it doesn't bother me. I just assume he's scared which he probably has every right to be. I'm a huge hand coming at him.

I can see how kids would take this personally, maybe the "expelling air" would make her feel less intimidated. I just told my son that he's warning you because he's intimidated. But he means no harm from it.

The hiss noise has never been followed by any aggressive behavior. I've never once been bitten or even nipped at. However, ours doesn't really care for me going too close to his head, but I really can't blame him.

He does respond to my voice though so I know he is engaged with his people.