I need guidance please.

[Elohi]

Hey all,
I think Lylah really wants to brumate. She had originally slowed down on eating and soaking and spent more and more time buried and now she isn't coming up and all and refuses to touch even her favorite foods. I have been having to dig her up for soaks and she won't touch her crickets or superworms anymore. She has plenty of feisty attitude, especially after a warm soak but she runs to her cave and buries herself the instant I put her back into her enclosure. And again, refuses to come up at all. What should I do?
Leave her be and make sure she has her dish of water? Keep digging her up every few days and pissing her off to soak her? I have her UVB lamp on and a black light for heat during the day and I shut both off at night but she just flat seems like she wants to brumate.

Since she is "new to me" and I'm a new to turtle/tortoise care, so I didn't prep her to sleep all winter. What is best for her at this point?

When I asked about brumation before I was under the understanding that if I kept the temps up she wouldn't know it was time to brumate but she still somehow knows. I noticed the obvious slacking off of her appetite and her increased time buried as deep as she can get.

 

[CapturedSerpant]

How old is the turtle? What temps are in the cage?

 

[lisa127]

To keep her from hibernating, you need to keep the UVB light on for 14 hours a day. Also, to trick her into thinking it is summertime, you need to increase the night temps slightly. Get a lamp dimmer or rheostat so that instead of turning off the black light for nighttime just turn it down a bit so she has a gentle heat. See if that tricks her into thinking it's summer.

 

[Elohi]

Her temps are upper 80's to lower 90's on the warm side during the day and 73-76 on the cool side. 73-74 at night.
Her UVB is on right at 14 hrs a day.
Her tank is reading 79 at the moment as the substrate and her rocky cave hold a little warmth for a while after the lamps go off. But it does drop to room temp which is 73-74 at night.

Is that too cool at night if I'm trying to keep her thinking it's summer?
Do her day time temps need to come up some?

---

Oh and her age is unknown but I believe she is a mature adult.

 

[lisa127]

73-74 during the night should be enough to keep her from hibernating. I forget you are in Texas. I'm thinking of what needs to be done where I live. Sorry!

When she is staying buried, is she burying on the cool side all the time? Is she basking at all?

All your temps seem perfect for "summer like" temps.

 

[johnsonnboswell]

My crew hides when it's that hot during the day, & is active early morning & at dusk. Those night time temps are plenty warm. 60 is fine at night.

 

[lisa127]

My crew hides when it's that hot during the day, & is active early morning & at dusk. Those night time temps are plenty warm. 60 is fine at night.

Sixty is fine at night. But I have found that if I want to stop them from slowing down and trying to hibernate I have to up the temps slightly overnight.

Mine are always most active in the morning and early afternoon, no matter the time of year.

 

[johnsonnboswell]

I can see how higher night temps would be useful & affect the animals positively. Those of us who live in frozen places don't have that luxury. I wasn't suggesting that the OP drop the night time temps, just trying to indicate that those temps in the 70s are fine.

 

[lisa127]

Oh yeah, I agree. I wouldn't think the turtle would even be trying to hibernate at those temps. But since I live in the Cleveland area and don't want to hibernate mine, I have to keep gentle heat on to pretend it's summer.

 

[Elohi]

She is burying herself in her cave, which is on the warm side. I doubt it's that warm as deep as she is digging down. I should temp the substrate tomorrow after her lamps have been on a while. She loves her cave but good grief she doesn't want to come out at all :0/
She looks good when I dig her up. Less hydrated than is like her to be but she is dunking her head when I put her in a warm soak. I've been doing every 3 days since she has been staying buried. And frankly it seems like I'm irritating her when I dig her up and then soak her. She is quite active when she is in her soak and has had enough. Walking around looking for a place to climb out.

A few days ago it was like 80F out (and today the high was 43...crazy Texas)
And she didn't want to soak, she wanted to bulldoze through the grass and find a place to hide away. So I put her old half log in the yard and she went straight for it and stayed there while my leo hatchling soaked up some sun in outdoor tub.

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Oh and the other day, after she got a little sun in the yard...when I put her back in her enclosure, she took like 5 or 6 big bites of her cuttlebone before heading down into her cave.

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Oh! And one last thing that I noticed that is different about her behavior.
She used to bury herself but make a hole to keep watch on things. I'd see her little head down in the hole or she would peak her head out to look around but lately she is doing a complete bury with no "periscope" hole. She is so hidden, it's like an empty terrarium. :0/

 

[Elohi]

Ok, I pulled her out of her cave this morning and she ate 6 superworms and stayed out for about 15 minutes. She didn't go to her water so I sprayed the enclosure down and misted her as she was headed back down into her cave.

The boxie cave


Lylah headed back down.

 

[johnsonnboswell]

I'm wondering if your substrate is damp enough. From what I can tell from the photo on my tiny screen - so maybe I'm not seeing it - it looks like the cave is nice & damp but the rest looks dry. If that's the case, it's oArt if the problem. Ueich

 

[Elohi]

I'm wondering if your substrate is damp enough. From what I can tell from the photo on my tiny screen - so maybe I'm not seeing it - it looks like the cave is nice & damp but the rest looks dry. If that's the case, it's oArt if the problem. Ueich

The surface dries up and I spray about every other day but I soak it thoroughly if it's not damp under her food bowl.
I've soaked it good this evening again, and laid in some grass I have been growing in the lid of an egg carton [FACE SAVOURING DELICIOUS FOOD]

 

[Elohi]

Ok, update and more questions.
Lylah has completely stopped eating. She refuses food when I have dug her up and soaked her, and she doesn't touch what I put in her dish, because she won't come out at all.

When I dig her up she makes it known she isn't interested in being dug up. She is hissy and gives me the stink eye. Twice she has stretched her neck out and pulled it back over her shell to tell me, "I will bite you human, keep a watch on those fingers." LOL
other than refusing to come out and refusing to eat, she looks absolutely as gorgeous and healthy as ever. How often do I need to dig her up and soak her? Should I just leave her alone or will she dehydrate and get sick in her attempt to brumate, be damned my attempts to keep her from doing it?
At first, when I was digging her up, every once I a while she would gorge herself on superworms, like 6 in a meal. Then she started refusing.
I'm going to do dig her up and soak her now that I have my toddler is down for a nap. I'll take pictures of her ornery beauty so y'all can see how she is looking.
Thanks for your direction.

---

Ok. Here is miss grumpy butt.
Pulled her out and sure enough...grumpy. Lol.


Wayyyy down in there.

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Getting comfy.

 

[Elohi]

A few more pictures of her be more lively. Ready to go back into her enclosure.

 

[MildredsMommy]

A few more pictures of her be more lively. Ready to go back into her enclosure.

how funny Elohi-if you look at my pics my mildred and your baby could be sisters

 

[Saleama]

LOL.... I thought you had a little one. When you said 6 super worms I nearly choked. My little guys eat two at the most two and a half before ignoring them. Then I saw you had a big little gal there. Have you looked into starting a super worm farm and a red wiggler farm? It is super easy. The superworms eat potato and carrot and a small bag of carrots lasts FOREVER and red wigglers eat your trash! I started my super worm farm a month ago and I have one beetle and 15 pupae (sp) so far. I should have 15 or so more beetles by this weekend and then this time next month a whole bunch of little super worms!!!

 

[Elohi]

LOL.... I thought you had a little one. When you said 6 super worms I nearly choked. My little guys eat two at the most two and a half before ignoring them. Then I saw you had a big little gal there. Have you looked into starting a super worm farm and a red wiggler farm? It is super easy. The superworms eat potato and carrot and a small bag of carrots lasts FOREVER and red wigglers eat your trash! I started my super worm farm a month ago and I have one beetle and 15 pupae (sp) so far. I should have 15 or so more beetles by this weekend and then this time next month a whole bunch of little super worms!!!

Yeah 6. Oink oink! Hahaha.
So do you think she looks alright considering her stubborn determination to sleep the days away? Should I keep digging her up or leave her be? If I should keep digging her up, how often should I? I offered her the stinkiest of canned cat foods, some greens, a flower, and a piece of banana. All she ate was banana and I was surprised she went for it. She didn't touch anything else. All her superworm either croaked or Have turned into pupae in the container.
I have considered the superworm farm. I started an earthworm box but she won't eat them. She much prefers crickets and superworms.

 

[diamondbp]

Is ok to say I think your "she" is actually a young "he" ? lol I hate to throw that in there. But I strongly suspect you have a young male.

 

[Elohi]

Is ok to say I think your "she" is actually a young "he" ? lol I hate to throw that in there. But I strongly suspect you have a young male.

Really?! Lol! Diagnose my boxie. She it he? I guess if Lylah gets red eyes I'll know for sure? I'll have to change his name hahaha