Inactive tortoise

[Shann1422]

Hi all- i recently posted that i was thinking my tort was starting to brumate by slowing down and mostly staying in hides all day. I increased temps and got more lighting to hopefully trick her into thinking it’s summer. She eats plenty every day but still not really active. Eats then goes back to hide. No signs of illness. Thoughts?

 

[mojo_1]

Is it too bright? They do like to hide to protect themselves.

 

[ShelledDreamer10]

A photo of your enclosure would help give us more clues.

 

[Tom]

Hi all- i recently posted that i was thinking my tort was starting to brumate by slowing down and mostly staying in hides all day. I increased temps and got more lighting to hopefully trick her into thinking it’s summer. She eats plenty every day but still not really active. Eats then goes back to hide. No signs of illness. Thoughts?

We need more info. What species, size and age?

What are your four temperatures?

What types of bulb for heating and lighting?

 

[Shann1422]

A photo of your enclosure would help give us more clues.

A photo of your enclosure would help give us more clues.

A photo of your enclosure would help give us more clues.

Is it too bright? They do like to hide to protect themselves.

We need more info. What species, size and age?

What are your four temperatures?

What types of bulb for heating and lighting?

We need more info. What species, size and age?

What are your four temperatures?

What types of bulb for heating and lighting?

 

[Shann1422]

We need more info. What species, size and age?

What are your four temperatures?

What types of bulb for heating and lighting?

She is a 3 year old Hermanns tortoise, she

 

[Shann1422]

She is a 3 year old Hermanns tortoise, she

I have a basking halogen bulb that’s 75w, i have Arcadia UVB 8.0, then i have grow lights for plants in enclosure. Warm side ambient temp mid 80-low 90s. Directly under basking bulb reaches 100F. Cool side is in 70s

 

[Shann1422]

 

[Tom]

Looks very good over all, and temps sound good.

It appears that this enclosure is too small for your tortoise. That can have a negative effect on appetite and activity.

What type of bulb is the Arcadia? Is it a cfl or a long tube? HO? How long is it on daily?

I would swap out the halogen bulb for a regular incandescent flood. Halogens cause pyramiding and they burn too hot.

Plants lights are sometimes the wrong spectrum for animals. Tortoises have better color vision than we do, so this might be messin' with his head a bit. I would swap those out for some LED strips or globes in the 5000-6500K range. These should be fine for the plants too.

 

[Shann1422]

Looks very good over all, and temps sound good.

It appears that this enclosure is too small for your tortoise. That can have a negative effect on appetite and activity.

What type of bulb is the Arcadia? Is it a cfl or a long tube? HO? How long is it on daily?

I would swap out the halogen bulb for a regular incandescent flood. Halogens cause pyramiding and they burn too hot.

Plants lights are sometimes the wrong spectrum for animals. Tortoises have better color vision than we do, so this might be messin' with his head a bit. I would swap those out for some LED strips or globes in the 5000-6500K range. These should be fine for the plants too.

The UVB is the tube and it’s on from 11:30-7:30pm. Do you have any specific Rees for basking bulbs and/or LED strips?

 

[Tom]

The UVB is the tube and it’s on from 11:30-7:30pm. Do you have any specific Rees for basking bulbs and/or LED strips?

At the bottom of this thread is a heating lighting breakdown that has the info you seek:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[Shann1422]

At the bottom of this thread is a heating lighting breakdown that has the info you seek:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

Thank you, also to clarify i added the grow lights a couple days ago because i wanted to brighten things up to make her thinks it’s summer. Should i just take those away?

 

[Tom]

Thank you, also to clarify i added the grow lights a couple days ago because i wanted to brighten things up to make her thinks it’s summer. Should i just take those away?

It depends on what they are. What is the color rating on them? How bright are they?

Personally, I wouldn't use bulbs branded for plants over live animals. I would use regular lights meant for people or animals.

 

[Shann1422]

It depends on what they are. What is the color rating on them? How bright are they?

Personally, I wouldn't use bulbs branded for plants over live animals. I would use regular lights meant for people or animals.

They are LED strips, 36W, it says full spectrum grow light 380nm-800nm. They are dimmable

 

[Jess H]

I don't think any lamp will compensate for the outside daylight brightness and shortening. In my view it's healthier to allow them to adapt their behaviour to the seasons, as we do. My tortoise, regardless of his uva/b 160w bulb, knows perfectly well it's autumn, and is slowing down markedly and rapidly. He gets up late, has a spot of lunch, then potters back to bed after a sedate wander round the large kitchen which he has the run of 24/7 in autumn/winter. His bedroom is just a cat box bottom with the lamp over it, so he can choose light/dark/hiding behind the curtains or just going back to bed. He also has a blanket while in bed at night, offered after he started trying to go to bed under the curtains. He loves his blanket, once it's on, he doesn't move until morning. Your run looks interesting though a bit small? I think tortoises need far more space than they normally get, remember they wander for miles in the wild?