Inactive Tortoise

[Moose2]

We have a sulcata tortoise and I'm a little worried about his activity level. He has a comfortably sized house in the yard but he's only coming out of it to roam the yard about 1-2 times a week. We have a thermometer inside his house and I've seen it get up to 107 in there during the day, when outside it might only be 90. The other thing that worries me is that he isn't getting much UV light, since I don't want to turn on his UV lamp in the house because it'll be even hotter in there. My questions are: how much activity should we be seeing from him? I expected that once the weather warmed up he'd be out in the yard more but he's not. Should I make him come out and stay out of his house for a while or something to get some exercise and UV? I just need some advice about what we should be seeing from him because I'm starting to get worried! Thanks so much!

 

[cemmons12]

We have a sulcata tortoise and I'm a little worried about his activity level. He has a comfortably sized house in the yard but he's only coming out of it to roam the yard about 1-2 times a week. We have a thermometer inside his house and I've seen it get up to 107 in there during the day, when outside it might only be 90. The other thing that worries me is that he isn't getting much UV light, since I don't want to turn on his UV lamp in the house because it'll be even hotter in there. My questions are: how much activity should we be seeing from him? I expected that once the weather warmed up he'd be out in the yard more but he's not. Should I make him come out and stay out of his house for a while or something to get some exercise and UV? I just need some advice about what we should be seeing from him because I'm starting to get worried! Thanks so much!

How old is your sully? Does he have a dish with water at all times so he can drink and get in to cool off? If u make him stay out of his house make sure he has a shady place to keep cooled off. I'm no expert by any means, but I hope some of the others will chime in to help ya out.

 

[ascott]

Welcome to the Forum Is that your tort in the user avatar? If so he is beautiful....

My first concern that came to mind is---does your tort have a place to go to cool down below the 90 outside temps and certainly the 107 high temps inside of his house? Is his house insulated? Perhaps you could hook up a single misting line and place it around (not too close to soak his house) his house to bring the overall temp down ---misters can bring temps down by as much as 15-20 degrees....

I would certainly make sure that your tort soaks or plops into a pool of water large enough to get all the way into....

I know that during the hottest time of the day/season the CDTs here are hardly ever spotted out except for once for awhile in the am and then again once in the evening....otherwise they are in their burrows or hides.....

 

[JoesMum]

Your tort does not need lamps of any sort outside. There is UVB even on a cloudy day and it sounds like there's enough sun for basking.

Your tort does need cooler retreats available... under large trees and bushes... or rig up a sun umbrella or gazebo

 

[StudentoftheReptile]

I agree. Even on overcast days, he gets UV from the sun, so any artificial UV is unnecessary at this point IMHO.

Just make sure he has everything he needs in his outdoor pen: shelters, shady foliage, water. He'll do the rest.

And unless you're sitting there watching him every minute of the day, I bet he is more active than you think. Mine comes out when the sun comes out, eats his breakfast, takes a few laps around the pen, then hides somewhere for a few hours. Then he'll take a few more laps in the afternoon, before going back to his shelter for the evening. If you were to measure it out, he probably spends less than 2 hours out and about the entire day. For younger tortoises, I don't think this is abnormal. If you think about it, they spend a lot of time hiding from predators, so its typical for them to be a little shy and secretive, especially outdoors.

 

[Tom]

Where does he sleep at night and how cold does he get?
How often do you soak and does he have water available?
How much and what kind of shade is available other than the house?
Are you sure of the sex? Sometimes females are a bit more reclusive and shy.

Mine like to hang out in their house when it get really hot in there too. I've seen them in there when its 116. They could just walk out the door and go sit in the shade where its in the 70s or 80s, but they sometimes just seem to want to warm up and be hot.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Eva:

I'm quite worried about your tortoise's house. He looks at his house as his safe place...the place he goes to cool down when its hot and to warm up when its cold. Although the house in your avatar is a beautiful house, if it gets up to 107 inside when its only in the 90's outside, then you MUST do something to cool that house off. It is always best to place tortoise houses in deep shade, like under a tree. It looks like Moose's house is right out in the open. Is there any way to move it so its under a tree? If this isn't possible, then you can buy some shade cloth. Attach two taller-than-the-fence 2x4's to the fence then two more over on the other side of the tort house. You want it taller than the tort house so there is air circulation between the roof and the shade cloth. Then attach the shade cloth to the tops of the 2x4's.

Be creative. I'm sure you can think of something. As you have now found out, when you place a "dog" house in the sun, it quickly becomes an oven and not a pleasant place or a healthy place for your tortoise to be.

In the real world, when a tortoise gets too hot due to the weather, he will estivate...that is, he will go into his safe place (burrow, under a bush, whatever) and just stay there until the weather cools down. Poor Moose doesn't realize that his safe place isn't going to cool down, so he just stays there, waiting.

 

[Niki]

I barely see Greta... The high here yesterday was 109. She is always in her burrow except to eat in morning. Her burrow is made with bricks, plywood and dirt. I recently put shade cloth over the burrow part of her enclosure because the sun is extremely hot here in Az. But like I said since it it has been hot here, she is less active.

 

[Laura]

i think its too hot.. you need to provide more shade.. real, like a tree, or manmade.. a above ground house heats up fast.. like a car on a summer day..
in the wild.. they would be underground..

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super nice looking tort and house!