Less Energy and Not Sleeping Well - Advice, please!

[SpanishPeanut]

Boris is a 3ish year old RT that just moved in a couple days ago. The previous owner said he had everything except a UV bulb. He wound up needing much, much more than that. His tank was filthy no substrate, but 2 inches of dune sand, heat bulb was a dollar store floodlight, had a primarily lettuce diet, and had no water in there with him because the owner was afraid of him drowning. Needless to say, a lot has changed for Boris in the last 48 hours.

He was very active yesterday. He's a climber who likes to freefall from a small hide/bridge in his tank (center). I got him a new hide (right) and he climbed that, too. He fell off it and has been less energetic since then. I'm nervous that something happened to him, though he appears to be just fine. No marks, bruises, or anything unusual. Could something be wrong?

He does seem to get very cold at night. His first night, he put his head in his shell until I turned on the basking lamp. He popped out and fell asleep almost immediately. The same thing happened last night. I put the light on him for a few minutes and he fell asleep. When I saw him before the lights switched back on at 7am, he was back in his shell. He's spent the morning sleeping under the lamp.

My questions: 1) Could he need a night lamp to stay warm? What strength? 2) Could his lack of good sleep be contributing to his poor energy today? Or could that he something from his fall?

Here are the stats on his enclosure:
75 gallon tank (48in x 18in x 18in)
91-93 degrees basking temp
73 degrees other side
Humidity 50%
Thanks!!

 

[Eduardo Hernandez]

How cold does it get in your house at night? Russians generally don't need any night heat unless it gets under 60 degrees. They even might benefit more from lower night temps.

He's still new, he might still be getting used to his new home. they are very active the first couple of days because they are trying to get back to their old home, and now he's starting to accept that this is his new home.

Please get a temp gun, and stop using those plastic dials. They are very inaccurate, and you need to measure the temps at your tort's height, not halfway up the tank. I would make sure the basking area is 95-100 degrees at tort height.

He also needs a much larger enclosure. I'd recommend at least 8x4 feet, but the bigger the better!

 

[katieandiggy]

View attachment 238780 View attachment 238782 View attachment 238783 Boris is a 3ish year old RT that just moved in a couple days ago. The previous owner said he had everything except a UV bulb. He wound up needing much, much more than that. His tank was filthy no substrate, but 2 inches of dune sand, heat bulb was a dollar store floodlight, had a primarily lettuce diet, and had no water in there with him because the owner was afraid of him drowning. Needless to say, a lot has changed for Boris in the last 48 hours.

He was very active yesterday. He's a climber who likes to freefall from a small hide/bridge in his tank (center). I got him a new hide (right) and he climbed that, too. He fell off it and has been less energetic since then. I'm nervous that something happened to him, though he appears to be just fine. No marks, bruises, or anything unusual. Could something be wrong?

He does seem to get very cold at night. His first night, he put his head in his shell until I turned on the basking lamp. He popped out and fell asleep almost immediately. The same thing happened last night. I put the light on him for a few minutes and he fell asleep. When I saw him before the lights switched back on at 7am, he was back in his shell. He's spent the morning sleeping under the lamp.

My questions: 1) Could he need a night lamp to stay warm? What strength? 2) Could his lack of good sleep be contributing to his poor energy today? Or could that he something from his fall?

Here are the stats on his enclosure:
75 gallon tank (48in x 18in x 18in)
91-93 degrees basking temp
73 degrees other side
Humidity 50%
Thanks!!

My Russian is very young (couple of months) , and I don’t use any night temps. The coldest is has got overnight is around 64f.
You may want to try and make your substrate deep, mine digs down into the substrate and is completely invisible until the light comes on in the morning and then he pops up again.

 

[SpanishPeanut]

Temp gun is on the list to get asap. I do have a thermometer with a sensor that goes anywhere in the tank to get a read. He has started to burrow at night in his hide, so the night bulb is retired until winter (It gets cold here and the house is usually in the mid 60s during those months). As for the enclosure, we are working on that. The tank is what he came in, and is doing okay until his new space is complete. He does get a good amount of outside time, which he's been loving!

It's really good to know that his decreased activity level is to be expected. I was worried that something was wrong Thank you!!!!