Little help. (inactive)

[Brayden Cook1]

My Russian tortoise is fairly inactive and doesn’t move for up to ten minutes after I handle him, I try to give him constant fresh water, and enough food. I should probably mention I’ve had him for a few years now and he hasn’t hibernated yet. I didn’t know that was a thing for them until very recently. I would like some help on that and figuring out what is his problem. Also, if there’s a solution, I’d like to hear it because we don’t live anywhere near a vet that can treat reptiles. If necessary, I can send a picture of his habitat. I know he needs a bigger one working on it.

 

[RandyTortoise]

My Russian tortoise is fairly inactive and doesn’t move for up to ten minutes after I handle him, I try to give him constant fresh water, and enough food. I should probably mention I’ve had him for a few years now and he hasn’t hibernated yet. I didn’t know that was a thing for them until very recently. I would like some help on that and figuring out what is his problem. Also, if there’s a solution, I’d like to hear it because we don’t live anywhere near a vet that can treat reptiles. If necessary, I can send a picture of his habitat. I know he needs a bigger one working on it.

Hate to be blunt, but most vets don’t know anything about tortoises! They may not be of any help.
Hard to tell if he is acting weird. Maybe he is wanting to just chill out, maybe he wants a warm soak, hard to tell. If he is overall healthy maybe just give him a few days.

 

[COmtnLady]

Welcome to The Forum!

The Tortoise Forum has the best, most up-to-date info, plus there are many decades of tortoise keeping represented by the various members here.
For your own peace of mind don't listen to the "advice" given by other sources (like: pet shops, social media sites, People at reptile shows, many of the YouTube videos, many of the care books, and even most veterinarians). They're still using old info that doesn't work as well as what you'll find here.

Everyone will do their best to help you help your tortoise have her most optimal and healthy life.

Read the info in the links offered. All those head-exploding details will show you how to help your tortoise to thrive.

And, ask questions.

Hint: Run it by the other members before you buy new equipment or whatever - their expertise will save you a lot of time, stress, money, and damage to your tortoises.

There are some excellent plans and discussions on Night Boxes here, but first read the below Intro Sheet.
What part of California are you in? (The recommendations for Southern Cal would be different than for far north in the mountains. Its easier to get specific when the climate is already known.)




Please read this first ~

Info For New People. Please Read This First.​

_____________________________________


What are the temps and humidity like in your enclosure?

How about sharing some pics of both your tortoise and the enclosure. It really helps.


.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

If we could get more information on his overall care that’d be great! Hopefully we can help

What are your temperatures like all over? Ie basking temp(directly under the bulb), overall day temps(middle and cooler side), night temps?
What kind of basking bulb is being used specifically? Packaging photos are good if you have any
Do you use indoor uv? If so what kind?
How’s humidity?
What’s his substrate?
What kind of monitoring do you have?(measuring temp&humidity)
What’s his diet been like with you?

A photo of the full set up would be wonderful! Welcome to the forum

 

[TammyJ]

Hi and welcome to the forum!

 

[Yvonne G]

It might have to do with the lighting. They really perk up once you have the correct lighting over them.

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[Tom]

My Russian tortoise is fairly inactive and doesn’t move for up to ten minutes after I handle him, I try to give him constant fresh water, and enough food. I should probably mention I’ve had him for a few years now and he hasn’t hibernated yet. I didn’t know that was a thing for them until very recently. I would like some help on that and figuring out what is his problem. Also, if there’s a solution, I’d like to hear it because we don’t live anywhere near a vet that can treat reptiles. If necessary, I can send a picture of his habitat. I know he needs a bigger one working on it.

We need more info on the housing and lighting.

Does he eat and move around when you don't handle him? Are you asking how to make him more friendly?

 

[Brayden Cook1]

If we could get more information on his overall care that’d be great! Hopefully we can help

What are your temperatures like all over? Ie basking temp(directly under the bulb), overall day temps(middle and cooler side), night temps?
What kind of basking bulb is being used specifically? Packaging photos are good if you have any
Do you use indoor uv? If so what kind?
How’s humidity?
What’s his substrate?
What kind of monitoring do you have?(measuring temp&humidity)
What’s his diet been like with you?

A photo of the full set up would be wonderful! Welcome to the forum

Like I said, I don’t know too much about it so this is what I do know for He’s mainly inside he’s been outside a couple times in his life his tanks not really big enough to have a cold side, but he likes me on the warm side and I’m working on getting him a bigger enclosure. Directly under bulb is 100° the humidity is 20. And that’s right next to the temperature so right next to the bulb he he eats Kael, Missouri tortoise, diet, hibiscus flowers, grass, and the plant you use to rub on your skin on a sunburn not too much of that though. I’m assuming substrate means what’s the ground we have a kind of dirt and some mulch so he doesn’t ingest too much of the dirt. I tried to feed him on a rock so that he doesn’t eat too much of the stuff and I try to make sure he gets fed once a day, I try to soak weekly. I do room temperature. I let him drink until he tries to get out, he has a UV light, his shell is firm, she does move around but yeah, I just wanna make sure it’s not like a big deal , is he just stressed, or is he just not if it’s not a big deal sorry I’m just a little worried cause like I said I don’t know too much about their breed

 

[Brayden Cook1]

If we could get more information on his overall care that’d be great! Hopefully we can help

What are your temperatures like all over? Ie basking temp(directly under the bulb), overall day temps(middle and cooler side), night temps?
What kind of basking bulb is being used specifically? Packaging photos are good if you have any
Do you use indoor uv? If so what kind?
How’s humidity?
What’s his substrate?
What kind of monitoring do you have?(measuring temp&humidity)
What’s his diet been like with you?

A photo of the full set up would be wonderful! Welcome to the forum

Like I said, I don’t know too much about it so this is what I do know for He’s mainly inside he’s been outside a couple times in his life his tanks not really big enough to have a cold side, but he likes me on the warm side and I’m working on getting him a bigger enclosure. Directly under bulb is 100° the humidity is 20. And that’s right next to the temperature so right next to the bulb he he eats Kael, Missouri tortoise, diet, hibiscus flowers, grass, and the plant you use to rub on your skin on a sunburn not too much of that though. I’m assuming substrate means what’s the ground we have a kind of dirt and some mulch so he doesn’t ingest too much of the dirt. I tried to feed him on a rock so that he doesn’t eat too much of the stuff and I try to make sure he gets fed once a day, I try to soak weekly. I do room temperature. I let him drink until he tries to get out, he has a UV light, his shell is firm, she does move around but yeah, I just wanna make sure it’s not like a big deal , is he just stressed, or is he just not if it’s not a big deal sorry I’m just a little worried cause like I said I don’t know too much about their breed

 

[COmtnLady]

You're right that he needs a much bigger enclosure.

In an immediate sense, that water dish has got to go. Its so small there is no point in it being in there; the width of his shell would block him from even getting a drink from it. The best thing to use is a clean/new terracotta plant saucer. It needs to be large enough for the tortoise to walk into it and easily turn around in it. They should be able to sit in it as they want.

Tortoises need to be warm enough, have good lighting levels (sort of replicating what they'd find outside), and be able to exercise, in order to be active and have their bodies work well. They can't warm themselves up like mammals do, so its up to us to warm them. I bet once he's warmer he will be more alert and interested in things. Right now he's living in a situation where he's cold and its dark-ish, so his body is slowing down like it would in Fall.

How often do you soak him? That is really important because it keeps them hydrated and warms them up. Soaking should be in warm water that is as deep as where the top and bottom parts of his shell come together. Since it will be shallow, it will cool down very quickly. Your tortoise needs it to be kept warm the entire half hour or hour that he's soaked. Some keepers use two (small-ish, maybe the size of a dishpan at the dollar store or something that holds office papers and files) plastic bins and transfer the tortoise to the warm one when the one he's in gets a little chilly. Others use sinks or tubs with running water, they drain the cold water and replace it with warm as the time passes. Some place the bin with warm water to begin with, under a lamp that will keep it warm.


Have you had a chance to read this yet? It will help a lot.

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

Then this one.

Housing adult Russian and Hermans indoors

Hello there! In this thread I’m going to include some information an example of an appropriate indoor set up for an older Herman/russian. As much as it’s encouraged to have tortoises in a safe outdoor enclosure, I understand being from the uk myself, that some climates make it difficult to...

tortoiseforum.org

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[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Thank you for the further information, there’s definitely some changes that need making as soon as you’re able, hopefully that housing thread above helps! it covers correct equipment(uvb, heating bulbs, lighting etc, double check your bulb types), sizing(you can get away with slightly smaller indoors if you can build a larger outdoor space when weather permits, but not as small as it is currently), appropriately maintaining the humidity, safe substrates, there’s lots of visual examples for everything, and a really handy diet link to check out!

This includes lots of inspiration for an adult set up both indoors and out! The indoor bit has some good ideas to tackle indoor space whilst still providing the needed roaming room! Check comments too, I’m always adding to it. I know the recommended adult size is intimidating to some, especially if you’ve been lead into thinking he’ll be fine in a smaller set up(very common) but tortoises long term health really does rely on lots of roaming room. If you’re unable to go that big, go as big as you possibly can

Enclosure inspiration

Howdy folks! Hope everyone is well! As you all know, I’m a big fan of making threads that cater more towards visual learners like myself, I’ve really been wanting to create a thread full of adult enclosure inspiration for a while now, I’ve managed to find some great references over time! I do...

tortoiseforum.org

Lastly, this one here is probably most important to go over and keep on hand, it’ll help you avoid the wrong bulbs, substrates, housing etc, I always encourage double checking purchases on the forum too before buying

Common keeping errors

Hello everyone! I’d been a long time lurker on this site long before joining just under a year ago now, over that time I’ve seen these husbandry issues come up time and time again, sometimes with dire consequences☹️ I thought this thread might serve as a good visual guide for these common...

tortoiseforum.org

Hope they help! Please ask any further questions on them, we can help in getting this current set up more comfortable until you can figure out an upgrade, I agree with the above advice about the water dish, keep up a good soak routine, look into better lighting and substrate, then go from there

 

[TammyJ]

You have got some great advice!
And you have a nice looking tortoise.
He definitely needs to have those changes made as soon as you are able.
Thanks for caring for him!

 

[seegogh]

Like I said, I don’t know too much about it so this is what I do know for He’s mainly inside he’s been outside a couple times in his life his tanks not really big enough to have a cold side, but he likes me on the warm side and I’m working on getting him a bigger enclosure. Directly under bulb is 100° the humidity is 20. And that’s right next to the temperature so right next to the bulb he he eats Kael, Missouri tortoise, diet, hibiscus flowers, grass, and the plant you use to rub on your skin on a sunburn not too much of that though. I’m assuming substrate means what’s the ground we have a kind of dirt and some mulch so he doesn’t ingest too much of the dirt. I tried to feed him on a rock so that he doesn’t eat too much of the stuff and I try to make sure he gets fed once a day, I try to soak weekly. I do room temperature. I let him drink until he tries to get out, he has a UV light, his shell is firm, she does move around but yeah, I just wanna make sure it’s not like a big deal , is he just stressed, or is he just not if it’s not a big deal sorry I’m just a little worried cause like I said I don’t know too much about their breed

Hello, has your tortoise gotten better? Mine is very inactive recently, wondering whether I can get some experience from you. Thank you!