My baby russian is not very active

[Deanlfcladd]

I've had my baby russian now for about 3 months and I'm a little worried about her health she never comes out of her hide I have to wake her up for her daily bath I've not seen her poo or pee ever. After her bath I put her near her basking spot she normally crawls into it to warm up she basks for a while has a wander for maximum 30 mins ocassionly eats a small amount of food then disappears back to bed she barely eats and has only came out of her hide willingly once or twice. 3 weeks ago I added a second hide and some decorations the pic is her current setup all lights off because it's late any advice or reassurance would be appreciated thanks.

 

[Tom]

1. What are your four temps? Warm side, cool side, basking area, and over night low?
2. The substrate should be lightly damp all over and hand packed firmly.
3. The food needs to be in a bowl off of the substrate. Incidental ingestion of substrate that is stuck to food can cause impaction. Terra cotta plant saucers from a hardware store are cheap and easy to get for this and for the water. Sink the saucers down into the substrate.
4. What are you using for night heat?
5. Ambient light?
6. UV? What type of UV bulb?

 

[TammyJ]

Hi there and welcome to you and your tortoise. Tom and other experts here are very happy to help you, but you need to provide the information asked for so we can know whats going on and tell you what is needed. Thanks!

 

[Deanlfcladd]

1. What are your four temps? Warm side, cool side, basking area, and over night low?
2. The substrate should be lightly damp all over and hand packed firmly.
3. The food needs to be in a bowl off of the substrate. Incidental ingestion of substrate that is stuck to food can cause impaction. Terra cotta plant saucers from a hardware store are cheap and easy to get for this and for the water. Sink the saucers down into the substrate.
4. What are you using for night heat?
5. Ambient light?
6. UV? What type of UV bulb?

Warm side reaches around 28°c to 29°c. Cool side around 24°c. Basking I aim for 36/37°c. Night time reaches as low as 18°c I use a che at night to keep temps no lower uv on for 5 hours a day from 12pm I have an led light to brighten in the day uv is an arcadia 12% around 40cms from substrate level her food is on a piece of slate

 

[Tom]

Warm side reaches around 28°c to 29°c. Cool side around 24°c. Basking I aim for 36/37°c. Night time reaches as low as 18°c I use a che at night to keep temps no lower uv on for 5 hours a day from 12pm I have an led light to brighten in the day uv is an arcadia 12% around 40cms from substrate level her food is on a piece of slate

All of this sounds ideal. Let's consider other possibilities.

This is very likely to be "winter blues". Russians are a temperate species and they know its winter and that they should be brumating, even when we keep them warm and lit, and we don't want them to. It sounds like you are doing everything right to keep the tortoise up and active, but sometimes they just have other ideas.

Another possibility is disease. I hope this is not the case because some of them are difficult or impossible to diagnose in a living animal. Most vets don't know tortoise care very well, so even that is a tough road. You could always run a fecal sample to see if an excess of worms are present. An x-ray could eliminate bladder stones or impaction as an issue. If you are soaking daily, bladder stones should not be an issue.

How often do

 

[methos75]

My Russian pretty was like this last winter when I got him, this year though he has remain active all winter.

 

[Deanlfcladd]

Thanks I'm hoping it is just down to the winter time. Being a new keeper I just wanted to double check it was somewhat normal behaviour I have read online that baby's can sleep 19 to 22 hours a day so that gave me at least some reassurance.

 

[Sarah2020]

Hi, They can sleep long hours 22 hours is not unusual. As it grows you will find early to bed and up early/ish in the morning. Mine (4 + years) goes to bed around 4pm and can be still asleep at 7 or 8am so around 16 hours sleep. In the morning I normally find it basking under the heat lamp waiting for soak or fresh plate of leaves. They hate change and a routine is important along with correct setup and settings.
It is winter! mine is just out of brumation and desperate to be out in his outside enclosure but we are months away from that. Keep it warm, soaked and fed and hopefully as spring and summer approach it will be active for a few more hours. Add some low rocks in the enclosure to block end to end vision and encourage exploration as it wants to know what is beyond. Note: they are escape artists so when active it will be working out how to escape.