My Russian tortoise is acting strangely.

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Mariah

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Hello, I've been trying to get some help from other sites, but no one seems to know what's wrong with my tortoise.
He's a male Russian, and he is acting very stressed out lately. He's been pacing alot, which would be somewhat normal, except he's been acting very frantic lately. He seems desperate to get out of his tank, despite having the glass blocked out so that he can't see beyond it or see a reflection. I take him out everyday to explore around a bit, outside too when the weather is fair, but it doesn't seem to calm him down much. When I last gave him a bath, he got even more stressed.
All this wouldn't worry me quite as much if he was eating. Recently, we've been able to get him some new, healthier greens, but after eating them the first day, he refuses to eat anymore, even if we give him his old stuff. I've caught him eating a small amount 2 times over the past week, and all other times his food is ignored, and he continues to act restless.
Is this a normal thing for males during the warmer months? I've only had him since December, so I wouldn't know, I'm afraid... But I know a male can possibly get aggressive.
 

jensgotfaith

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I'm kind of having the same situation with my female. She scratches under her hide and on the sides of it and will pace around all day. She hardly eats but instead walks over it and drags it everywhere. She has a large water dish that every single time I clean it and fill it, within hourt 1 hour she's filled it with substrate. I don't get it either. Maybe we can figure it out together.
 

ChiKat

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Welcome to the forum!
It could be a number of things. It might be the time of year, especially if he was wild caught and knows that it's getting warmer out.

How big is his enclosure? If it's a tank I can't imagine it being big enough for an adult (I'm assuming he's an adult?)
My tortoise went through a phase where he paced a lot and was constantly trying to climb out. I would let him out to roam around the house, thinking I was doing him a favor. The second I put him back in his home (a container- he was a hatchling at the time) he would try to climb out again. I upgraded him to a 4x2 wooden enclosure and stopped letting him walk around my house, and he almost never tries to climb out now.

What are the temps in there? Maybe it's too hot?
 

Mariah

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His enclosure is... I wanna say 3 feet by 1.5? It's a pretty large tank, and is an upgrade from his old one.
He's an adult, but still growing.
He's not caught from the wild, but my house has gotten warmer with the weather, so he can feel it. The temperature of his enclosure has gotten difficult to read, I need to buy a new thermometer as the sticker hasn't been working right or showing a temperature reading. But I'll try to take some measures to cool down his tank. Would he probably calm down and eat if it was cooler?
 

ChiKat

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I wouldn't necessarily make it COOL, but if it's too hot I could see him trying to escape!
Thermometers with probes are great, and I recently invested in a temp gun (~$40 from Amazon) which is very accurate! Those stickers aren't very accurate.

I'm not an expert, and I'm sure others will chime in with more ideas and suggestions!
 

Mariah

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(Wait, his tank is 4 by 1.5 feet. XD Oops~)
Thank you guys~ I unplugged the under tan heater and have turned off the heating light temporarily (I'll turn it back on after it's had a chance to cool down a bit, it is very warm in there compared to how it was before when it was colder outside.)
If anyone has any other advice, that'd be very much appreciated too~ C:

Oh, and I won't let it get cool, just cooler for now~
 

Laura

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russians tend to drive people nuts with thier pacing and trying to escape.
I have a male that does that as well. but he is outside and i dont have to watch him all day.
Today he was trying to climb out..
But he is still eating..
what are you feeding? try something with color.. a small piece of strawberry or the red colored lettuce, pumpkin, squash.
My guy is in a pem outside about 4x8, he still paces but less then he did in a smaller area. he has spider plant, grasses, clover, dirt, water dish, and a few shelf hides.. he sleeps under them.. and sometimes during the day is on top of them..not sure hwo he makes it up there.. but he does.. good climbers...
 

Yvonne G

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Hi Mariah:

Welcome to the forum!!

Is your name "Mariah," or is that just your username? May we know where you are?
 

bikerchicspain

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It might be that it's that time of the year for finding a mate, Henri does this a lot he is separated from the female and he stops eating.
 

jrholls

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My female RT is doing the same thing, including not eating well. She is absolutely single minded on getting out of her enclosure. We took her outside the other day and she walked all the way around our house, and across our large backyard. Probably close to a nonstop 250 ft trek before we took her back inside. Is that a long way for a juvenile RT? She won't eat unless hand fed now as well. It's like she doesn't see her food because she's too focused on escape. I won't say she's driving me crazy, but it makes me worry that she's unhappy.
 

Jacqui

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jensgotfaith said:
I'm kind of having the same situation with my female. She scratches under her hide and on the sides of it and will pace around all day. She hardly eats but instead walks over it and drags it everywhere. She has a large water dish that every single time I clean it and fill it, within hourt 1 hour she's filled it with substrate. I don't get it either. Maybe we can figure it out together.

My first thought with a female is, could she be wanting to lay eggs? Is this an adult?
 

Mariah

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Sorry I've been gone~ XD
@ Laura: He's now fed mustard greens and collards, but he won't eat red lettuce either. Any fruit I'd be hesitant to give him, since I've always been told Russians shouldn't have fruit for alot of vitamin C for parasite reasons...

@Emysemys: Yeah, it's my name~ XD We live in New York state. Climate wise, we've been getting alot of hot days lately and storms.

@Bikerchicspain: Well glad to know my tortoise isn't the only one~ XD

@ Jrhols: That is odd... Hopefully you can get some answers too~
 

Mariah

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**UPDATE!**
We just bought him some romaine lettuce, and he's now eating that. Thing is, I know romaine isn't very good for him to solely eat. How do I get him to eat his healthier foods?
 

bikerchicspain

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Just keep mixing everything up,
Try cutting everything up in small pieces so that stick together without being to much.
 

Jacqui

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Mariah said:
**UPDATE!**
We just bought him some romaine lettuce, and he's now eating that. Thing is, I know romaine isn't very good for him to solely eat. How do I get him to eat his healthier foods?

In the post before, you were told how to start with a higher percentage of in this case romaine and then have the "good stuff" be in smaller amounts mixed in with all of it chopped small. Then to gradually add more and more of the "good stuff".

You know folks do a lot of downing Romaine. I myself like it and use it often. The reasons are two basic ones: 1) I have found more tortoises seem to like it then any other green I can offer. Makes it easier sometimes to feed it to get the reluctant eaters going. 2) While it may not have the best nutrient value, it has a good moisture content. Feeding it, especially to tortoises who do not like soaking, is just an added peace of mind that they are getting moisture into them via the food.

Plus don't be too worried that he is eating Romaine this week. When we talk variety and food value, we mean overall, like if you can look back at the month or even the year and the diet comes out pretty balanced, that's the important point. In the wild they eat what is available, when it's available so their diets at time become unbalanced too.:tort:
 

Mariah

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(ah sorry, I guess I forgot people mentioning that. XD)
Thank you very much~ At least now I don't feel so bad feeding him romaine. Though, while feeding him romaine alot over the past few months, I've noticed his shell growing in funny... The corners are beginning to flair up, etc. That's one of the reasons I got him other food.
I'll try to ween him into other foods as well, too.
 

Mean Guy

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Mariah said:
(ah sorry, I guess I forgot people mentioning that. XD)
Thank you very much~ At least now I don't feel so bad feeding him romaine. Though, while feeding him romaine alot over the past few months, I've noticed his shell growing in funny... The corners are beginning to flair up, etc. That's one of the reasons I got him other food.
I'll try to ween him into other foods as well, too.
Russians can eat apples occasionally according to the experts because the pectin prevents parasite blooms. When Ted is not eating as well as I like, I feed him a granny smith core. He eats what he wants and I throw the rest in the compost, after that he goes back to eating fairly well. It is what works for me and he is pretty healthy and happy. I also have a glass enclosure and he does not mind it. He likes to watch the family when he is out.
 

Mariah

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I was always nervous about apples, since I'd heard so many conflicting reports, but I think I'll try it~
Hopefully that'll boost his appetite. Thank you~
 

Mean Guy

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Once a week at the most is what I have read, but we do it once a month or so. I am like you and think that once a week is too much. ;)
 
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