Need some help - habitat evaluation

[Eva C]

Hi! My Russian tortoise seems to have gone into hibernation. He stays in the same spot all the time, unless I move him. He will eat if I put some food right in front of him, and wake him up.

This has happened before. A vet looked him over and said he seemed healthy. He was also very active. I eventually decided that it was because the base temperature in my apartment had dropped a few degrees. While it still was in the low to mid 70s, this change seemed to be enough to trigger a reaction in him. This may or may not be right, but it was my conclusion.

Recently I decided that I only needed to have the uvb on a few hours a day, since he was only active a few hours a day, he wasn't using the light when he was buried, right? This, along with another mild temp drop and the changing season probably created this situation.

Please let me know if you think I am on the right track here. I have some stats from my habitat, and a picture below. A glaring issue is that it is too dry, I don't know if its the cause of this particular problem, but I am going to try to fix it right away.

Temp under heat lamp: 81-82
height above rock: 12"
time on: 7:30am to 8pm

Height of uvb tube: 20"
time on: 9am-7:30pm

Temp outside of heat lamp: 70
humidity: 7%

 

[lismar79]

Hello fellow Ohioan

My Russian does this every single year. I have never hibernated her and have had her about five years I think. For about a few weeks she slows down and digs into her substrate and hardly comes out. I really have to Baby her for this period of time. I usually cave in and give her more romaine lettuce with mazuri smeared on to it. At least this way she is eating a little bit because she cannot seem to resist Romaine. Knowing that she cannot survive on Romaine alone I hand feed her and Tuck other weeds underneath of it so she occasionally gets a bite. Like I said this goes on for a few weeks if it gets really bad I soak a couple of times a week using a jar of carrot or squash baby food added in. She usually perks up a little bit after those baths. A couple of things I will mention with your setup: I don't think you're basking spot is warm enough I shoot for 100 degrees right dead center under the light cooling down the further away from the center. The heat helps them process the food. And you definitely don't want cooler temperatures with this type of behavior. I would at least at minimal do 95° I would move your uv light down to about 12 in at . Uv diminishes as you raise the source up and during the winter you definitely need it. Humidity isn't usually a huge factor for Russians but I would at least put in a humid hide. The thing with adding humidity is you for sure want to raise your temperature so that they don't get sick.
So long story short raise your temperatures and stick it out he should snap out of it soon.

 

[Eduardo Hernandez]

The temp under the lamp should be between 95-100 degrees. The UVB is also probably a bit too high to be effective. What’s your overnight temps? And how are you measuring them?

 

[Jenanprid]

Hi I am new to having a tortoise it has been asleep for one week now so I think it is going into hibernation it's still moving around but it's eyes are always shut, I'm worried it hasn't eaten enough for it to go into hibernation what should I do? I didn't think it would go into hibernation by itself as it is only 1 year in 3 months old so this will be the first time it's going into hibernation and won't I still need to keep it hydrated?

 

[Tom]

Hi! My Russian tortoise seems to have gone into hibernation. He stays in the same spot all the time, unless I move him. He will eat if I put some food right in front of him, and wake him up.

This has happened before. A vet looked him over and said he seemed healthy. He was also very active. I eventually decided that it was because the base temperature in my apartment had dropped a few degrees. While it still was in the low to mid 70s, this change seemed to be enough to trigger a reaction in him. This may or may not be right, but it was my conclusion.

Recently I decided that I only needed to have the uvb on a few hours a day, since he was only active a few hours a day, he wasn't using the light when he was buried, right? This, along with another mild temp drop and the changing season probably created this situation.

Please let me know if you think I am on the right track here. I have some stats from my habitat, and a picture below. A glaring issue is that it is too dry, I don't know if its the cause of this particular problem, but I am going to try to fix it right away.

Temp under heat lamp: 81-82
height above rock: 12"
time on: 7:30am to 8pm

Height of uvb tube: 20"
time on: 9am-7:30pm

Temp outside of heat lamp: 70
humidity: 7%

The urge to hibernate is driven more by diminishing light intensity and duration than by temps. Keep your lights on 13-14 hours a day, and consider adding another florescent tube to make it look brighter. Get one in the 5000-6500K color range. This will be listed on the packaging.

I agree with other posters that the basking area directly under the bulb should be 95-100.

Daily warm soaks will help snap the tortoise out of this, and also keep the tortoise well hydrated in this time of less food consumption.

What type of UV tube are you using? If it is a regular T-8 10.0 bulb, you are getting no UV benefit at that height. If it is an Arcadia 12% T-5 HO bulb, you have it mounted at the right height. A UV meter is an indispensable tool in making sure you have this right in a climate with a frozen winter. This is the one to get: https://www.solarmeter.com/model65.html

 

[Jenanprid]

My temp is fine it hasnt changed an i do keep it on for 12 to 13 hours a day i have the
ARCADIA D3 REPTILE BASKING LAMP 80W HEAT LIGHT & UV UVA UVB IR this keeps it at the right temp which is 36°C and in the cool area it is 26°C i just want to know if i should wake him up?

 

[Jenanprid]

I bathed it every 2 days but it just went to sleep its been a week now. All tortoises hibernate dont they so why should we not let ours. Im just worried he hasnt eating enough to do that. Thats all

 

[Cheryl Hills]

When a tortoise is going into hibernation, they slow down on eating and usually you don’t want them it hibernate with any food in their gut. It can build bacteria or mold, I believe. They have to be hydrated well. Also, temps matter with hibernation. They have to be kept at around 40 degrees. These are a few things I know that may help. But, you should follow Yvonne’s and Toms advice. They are much more experienced then I am.

 

[Tom]

I bathed it every 2 days but it just went to sleep its been a week now. All tortoises hibernate dont they so why should we not let ours. Im just worried he hasnt eating enough to do that. Thats all

No, not all tortoise hibernate. Only the species from temperate parts of the world. Your tortoise is a temperate species, so you can hibernate it if you want to, but you don't have to.

If you want to keep it up, then I would wake it up and soak it every day and make sure the lights are all on for at least 13 hours a day. Some of them are persistent, but will snap out of it.

If you want to hibernate your tortoise then read post number 19 in this thread for the explanation of how to do it correctly. Feel free to ask lots of questions: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/looking-for-an-rt-hibernation-mentor.128790/

 

[Eva C]

Hello fellow Ohioan

My Russian does this every single year. I have never hibernated her and have had her about five years I think. For about a few weeks she slows down and digs into her substrate and hardly comes out. I really have to Baby her for this period of time. I usually cave in and give her more romaine lettuce with mazuri smeared on to it. At least this way she is eating a little bit because she cannot seem to resist Romaine. Knowing that she cannot survive on Romaine alone I hand feed her and Tuck other weeds underneath of it so she occasionally gets a bite. Like I said this goes on for a few weeks if it gets really bad I soak a couple of times a week using a jar of carrot or squash baby food added in. She usually perks up a little bit after those baths. A couple of things I will mention with your setup: I don't think you're basking spot is warm enough I shoot for 100 degrees right dead center under the light cooling down the further away from the center. The heat helps them process the food. And you definitely don't want cooler temperatures with this type of behavior. I would at least at minimal do 95° I would move your uv light down to about 12 in at . Uv diminishes as you raise the source up and during the winter you definitely need it. Humidity isn't usually a huge factor for Russians but I would at least put in a humid hide. The thing with adding humidity is you for sure want to raise your temperature so that they don't get sick.
So long story short raise your temperatures and stick it out he should snap out of it soon.

Thank you so much!!! He has come back to life, I took him out and gave him some food once a day, and increased temperature and light.

 

[Eva C]

The urge to hibernate is driven more by diminishing light intensity and duration than by temps. Keep your lights on 13-14 hours a day, and consider adding another florescent tube to make it look brighter. Get one in the 5000-6500K color range. This will be listed on the packaging.

I agree with other posters that the basking area directly under the bulb should be 95-100.

Daily warm soaks will help snap the tortoise out of this, and also keep the tortoise well hydrated in this time of less food consumption.

What type of UV tube are you using? If it is a regular T-8 10.0 bulb, you are getting no UV benefit at that height. If it is an Arcadia 12% T-5 HO bulb, you have it mounted at the right height. A UV meter is an indispensable tool in making sure you have this right in a climate with a frozen winter. This is the one to get: https://www.solarmeter.com/model65.html

Thank you!!

 

[Eva C]

The temp under the lamp should be between 95-100 degrees. The UVB is also probably a bit too high to be effective. What’s your overnight temps? And how are you measuring them?

Thank you. I place thermometers in different spots. Night temp tonight is 77.