Never see him eat, sleeps a lot

[christine.hudson88@gmail.]

Hi: My name's Christine. I have two Russians one female and one male Bonnie n Clyde. I don't ever see Clyde eat but again I'm not home all the time he seems to be sleeping alot I'm not sure if he's trying to hibernate or not they are housed indoors and it has gotten cooler outside he's also had pink urates his pee was clear but urates pink color the temperature in the enclosure is 87 degrees in the light he doesn't look sick no runny nose I soaked him as well and he did have solid poop I assume he's eaten because he pooped idk I just get overly worried because Bonnie is very active and has a big appetite

 

[Tom]

Hi I have two Russians one female and one male Bonnie n Clyde. I don't ever see Clyde eat but again I'm not home all the time he seems to be sleeping alot I'm not sure if he's trying to hibernate or not they are housed indoors and it has gotten cooler outside he's also had pink urates his pee was clear but urates pink color the temperature in the enclosure is 87 degrees in the light he doesn't look sick no runny nose I soaked him as well and he did have solid poop I assume he's eaten because he pooped idk I just get overly worried because Bonnie is very active and has a big appetite

They should never live together as a pair. Clyde is probably hiding from an irate Bonnie that wants him out of her territory. You need to separate them ASAP.

Most of the care info from sources other than this forum give a lot of old incorrect info.

Here is the correct care info:

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

Questions are welcome.

 

[SinLA]

How old are they?

 

[christine.hudson88@gmail.]

They should never live together as a pair. Clyde is probably hiding from an irate Bonnie that wants him out of her territory. You need to separate them ASAP.

Most of the care info from sources other than this forum give a lot of old incorrect info.

Here is the correct care info:

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

Questions are welcome.

Thank you I bought a second habitat and lighting for Clyde on Amazon hopefully once I get it up he becomes more active, I'm kind of nervous about putting them into hibernation because I've never done it before and I'm afraid that I won't do it right is it ok that I put them into hibernation next year I've read online that it's ok not to hibernate them is that true

 

[christine.hudson88@gmail.]

How old are they?

The pet store said that there anywhere between 6 and 8 years old I took Bonnie to the vet when I first got her and the vet said that shes definitely adults and Clyde is a little bigger than she is

 

[SinLA]

Can you send close up pictures of them from both top and bottom. Usually females are bigger, and even two females should not live together

 

[christine.hudson88@gmail.]

The first picture is both from the Tom the lighter colored one is Bonnie and the darker one is Clyde, the second one is Bonnie from the bottom and 3rd is Clyde from the bottom, idk if there the same age or not I bought them from different pet stores and forgot to ask what Clyde's age was but the one I got Bonnie from the said anywhere between 6 and 8 years old

 

[Tom]

Thank you I bought a second habitat and lighting for Clyde on Amazon hopefully once I get it up he becomes more active, I'm kind of nervous about putting them into hibernation because I've never done it before and I'm afraid that I won't do it right is it ok that I put them into hibernation next year I've read online that it's ok not to hibernate them is that true

I'm really glad you found us, and I hope we can help your tortoises have a better life, and help you get more enjoyment out of them.

Most of the info out in the world about tortoise care is all wrong. Pet stores give terrible advice and sell mostly wrong products. Vets usually know very little about tortoises, misdiagnose problems, and offer treatments that do more harm than good at great expense. Sadly, I know both of these facts from first hand experience.

Having said that, you have now found a source for accurate and correct tortoise care info on this forum. We don't all agree on everything all the time, but there are a lot of helpful experienced tortoise keepers here and we aren't trying to sell you anything. We just want to see healthy tortoises and happy tortoise keepers.

So finally, in response to your above quoted questions:
1. There is no habitat sold on amazon that is large enough for an adult Russian. They need at least 4x8 feet when indoors. You have to build it, or have it built. Tortoises need huge enclosures in comparison to other pets and reptiles, and its not safe to let them roam the floors, so their enclosures must be large enough to meet their needs.
2. While I think that any animal that would brumate in the wild should also be safely brumated in captivity, you do not "have" to. They can be kept up, sometimes with great effort, and as far as we know, it does no damage to them.

Whichever way you decide to go, we will be glad to help you.

 

[SinLA]

Its hard to tell w/o their tails, though they look like two females to me (but I'm not very experienced). Have you seen them mating? If not, then I would think it highly unlikely one of them is a male, as that is ALL he'd want to do. I think it a good chance that you have two females and one is larger b/c it is bullying the other. They don't like being in pairs, and a lot of behavior that "seems' friendly from an anthropomorphic view is, in fact, not friendly at all. There's going to be a lot of competition between them for a) sharing a space and b) sharing a space too small maybe even for one. You may find that one is actually decline and you are just now seeing the first symptoms of it.

 

[Yvonne G]

I'd like a better picture of the tails. They both look male to me, but I can't really see the larger one's tail.

 

[SinLA]

i 100% defer to Yvonne here...