New tortiose owner.

[jjjes1386]

Hello,

I just recently purchased a russian tortiose from a pet store (yesterday)
Moved him to his new permanent home until I get a bigger house for him today. He's not nearly as active as he was yesterday in exploring surroundings and such. Just sitting in his shady spot corner. I have the uvb bulk and a separate heating bulb. He also hasn't had any water or food in the past two days. Is there something wrong?

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi, and welcome to the forum!

This is an unexplained phenom. A person brings a tort home and the tort is active and eating the first day. From then on for about 2 weeks or so the tortoise hides. None of us have been able to figure out exactly why this happens, but it does and seems to be a perfectly normal occurrence.

Give the tortoise the largest habitat you can fit into the room (outside would be even better), put a few sight barriers in it, a waterer, a tile or rock to feed him on, a couple hiding places, then leave him alone to figure out that he's in a safe and escape-proof place. He will soon get used to it and to you as the food god, and start to come out on his own. You can take him out of hiding every morning and place him in front of the food. You can even put the food at the mouth of the hiding place.

 

[jjjes1386]

Hi, and welcome to the forum!

This is an unexplained phenom. A person brings a tort home and the tort is active and eating the first day. From then on for about 2 weeks or so the tortoise hides. None of us have been able to figure out exactly why this happens, but it does and seems to be a perfectly normal occurrence.

Give the tortoise the largest habitat you can fit into the room (outside would be even better), put a few sight barriers in it, a waterer, a tile or rock to feed him on, a couple hiding places, then leave him alone to figure out that he's in a safe and escape-proof place. He will soon get used to it and to you as the food god, and start to come out on his own. You can take him out of hiding every morning and place him in front of the food. You can even put the food at the mouth of the hiding place.

Thanks so much i was sitting in my room worrying about what was going on haha. How long should I wait before getting a new bigger home for him? I don't want him to be super stressed from moving all the time.

 

[Yvonne G]

You need to do it ASAP or you'll have to go through the stress and hiding thing all over again.

 

[jjjes1386]

Also should I take him out to explore around my apartment or out side or just leave him be?

 

[johnsonnboswell]

Tortoises should not walk around apartments. We've written a lot on this topic. Unsafe, no matter how clean the space. Bad flooring for feet & legs, bad temps, no moisture. Every now and the tortoise vanishes. One got its head crushed in the door. The space is tempting, but it's a bad idea.

Outdoors is good. Make him an escape proof pen for outdoors. They're escape artists. If you rely on watching him when he's outdoors, he won't spend much time out at all, and he may well vanish. But outdoors is good.

 

[Jodie]

Letting them roam outside of a safe enclosure, inside or out is dangerous. Build an outdoor enclosure for him to safely get some sun. Outside is great for them.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I don't want to sound like a broken record. (Maybe already too late?) But, can you give us a picture of your uvb bulb?
That could very likely cause him some stress.

 

[jjjes1386]

I don't want to sound like a broken record. (Maybe already too late?) But, can you give us a picture of your uvb bulb?
That could very likely cause him some stress.

 

[jjjes1386]

Also new info. He has started to dig in the corner he's facing down and just chilling. I move him in the mornings in front of his food (organic central market spring mix) and crawls over it then eventually back to his corner spot the skinny bulb was apparently a heating bulb? And the uvb is a 13 watt pets mart brand

 

[jjjes1386]

I just felt his sand in the cage I med sand peat moss and retire bark. The sand felt cold. The tank I got also had a heating thing that went under the tank and a slab of rock that goes over the heating mechanism on the inside of the tank that's buried under the other substrates. Just plugged that in to try and warm up his cage

 

[jjjes1386]

Just check the temp in his hiding spot area and it said it is 75 degrees.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Remove the coiled bulb. It will cause eye issues.
Hopefully someone else will chime in with a good alternative to your lighting.
You will likely need to get a mercury vapor bulb and housing, It will give you your UVB as well as supply extra heat.
For right now, just unscrew the coiled bulb and if you have one of those plug in "heat rocks", don't use it for your tortoise.
Where are you located? Maybe another member close by can help to better get you set up and running.
You need your basic temperature to be above 80 degrees.
Photos of your whole enclosure would be even better.

 

[jjjes1386]

San marcos texas. Can you just send me item numbers and I can run to petsmart? Or I guess a link to the picture of when I'm looking for

 

[jjjes1386]

Here's another bulb that came with the original lighting fixture. It says 75 watt. Are you suggesting that I get a clamp light Fixture?

 

[jjjes1386]

 

[ZEROPILOT]

That looks like a neodium bulb. It would be a safe bulb.
I think most keepers get their bulbs off of Ebay. Mine all live outside.
Petsmart sells an "Exo Terra Solar glo" Mercury vapor light for $46.99 but it only has a rating of 2.5 out of 5.
Maybe someone else can point you in the right direction to find one better/cheaper.
You will also need a ceramic based housing for this light.
A mercury vapor bulb used with a thermostat would be fantastic!

 

[jjjes1386]

There's also a repti go exo Terra 2.0 in this lighting apparatus is that a good source of light too?

 

[Yvonne G]

The long fluorescent tube you're using is probably the UVB bulb. It is ok. The spiral shaped bulb should be removed at once. They cause eye issues. The smaller, clear bulb is more than likely your heat source. It's not nearly big enough to get your habitat warm enough . As you have found out, a cool tortoise won't eat. I like to use this bulb for heat and UVB all in one fixture:

 

[Yvonne G]

That was a good catch, @ZEROPILOT I often forget to ask about the bulbs.