Normally winter activity ?

fergusaur

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Hulu, my 7-8 old eastern Hermann’s tortoise, has had a decreased appetite and goes to sleep earlier ever since winter has started. His lights come on at 7 am and he usually asleep for the day between the hours of 12-4. He is still very active and will walk around his enclosure in the morning looking for food when he’s not basking , but he’ll just eat a little bit of the food I give him when it comes to weeds and vegetables, but when it comes to mazuri he’ll devour almost all of it Immediately. I bathe him daily and even though he’s not eating as much as he use to he still poops quite a lot which I was surprised at. His humidty stays at 60-80%, and he just sleeps in his humid hide when he’s done for the day, and his temps range from 77-82 degrees during the day and I don’t let it get below 68 degrees at night so I know that his temps and humidity levels are fine. Is he just acting this way because it’s winter and tortoises just slow down during this time?
 

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wellington

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His species normally would hibernate. So yes, he is acting normal. Species that don't hibernate will normally slow down even though they have all the artificial heat and lights.
To get him too eat more greens, smear soaked mazuri on it.
 

fergusaur

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His species normally would hibernate. So yes, he is acting normal. Species that don't hibernate will normally slow down even though they have all the artificial heat and lights.
To get him too eat more greens, smear soaked mazuri on it.
Thank u so much and I’ll try that !
 

Krista S

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Hulu, my 7-8 old eastern Hermann’s tortoise, has had a decreased appetite and goes to sleep earlier ever since winter has started. His lights come on at 7 am and he usually asleep for the day between the hours of 12-4. He is still very active and will walk around his enclosure in the morning looking for food when he’s not basking , but he’ll just eat a little bit of the food I give him when it comes to weeds and vegetables, but when it comes to mazuri he’ll devour almost all of it Immediately. I bathe him daily and even though he’s not eating as much as he use to he still poops quite a lot which I was surprised at. His humidty stays at 60-80%, and he just sleeps in his humid hide when he’s done for the day, and his temps range from 77-82 degrees during the day and I don’t let it get below 68 degrees at night so I know that his temps and humidity levels are fine. Is he just acting this way because it’s winter and tortoises just slow down during this time?
This is exactly how my Hermann’s tortoise acted during his first winter. It got to the point where he would be burrowed for days. If he didn’t come out on his own, every 2nd day I’d dig him up and soak him and put him in a pile of food and he would eat and maybe bask for a bit and back to burrow. As long as your temps and humidity are good and your little one is still eating, then everything is sounding normal to me. Each winter with my tortoise has been different. The first winter, like I said, he wanted to sleep for days. His 2nd winter he slowed down a lot but would wake up everyday, even if it was only for 4 hours or so. This year is his 3rd winter and his days have shortened by a couple hours and he’s full of energy during the day. I don’t know if this is typical, but I thought I’d share my experience.
 

fergusaur

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This is exactly how my Hermann’s tortoise acted during his first winter. It got to the point where he would be burrowed for days. If he didn’t come out on his own, every 2nd day I’d dig him up and soak him and put him in a pile of food and he would eat and maybe bask for a bit and back to burrow. As long as your temps and humidity are good and your little one is still eating, then everything is sounding normal to me. Each winter with my tortoise has been different. The first winter, like I said, he wanted to sleep for days. His 2nd winter he slowed down a lot but would wake up everyday, even if it was only for 4 hours or so. This year is his 3rd winter and his days have shortened by a couple hours and he’s full of energy during the day. I don’t know if this is typical, but I thought I’d share my experience.
This helps so much, thank you for telling me your experiences with your tortoise.
 

Tom

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Hulu, my 7-8 old eastern Hermann’s tortoise, has had a decreased appetite and goes to sleep earlier ever since winter has started. His lights come on at 7 am and he usually asleep for the day between the hours of 12-4. He is still very active and will walk around his enclosure in the morning looking for food when he’s not basking , but he’ll just eat a little bit of the food I give him when it comes to weeds and vegetables, but when it comes to mazuri he’ll devour almost all of it Immediately. I bathe him daily and even though he’s not eating as much as he use to he still poops quite a lot which I was surprised at. His humidty stays at 60-80%, and he just sleeps in his humid hide when he’s done for the day, and his temps range from 77-82 degrees during the day and I don’t let it get below 68 degrees at night so I know that his temps and humidity levels are fine. Is he just acting this way because it’s winter and tortoises just slow down during this time?
77-82 is a good day time ambient temperature range, but there also needs to be a basking area that get close to 100 degrees. Making it a little warmer all around, and also brighter with a longer light duration will help with this.

There are four elements to heating and lighting:
  1. Basking bulb. I use 65 watt incandescent floods from the hardware store. Some people will need bigger, or smaller wattage bulbs. Let your thermometer be your guide. I run them on a timer for about 12 hours and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. I also like to use a flat rock of some sort directly under the bulb. You need to check the temp with a thermometer directly under the bulb and get it to around 95-100F (36-37C).
  2. Ambient heat maintenance. I use ceramic heating elements or radiant heat panels set on thermostats to maintain ambient above 80 degrees day and night for tropical species. In most cases you'd only need day heat for a temperate species like Testudo or DT, as long as your house stays above 60F (15-16C) at night.
  3. Ambient light. I use LEDs for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most bulbs at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. Strip or screw-in LED bulb types are both fine.
  4. UV. If you can get your tortoise outside for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. In colder climates, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. 5.0 bulbs make almost no UV. I like the 12% HO bulbs from Arcadia. You need a meter to check this: https://www.solarmeter.com/model65.html A good UV bulb only needs to run for 2-3 hours mid day. You need the basking bulb and the ambient lighting to be on at least 12 hours a day.
 

fergusaur

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77-82 is a good day time ambient temperature range, but there also needs to be a basking area that get close to 100 degrees. Making it a little warmer all around, and also brighter with a longer light duration will help with this.

There are four elements to heating and lighting:
  1. Basking bulb. I use 65 watt incandescent floods from the hardware store. Some people will need bigger, or smaller wattage bulbs. Let your thermometer be your guide. I run them on a timer for about 12 hours and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. I also like to use a flat rock of some sort directly under the bulb. You need to check the temp with a thermometer directly under the bulb and get it to around 95-100F (36-37C).
  2. Ambient heat maintenance. I use ceramic heating elements or radiant heat panels set on thermostats to maintain ambient above 80 degrees day and night for tropical species. In most cases you'd only need day heat for a temperate species like Testudo or DT, as long as your house stays above 60F (15-16C) at night.
  3. Ambient light. I use LEDs for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most bulbs at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. Strip or screw-in LED bulb types are both fine.
  4. UV. If you can get your tortoise outside for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. In colder climates, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. 5.0 bulbs make almost no UV. I like the 12% HO bulbs from Arcadia. You need a meter to check this: https://www.solarmeter.com/model65.html A good UV bulb only needs to run for 2-3 hours mid day. You need the basking bulb and the ambient lighting to be on at least 12 hours a day.
Thanks, Tom, I appreciate the help!
 

Markw84

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Also to consider - light duration and intensity is a key trigger to activity cycles for your tortoise. A photoperiod under 12 hours will signal "time to brumate (hibernate)" Low light intensity will also do that. This time of year the light from your windows in your house is much different. Far less light intensity is coming in. Most people also dramatically under-light the enclosure for the tortoise as well.

Provide bright lights on 14 hours to simulate summer. Along with Tom's tips to provide basking heat, your tortoise will act much differently.
 
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