Rescue Russian woes.

[methos75]

I took in two rescue Russians last week. Christmas presents that wore out their welcome. One is completely fine. Active, roams around and eats well. The other not so much. She sleeps constantly, doesn't eat, and will just sit in one spot all day. I'm soaking her daily and she is active then trying to escape, but as soon as in the enclosure even if placed right in front of her food she just falls asleep.

I'm currently keeping her in quarantine in a Xmas tree storage tote. Hot side is 95 and the enclosure from that end drops to 80 in the middle to 75 in the far side. Substrate is moistened coir and topsoil with a layer of cypress bark on top and the basking area has Timothy hay as well piled up under it. I'm keeping the enclosure bright incase it's her trying to burmate. She has a 100 watt MVB on one side, a arcadia HO T5 12% and a LED light fixture for illumination. I don't know much about her history pass she was bought at Petco in Dec. Any ideas here?

 

[Maggie3fan]

Are they in separate habitats? What sexes? Sounds like bullying to me...if she's alone now she will improve...

 

[wellington]

Don't use hay for a substrate or top soil.
Be sure to house them separately. Never in pairs.

 

[Tom]

I took in two rescue Russians last week. Christmas presents that wore out their welcome. One is completely fine. Active, roams around and eats well. The other not so much. She sleeps constantly, doesn't eat, and will just sit in one spot all day. I'm soaking her daily and she is active then trying to escape, but as soon as in the enclosure even if placed right in front of her food she just falls asleep.

I'm currently keeping her in quarantine in a Xmas tree storage tote. Hot side is 95 and the enclosure from that end drops to 80 in the middle to 75 in the far side. Substrate is moistened coir and topsoil with a layer of cypress bark on top and the basking area has Timothy hay as well piled up under it. I'm keeping the enclosure bright incase it's her trying to burmate. She has a 100 watt MVB on one side, a arcadia HO T5 12% and a LED light fixture for illumination. I don't know much about her history pass she was bought at Petco in Dec. Any ideas here?

First question: Are they housed together? If yes, that is likely the problem. If no, then...

That sort of enclosure is MUCH too small for a Russian and it will cause the behavior you are seeing, and/or make that behavior worse. They need at least a 4x8 foot enclosure with lots of room to roam and several sight barriers and other "furniture" to make them feel safer and more secure. They need this space, even when they are in quarantine.

Soil should never be used as tortoise substrate. There could be something toxic or irritating there.

Hay has no place in any Testudo enclosure. They are not grass eaters, they certainly don't eat dry grass hay, and the hay is a mold/mildew risk in the damp conditions.

MVBs should not be used over tortoises. In smaller growing animals, they cause pyramiding. While this is not really a risk for your tortoise anymore, these bulbs have proven to be very unreliable. Some of them make no UV at all, and others make levels of UV that will blind your tortoise. Best to use a regular flood bulb from the hardware store instead. Your other lighting sounds perfect. Which Arcadia bulb do you have? 12%? 6%? What is the mounting height, and how long are you running it each day? Do you have a Solarmeter 6.5 to check UV levels? If the level is too high, it could cause the behavior that you are seeing.

You are obviously not new, but there may be some new info in here that could help you:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[methos75]

Thanks, Not new to tortoises but definitely new to these guys. It's a 12% bulb mounted at 18 inches, I'm only keeping it on 4 hours a day. They are seperated, the previous owner kept them together but her issues were present then and part of why they gave them up so I seperated them as soon as I got them in case she had a pathogen or parasites. I'll take the hay out, I just saw a video on YouTube saying to use it while doing research.

 

[Cathie G]

Thanks, Not new to tortoises but definitely new to these guys. It's a 12% bulb mounted at 18 inches, I'm only keeping it on 4 hours a day. They are seperated, the previous owner kept them together but her issues were present then and part of why they gave them up so I seperated them as soon as I got them in case she had a pathogen or parasites. I'll take the hay out, I just saw a video on YouTube saying to use it while doing research.

My little Russian is acting like that also right now. He usually starts getting more active again around mid February. He thinks it's spring. He can feel it in his bones. In the meantime I just keep on doing regular care because I don't hibernate him. He's inside (my rule) until it's warm enough in his outdoor enclosure. That's why I love/hate mid February. I have to watch him begging to go outside and tell him no.

 

[methos75]

My little Russian is acting like that also right now. He usually starts getting more active again around mid February. He thinks it's spring. He can feel it in his bones. In the meantime I just keep on doing regular care because I don't hibernate him. He's inside (my rule) until it's warm enough in his outdoor enclosure. That's why I love/hate mid February. I have to watch him begging to go outside and tell him no.

My box turtles I keep indoors do the same but they are nice and fat when they slow down, she has no real weight so that's why I'm worried. If I had more time with her before hand and was ensuring she was eating I wouldn't be so stressed.

 

[Cathie G]

My box turtles I keep indoors do the same but they are nice and fat when they slow down, she has no real weight so that's why I'm worried. If I had more time with her before hand and was ensuring she was eating I wouldn't be so stressed.

I'm not an expert but this has worked for me so far. I don't hibernate my Russian because I wasn't sure that he should be. He wasn't totally healthy because he had holes in his shell when I got him. Since then the holes have filled in but I still don't hibernate him. Even after 15 years of having him he slows down at certain times of the year. Then he'll become pretty active. I've read that's fairly normal for a Russian. I don't let him remain inactive for days on end though. I put food out and do regular care every day. If he tries to sleep too long I take him out of his hide and put him somewhere in his indoor enclosure away from his food. But also in a place that he'll have to walk past his food to go back to his hide 🤔. Otherwise he'll just tromp through it. I also used to leave the room and not let him see me if he was eating. He would stop eating. Only recently have I started to watch him eat and got to hear the crunch when he's eating. I don't know if I've done right or wrong for him and wish I could have found TFO years. If I had sent him back to the seller though, I'm sure he would not still be alive though. If you have time to watch them though, they are so funny.🤗