Russian slowing down U.K.

[Andreotti10]

Hi all
I have noticed the last few days my Russian tortoise who is around 2 has definitely slowed down a touch and is eating slightly less.
He seems well eyes, skin nose mouth all clear. I wondered about parasites

But suddenly thought maybe it could be the weather. It has suddenly changed, got a lot cooler at night. And of course the days are now much shorter.

He has been sooooo active all summer and as I’ve only had him a year not really sure exactly what to expect over winter.

I guess this is a really controversial question if you should hibernate them over winter. I have no plans to as I spend a few hours a day with them and am always monitoring them.

I guess my question is is it normal for a Russian to slow down as the weather changes and gets cooler???

Thanks

 

[wellington]

Yes it's normal. But if you are keeping him up, you need to have bright lighting on at least 12 hours and keep the temps up. 95-100F basking and 75-80F all over. I keep a little heat on at night so it stays in the upper 60'sF. I don't brumate mine either.
Even with this, they may still hide away more then they would in summer and will still eat less. Mine some days won't eat at all then the next day he will eat all I give him. As long as he seems healthy, you have correct temps and lighting, let him do his thing.
I will not let mine hide away for more then a day though and I will make him get up and eat/roam/etc.

 

[Andreotti10]

Yes it's normal. But if you are keeping him up, you need to have bright lighting on at least 12 hours and keep the temps up. 95-100F basking and 75-80F all over. I keep a little heat on at night so it stays in the upper 60'sF. I don't brumate mine either.
Even with this, they may still hide away more then they would in summer and will still eat less. Mine some days won't eat at all then the next day he will eat all I give him. As long as he seems healthy, you have correct temps and lighting, let him do his thing.
I will not let mine hide away for more then a day though and I will make him get up and eat/roam/etc.

This is incredibly helpful thank you. I’ve noticed all the things you mention.
You have taught me that I made a mistake yesterday. I normally bring him out his enclosure for 30 mins where he chases me for food treats as he’s very food oriented, after a few treats he just wanted to climb under my legs and go to sleep. So I put him back in and turned off his lights an hour earlier than normal. I won’t do that again
A couple of questions
1). Do you worry that when they hide away more in winter they are possibly not getting as much uv light directly on them??
2) do you soak them a lot still in winter I also use heat at night and don’t want them to dehydrate

Thank you so much

 

[Lyn W]

This is incredibly helpful thank you. I’ve noticed all the things you mention.
You have taught me that I made a mistake yesterday. I normally bring him out his enclosure for 30 mins where he chases me for food treats as he’s very food oriented, after a few treats he just wanted to climb under my legs and go to sleep. So I put him back in and turned off his lights an hour earlier than normal. I won’t do that again
A couple of questions
1). Do you worry that when they hide away more in winter they are possibly not getting as much uv light directly on them??
2) do you soak them a lot still in winter I also use heat at night and don’t want them to dehydrate

Thank you so much

My leopard is a non hibernating species so he is awake and gets treated the same all year and I continue with soaks. He does slow down in the winter and eats less but he has to have heat 24/7 and light.
If you are keeping him awake you need to make sure his temps are warm enough day and night with a CHE run through a thermostat and provide uvb. Many of use T5 HO tube kits - I like Arcadia. The CHE can be used for night heat and extra heat during the day if needed, but you may also need a flood basking bulb.

If you mean you let him run around the floor of the house then it will be a lot colder down there and he will get cold and want to sleep. Best to keep him safe in his own warm enclosure.

There are a lot of threads about hibernating - some use fridges to make sure the temps stay consistently below the required temps.

If you haven't already seen it this is the carehsheet you need for heating and lighting advice.

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

 

[wellington]

No I don't worry about him getting enough uvb during winter. If I were to brumate him he wouldnt get any plus I don't let him hide away for more than a day.
I don't soak him more in winter. Again if they were brumated they wouldn't get soaked. Summer is the time of year that they likely would get dehydrated.

 

[SinLA]

Yes it's normal. But if you are keeping him up, you need to have bright lighting on at least 12 hours and keep the temps up. 95-100F basking and 75-80F all over. I keep a little heat on at night so it stays in the upper 60'sF. I don't brumate mine either.
Even with this, they may still hide away more then they would in summer and will still eat less. Mine some days won't eat at all then the next day he will eat all I give him. As long as he seems healthy, you have correct temps and lighting, let him do his thing.
I will not let mine hide away for more then a day though and I will make him get up and eat/roam/etc.

I know this is an old post @wellington , but do you still follow this routine? I feel like it might fit the bill for me and my Russian

 

[wellington]

I know this is an old post @wellington , but do you still follow this routine? I feel like it might fit the bill for me and my Russian

I do except he is staying this winter in the tort shed. I used to house him in the basement with the temps listed in the other post. The tort shed houses my leopards too so temps are never lower then 80. He seems to act the same as when he was in the basement but less hiding away and a little more eating.