Russian tort not eating

[Russian tort shelldon]

Hello everyone,
The two year old Russian tortoise I rehomed roughly 6 months ago has stopped eating and is refusing to eat anything I put in front of him. He has gone through periods where he will not eat for a few days to a week but this time he has not noticeably eaten in just over a month and I am starting to worry. His heat lamp is at 30 degrees from 8am-8pm and as I am choosing not to hibernate him it will be on for longer now. I have tried all his favourite foods and still no luck
Any help is appreciated!

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Hello from a fellow uk member! Would you mind trying to answer these questions, it would be really helpful when advising! Don’t worry if you can’t answer all of them, but do your best!

When you say 30c,
What are your temperatures like all over? Ie basking temp(directly under the bulb), overall day temps(middle and cooler side), night temps?
What kind of basking bulb is being used specifically? Packaging photos are good if you have any
What’s his indoor uv type?
How’s humidity reading?
What kind of monitoring do you have?
What is his substrate?
What kind of things do you offer diet wise?

A photo of the full enclosure would be great! Along with one of your tortoise, Welcome to the forum

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

It sounds like your tortoise is prepping for brumation against your will.

These are the steps to keep your tortoise up in the winter according to @Tom :
"Here are steps to take if you don't want to brumate your temperate species:
1. Add bright LED lighting in the 5000-6500K color range. Lots of it. Make it look like daytime outside looks.
2. Set light timers to be on for 13-14 hours.
3. Bump all ambient temperatures up a bit.
4. Keep night temps warmer. Shoot for no lower than the 70s over night.
5. Pull the tortoise out of hiding and soak it often. Don't let it stay hidden in a cool hide box all day.
6. I usually run HO UV tubes for 2-3 hours mid day. To keep a tortoise up, I might bump them up to 6-8 hours a day."

Tom's Brumation Thread

Every fall we get bombarded here on the forum with all sorts of questions and problems regarding hibernation and tortoises "slowing down" for winter. The purpose of this thread is to talk about all aspects of this subject, to dispel some of the myths and mysteries, and give a "how to" list of...

tortoiseforum.org

Make sure you are taking all of these steps to keep your tortoise active and eating. You need to trick him into thinking it is summer.

 

[Russian tort shelldon]

Hello from a fellow uk member! Would you mind trying to answer these questions, it would be really helpful when advising! Don’t worry if you can’t answer all of them, but do your best!

When you say 30c,
What are your temperatures like all over? Ie basking temp(directly under the bulb), overall day temps(middle and cooler side), night temps?
What kind of basking bulb is being used specifically? Packaging photos are good if you have any
What’s his indoor uv type?
How’s humidity reading?
What kind of monitoring do you have?
What is his substrate?
What kind of things do you offer diet wise?

A photo of the full enclosure would be great! Along with one of your tortoise, Welcome to the forum

Hello thank you for your reply!
His temperatures will be 30-33C directly under his heat lamp and 20 in his hide and the humidity will be 45 on average. I was given his heat bulbs from the previous owners so I am not sure where they got them from but I have attached a photo of the box along with his enclosure and a pic of him too. He has outgrown his current enclosure and a bigger one (120x61cm) is on the way. His diet is made up of different lettuces (all edible to tortoises) dandelion leaves, plantain and in the summer he has a range of wild flowers from our garden.

 

[Russian tort shelldon]

It sounds like your tortoise is prepping for brumation against your will.

These are the steps to keep your tortoise up in the winter according to @Tom :
"Here are steps to take if you don't want to brumate your temperate species:
1. Add bright LED lighting in the 5000-6500K color range. Lots of it. Make it look like daytime outside looks.
2. Set light timers to be on for 13-14 hours.
3. Bump all ambient temperatures up a bit.
4. Keep night temps warmer. Shoot for no lower than the 70s over night.
5. Pull the tortoise out of hiding and soak it often. Don't let it stay hidden in a cool hide box all day.
6. I usually run HO UV tubes for 2-3 hours mid day. To keep a tortoise up, I might bump them up to 6-8 hours a day."

Tom's Brumation Thread

Every fall we get bombarded here on the forum with all sorts of questions and problems regarding hibernation and tortoises "slowing down" for winter. The purpose of this thread is to talk about all aspects of this subject, to dispel some of the myths and mysteries, and give a "how to" list of...

tortoiseforum.org

Make sure you are taking all of these steps to keep your tortoise active and eating. You need to trick him into thinking it is summer.

Thank you this is a big help! I will try these and hope it works!

 

[Anastasia 22]

Hello and welcome!
Unfortunately, there are too many things that need to be changed ASAP.
@The_Four_Toed_Edward , @Tom , @Littleredfootbigredheart , @wellington can you help please?

 

[wellington]

Unfortunately there is a lot that needs changing. First a bigger enclosure. An adult needs a 4x8 foot enclosure. The sand needs to be removed and replaced with coconut coir or orchid/fir bark
The bulb needs to be replaced with an incandescent flood bulb for basking that reaches 38c(95-100F) and all over day temps should range from 75-80F. Night temps 68-70F
Water dish needs to be big enough he can fit into it.
Humidity I would try to get too 50% as he has pyramiding and Russians don't pyramid as easily as other species, which means he's been raised way too dry
Also be sure to have the enclosure brightly lighted 14 hours to help keep him from wanting to brumate.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Hello thank you for your reply!
His temperatures will be 30-33C directly under his heat lamp and 20 in his hide and the humidity will be 45 on average. I was given his heat bulbs from the previous owners so I am not sure where they got them from but I have attached a photo of the box along with his enclosure and a pic of him too. He has outgrown his current enclosure and a bigger one (120x61cm) is on the way. His diet is made up of different lettuces (all edible to tortoises) dandelion leaves, plantain and in the summer he has a range of wild flowers from our garden.

Thank you for your reply!
As mentioned there are definitely changes to be made, first up are temperatures are too cool, directly under your bulb you want it to be reaching 38c, the rest ranging 75-80f during the day, though keep overall ambient in the 80 range this time of year if they’re noticing their torts slow down and aren’t wanting to brumate them. Because things are getting so cold here, I’d suggest getting a CHE(ceramic heat emitter) which is a none light emitting heat bulb, you plug it into a thermostat, set the temperature and place the probe in the coolest corner(if using multiple the probe placement will depend where the bulbs are) and let it run 24/7 no need for a timer on that.
For your basking bulb I’d definitely suggest ditching the halogen, as well as being raised too dry, halogens can contribute to pyramiding, you want an incandescent floodlight, pro rep and Arcadia do them. You want to find the right watt and height to create the desired basking temperature underneath.
The sand definitely needs to go as it poses an impaction risk.

For uvb, you want a fluorescent t5 tube bulb, id recommend the Arcadia prot5 kit 12%, it comes with the reflector fitting, the smallest size will do you.

If he’s not brumated, I’m guessing he spends a lot of the year indoors, which does mean he needs a much bigger indoor space than planned, these guys do ideally need as close to a 8x4ft as possible, now I know indoor space can be an issue, there’s a few ways to go about this whilst still providing roaming room.

I’d give this thread a read first, it covers correct equipment, levels, sizing, appropriately maintaining the humidity, substrates, there’s lots of visual examples for everything and a really handy diet link to check out!

Housing adult Russian and Hermans indoors

Hello there! In this thread I’m going to include some information an example of an appropriate indoor set up for an older Herman/russian. As much as it’s encouraged to have tortoises in a safe outdoor enclosure, I understand being from the uk myself, that some climates make it difficult to...

tortoiseforum.org

Now seeing as he does appear to have been raise quite dry, I would try and boost humidity a little bit like suggested, also as we do get so bitter cold here in the uk, some do find controlling their temperatures so much easier in a closed set up, just don’t let the humidity climb too high for these guys now he’s a little bit older, this is more a suggestion to lock in heat, perhaps some of the topper options in here could work for you, I also know of a uk viv place that makes custom orders

Visual inspiration

Hi guys! I’ve had some lovely messages complimenting me on my care sheets I made for all the visuals they include! That makes me so happy because as a visual learner myself, that was my goal🥰 I’ve recently had some requests for some more visual inspiration for set ups that can house babies/...

tortoiseforum.org

This one includes inspiration for both indoors and outdoors, I think the indoor section will be more handy for you as it includes some examples of tackling indoor space

Enclosure inspiration

Howdy folks! Hope everyone is well! As you all know, I’m a big fan of making threads that cater more towards visual learners like myself, I’ve really been wanting to create a thread full of adult enclosure inspiration for a while now, I’ve managed to find some great references over time! I do...

tortoiseforum.org

Lastly, probably the most important, this one is also really good to familiarise yourself with, it’ll help you avoid the wrong bulbs(explains more on why the one being used isn’t appropriate), wrong substrates(explains about the sand), housing etc, I always encourage double checking purchases on the forum too before buying

Common keeping errors

Hello everyone! I’d been a long time lurker on this site long before joining just under a year ago now, over that time I’ve seen these husbandry issues come up time and time again, sometimes with dire consequences☹️ I thought this thread might serve as a good visual guide for these common...

tortoiseforum.org

Hope they help! Happy to try and answer any further questions once you’ve read them! I know it probably feels like we’re throwing a whole lot at you! I’m sorry if it feels a bit overwhelming, we’re happy to help each step of the way

 

[Russian tort shelldon]

Unfortunately there is a lot that needs changing. First a bigger enclosure. An adult needs a 4x8 foot enclosure. The sand needs to be removed and replaced with coconut coir or orchid/fir bark
The bulb needs to be replaced with an incandescent flood bulb for basking that reaches 38c(95-100F) and all over day temps should range from 75-80F. Night temps 68-70F
Water dish needs to be big enough he can fit into it.
Humidity I would try to get too 50% as he has pyramiding and Russians don't pyramid as easily as other species, which means he's been raised way too dry
Also be sure to have the enclosure brightly lighted 14 hours to help keep him from wanting to brumate.

I will sort all these out asap. I had no idea!
I have a terracotta water dish I can replace the old one with and temps can reach 38 I usually just have it lower because of what I have heard was correct. As for soil I will change to a coir substrate and improve humidity. Thank you so much for your help!

 

[wellington]

I will sort all these out asap. I had no idea!
I have a terracotta water dish I can replace the old one with and temps can reach 38 I usually just have it lower because of what I have heard was correct. As for soil I will change to a coir substrate and improve humidity. Thank you so much for your help!

Yes, a terracotta saucer is what we use and recommend.
Unfortunately most info out there, whether from vets, pet stores, internet and even some breeders is wrong and outdated.
A lot of use found that same info before we found this forum.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

I will sort all these out asap. I had no idea!
I have a terracotta water dish I can replace the old one with and temps can reach 38 I usually just have it lower because of what I have heard was correct. As for soil I will change to a coir substrate and improve humidity. Thank you so much for your help!

Let us know if you have any further questions on anything at all! Keep us updated if your little one perks up

 

[zolasmum]

Hello from Devon, and welcome. I suggest you only put a very small pinch of vitamin or calcium powder on his food just a couple of times a week,- the feel of that in his mouth may be putting him off eating - and also offer him a wider variety of food. I give Zola (Hermanns) radicchio, watercress, rocket,pea shoots and lambs lettuce regularly, from Morrisons ,Waitrose, etc, as well as dandelion leaves when I can - that might encourage your little one.
Angie

 

[zolasmum]

Also Happy Birthday, Wellington - I only just noticed - I hope you have a lovely day !
Angie x

 

[RhodaE]

Hello everyone,
The two year old Russian tortoise I rehomed roughly 6 months ago has stopped eating and is refusing to eat anything I put in front of him. He has gone through periods where he will not eat for a few days to a week but this time he has not noticeably eaten in just over a month and I am starting to worry. His heat lamp is at 30 degrees from 8am-8pm and as I am choosing not to hibernate him it will be on for longer now. I have tried all his favourite foods and still no luck
Any help is appreciated!

I am not an expert and I have a very different tortoise (large, 30 yr old leopard) but when he is indoors during cold days and not wanting to eat, then I know it's time for a warm bath. I fill a large plastic tub with water as warm as I'd make for my own bath, and I put him in and I watch from a distance until he poops or tries to climb out, and then he eats vigorously. His hut is warm but it's not the same as being outside in the sun. I'm sure there are other people who will advise you properly on a small tortoise, but it may have something to do with warmth and constipation, so check into that. Good luck.

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

I am not an expert and I have a very different tortoise (large, 30 yr old leopard) but when he is indoors during cold days and not wanting to eat, then I know it's time for a warm bath. I fill a large plastic tub with water as warm as I'd make for my own bath, and I put him in and I watch from a distance until he poops or tries to climb out, and then he eats vigorously. His hut is warm but it's not the same as being outside in the sun. I'm sure there are other people who will advise you properly on a small tortoise, but it may have something to do with warmth and constipation, so check into that. Good luck.

That might help, since locomotion aids tortoise digestion.

 

[RhodaE]

That might help, since locomotion aids tortoise digestion.

Ah. Yes, on warm days my tort spends half his outdoor time marching around the perimeter, after he eats. And then later in the day he is under a shrub just relaxing. If we or other people are in the yard, then he is showing off and doing crazy things all the time.

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

Ah. Yes, on warm days my tort spends half his outdoor time marching around the perimeter, after he eats. And then later in the day he is under a shrub just relaxing. If we or other people are in the yard, then he is showing off and doing crazy things all the time.

Sounds like the baths on colder days somewhat substitute his activities during the warmer days. Keep them going!