Russian tortoise acting weird

[BumpyTheTort]

Hey guys,

So, my 2 year old Horsfield (Russian) tortoise has been acting strangely lately, abnormal to how he used to be. For context, he used to be very active always exploring and I do change things around every now and again and he seems to love it. Burrowing, using his hide. Even climbing, at one point he used to like throwing himself off small drops lol

But lately, he’s just been sitting around his heat lamp all day and he does eat I guess, but usually he leaves quite a lot of it and moreso just moves around and scatters it everywhere. The only way I get him to eat as much as he needs to is by hand feeding which encourages him to go back and eat. I don’t know if this is just me worrying too much or if there actually is something wrong. Something else to note is I’m seeing poop a lot less now compared to how much I used to see.

I was hesitant to make this post since he is somewhat active, just way less than he used to be & he’s always under the heat lamp in comparison to say a few months ago. Checked some other forums, didn’t find any answers, I’ve checked his eyes and mouth, nothing seems to be wrong. He usually gets excited to see me
I’m really worried he’s going to dry himself out or something.

Context if needed:

- Directly under lamp: around 35C (only directly under)
- Hot side of the enclosure: around 31C
- Colder side of enclosure: Around 24-25C (does range a bit since I do have quite a longish enclosure but nothings too cold to my knowledge, all around 24-28ish C)
- Gets baths every 2 days
- Humidity is around 60%, ranges a tad in the enclosure but usually around that.

If needed I can show my enclosure, just ask. Thank you for anyone who gives me any tips or information because I’m really worried about him

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Hey guys,

So, my 2 year old Horsfield (Russian) tortoise has been acting strangely lately, abnormal to how he used to be. For context, he used to be very active always exploring and I do change things around every now and again and he seems to love it. Burrowing, using his hide. Even climbing, at one point he used to like throwing himself off small drops lol

But lately, he’s just been sitting around his heat lamp all day and he does eat I guess, but usually he leaves quite a lot of it and moreso just moves around and scatters it everywhere. The only way I get him to eat as much as he needs to is by hand feeding which encourages him to go back and eat. I don’t know if this is just me worrying too much or if there actually is something wrong. Something else to note is I’m seeing poop a lot less now compared to how much I used to see.

I was hesitant to make this post since he is somewhat active, just way less than he used to be & he’s always under the heat lamp in comparison to say a few months ago. Checked some other forums, didn’t find any answers, I’ve checked his eyes and mouth, nothing seems to be wrong. He usually gets excited to see me
I’m really worried he’s going to dry himself out or something.

Context if needed:

- Directly under lamp: around 35C (only directly under)
- Hot side of the enclosure: around 31C
- Colder side of enclosure: Around 24-25C (does range a bit since I do have quite a longish enclosure but nothings too cold to my knowledge, all around 24-28ish C)
- Gets baths every 2 days
- Humidity is around 60%, ranges a tad in the enclosure but usually around that.

If needed I can show my enclosure, just ask. Thank you for anyone who gives me any tips or information because I’m really worried about him

They’ll be someone more experienced along to answer soon, @Yvonne G @ZEROPILOT @wellington @Alex and the Redfoot

But it does definitely always help if they can get a picture of both your tort and enclosure

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

Has he still been gaining weight? Is there a change in his pooping/peeing? What is his diet and has that changed? Does he get UVB? Doesn't sound too concerning to me yet, but I would still wait for the more experienced keepers to show up. It is good to keep an eye out for any changes!

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Unfortunately, I can't tell what's happening. From description I see nothing horribly wrong with husbandry. Less poop than usual is expected as he is moving less and, perhaps, eating less.

Photos of the enclosure and the tortoise (Bumpy is his name, I guess?) would be helpful. Some details on what do use for heating/lightning/UVB and what substrate will help too.