Russian Tortoise Activity

[cheerios586]

Hi,
My Yoshi doesn't seem very active, all she does is eat, bask, and sleep. Is this normal for them? I mean she doesn't even use her entire enclosure to roam. Just switches sleeping areas from her cave to her house, periodically. She seems to be growing fine, eating well, and her feces and urine all seem fine. Her shell looks good, some growth rings around the bottom. I've posted pictures of it here earlier and all said they looked good. Just hear on here that other tortoises/turtles were active and was wondering what was meant by that?

Thanks a bunch in advance,
Cheryl

 

[Gillian M]

A very warm welcome to the forum, @cheerios586 .

Torts do not like change therefore they take time to adapt. Patience is required here.

 

[cheerios586]

Thank you for your response. I usually provide soakings every-other day for her, it seems to keep her regular, should I do them every day since change for her is distressing? She doesn't like it when I mess-up her bed either after she digs a nice little hole to sleep in; but, I want to make sure she hasn't peed there and I have to change her bedding, etc. I can tell she's upset with me. Funny how they have their own personalities, mine is very selfish, kind, but will hiss at you if you move too fast. She likes everything in slow motion.

 

[JoesMum]

A tort’s day runs something like bask to warm up, eat, snooze, bask, eat, repeat...

Daily soaks do no harm and I recommend them for new torts. Do it first thing in the morning before she’s warmed up properly, tidy the enclosure and place food while she soaks and then pop her back.

Some live plants growing in pots can provide food to browse on during the day. Change where you place food so she has to look for it.

 

[cheerios586]

A tort’s day runs something like bask to warm up, eat, snooze, bask, eat, repeat...

Daily soaks do no harm and I recommend them for new torts. Do it first thing in the morning before she’s warmed up properly, tidy the enclosure and place food while she soaks and then pop her back.

Some live plants growing in pots can provide food to browse on during the day. Change where you place food so she has to look for it.

Hi,
What type of live plants can I grow inside in pots do you recommend, I live in WA state.

 

[JoesMum]

A good start is spider plant. You can grow one on a windowsill and it will throw out runners providing an endless supply of baby plants that you can grow in to use in the enclosure

 

[cheerios586]

A good start is spider plant. You can grow one on a windowsill and it will throw out runners providing an endless supply of baby plants that you can grow in to use in the enclosure

I'm not very good at growing plants, but, I'll get a couple and try my luck. Thank you for your help.

 

[cheerios586]

A tort’s day runs something like bask to warm up, eat, snooze, bask, eat, repeat...

Daily soaks do no harm and I recommend them for new torts. Do it first thing in the morning before she’s warmed up properly, tidy the enclosure and place food while she soaks and then pop her back.

Some live plants growing in pots can provide food to browse on during the day. Change where you place food so she has to look for it.

I changed her dish placement this morning and she was all confused, I did place her Kettle Bone where her dish was (she never touches her kettle bone) and I caught her eating/scraping the bone. Also, some of her food was missing out of her bowl, so she must have found it this morning after her bath/soak. Thank you for your expertise, I think this will get her moving a bit more.