TeganTallullah
New Member
- Joined
- Nov 22, 2015
- Messages
- 15
I think my Russian (aka Horsefield) tortoise is trying to hibernate, but I haven't planned to hibernate her and I'm am worried about her.
It's winter where I am and in the last couple of days the temperature has really dropped and I don't have any central heating. For the last month of so she has been off her food, barely touching it. She is sleeping most of the day, and the thing I'm most worried about is I can't remember the last time she pooped. I haven't seen any in her enclosure for ages, I can't remember the last time, but at least three weeks! She has peed a few times in this time though. I haven't seen her drinking in this time either, but her water bowl does get less full so I guess she is drinking a bit. I haven't seen her eating in the last couple of weeks either but I think a tiny bit is getting eaten. She still walks about a little, but nothing compared to her usual activity, and often I see her sitting still but with her eyes open. Often I put her under her heat lamp in the morning to warm her up and she sits there for a bit and then goes and sleeps in her shady log.
I feed her mostly dandelions, clover, broccoli and grated carrot. Very occasionally I feed her spinach, grated parsnip and grated apple. She also has a cuttlefish bone in with her. I don't have a garden so she is inside all the time. She has a wooden tortoise table, approx 1 metres by 0.5 metres, with a heat lamp and a UV strip light (but the lights are on different sides of the enclosure which isn't ideal). She doesn't have any substrate in her house right now but usually she has soil with beech chips on top and hay. She is about 4 and a half years old and I have not hibernated her yet, because a) I thought she was still too young and b) I'm very nervous about it going wrong!
Should I be worried about her behaviour? Any ideas on what I should do would be much appreciated.
It's winter where I am and in the last couple of days the temperature has really dropped and I don't have any central heating. For the last month of so she has been off her food, barely touching it. She is sleeping most of the day, and the thing I'm most worried about is I can't remember the last time she pooped. I haven't seen any in her enclosure for ages, I can't remember the last time, but at least three weeks! She has peed a few times in this time though. I haven't seen her drinking in this time either, but her water bowl does get less full so I guess she is drinking a bit. I haven't seen her eating in the last couple of weeks either but I think a tiny bit is getting eaten. She still walks about a little, but nothing compared to her usual activity, and often I see her sitting still but with her eyes open. Often I put her under her heat lamp in the morning to warm her up and she sits there for a bit and then goes and sleeps in her shady log.
I feed her mostly dandelions, clover, broccoli and grated carrot. Very occasionally I feed her spinach, grated parsnip and grated apple. She also has a cuttlefish bone in with her. I don't have a garden so she is inside all the time. She has a wooden tortoise table, approx 1 metres by 0.5 metres, with a heat lamp and a UV strip light (but the lights are on different sides of the enclosure which isn't ideal). She doesn't have any substrate in her house right now but usually she has soil with beech chips on top and hay. She is about 4 and a half years old and I have not hibernated her yet, because a) I thought she was still too young and b) I'm very nervous about it going wrong!
Should I be worried about her behaviour? Any ideas on what I should do would be much appreciated.