I agree with Wellington. You've got the wrong size enclosure, wrong bulbs and wrong water bowl. The enclosure is also too barren with nowhere to hide. Are you using a cfl type UV bulb in that double hood?
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This the most I could do at the moment the temps that I'm taking seems right she has wight bur doesn't want to eat she has fluffy eyes and doesn't move much the only thing I'm thinking is just that there nothing I don't know her age but she could be 9 or 10 years old and I've only gotten correct temps this year she has lived with nothing for most of her life she still looks the same form when I got her so I think she is a little older then I think she us but I don't know if she will die within the yearI agree with Wellington. You've got the wrong size enclosure, wrong bulbs and wrong water bowl. The enclosure is also too barren with nowhere to hide. Are you using a cfl type UV bulb in that double hood?
Also, there is no "sort of brumation". If your tortoise has been inactive and not eating, and you didn't do the correct things to lead in to brumation, then you might have a dire situation on your hands. There is nothing a vet can do, and they will likely make it worse. You need the correct temperatures and lighting.
Give this a read for all the correct care info. Make some changes quickly.
Info For New People. Please Read This First.
Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...
Let's see if we can help.
She has had puffy eyes before I added heats ny heat for right now because it's gunne be summer is around high 80s and low 70s but for night I fo down to around 66 or 70 and for cool I use my rooms temperature because it cools her off for now I've given her carrot soacks because she didn't eat that helped her with he eyes but she hasn't shown any improvement with moving around or eating
A bigger enclosure is my top priority but I'm just trying to get her health better before I go buying a new enclosure so I want her to be a little better before getting a new enclosure
I kinda understand that, except if temps can't get correct because it's too small and the stress of it being too small, that's potentially going to not help or let her get better.
I can't understand what you are saying. Please form sentences and use punctuation.
On warm side I have about high 70s low 80s
Okay good. Now we are getting somewhere.
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thank you i will look over all of these, if my tortoise runs out of time i want to thank you for trying to help hopefully if get a another tortoise i will know everything and truly take care of itOkay good. Now we are getting somewhere.
-Warm side is good.
-Cool side is too cool. Get the whole enclosure warmer to wake this guy up and get the immune system working.
-Basking area needs to be 100 degrees directly under the bulb at tortoise shell height. Check this by laying a digital thermometer on its back and letting it bake for an hour or more. Adjust the height or the wattage to get the temp near 100.
-Night temp for a sick tortoise should not drop below 70-75. Use a CHE hooked up to t thermostat to maintain this. A healthy Russian under normal circumstances can handle those lows just fine, but not a sick one.
- I need to know what type of bulbs are in that hood. I can almost guarantee you have the wrong ones and that may be causing or contributing to your problem. You need a regular incandescent flood bulb for basking. There is no suitable safe UV bulb that will screw into a fixture like that. You need an HO tube for UV. You have to buy a fixture with it. The wrong bulbs, like what you are probably using, can burn their eyes and cause the problem you are having.
-What is a "normal light bulb" to you? Is that a round incandescent? A cfl? A LED?
Again, we need to know what types of bulbs you have screwed into that fixture. Can you take a picture of the bulbs? You should not be using any mercury vapor bulbs, or cfls, and that is most likely what the pet store sold you.
Where is the ambient lighting? You need to add some bright LED lighting to make it look like daytime in there. The light coming from that hood is not enough. This is part of why your tortoise has been inactive all winter. If you want your tortoise to live, please read the threads that have been linked and make the necessary changes.
Here is a breakdown of the four heating and lighting essentials:
- Basking bulb. I use 65 watt incandescent floods from the hardware store. Some people will need bigger, or smaller wattage bulbs. Let your thermometer be your guide. I run them on a timer for about 12 hours and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. I also like to use a flat rock of some sort directly under the bulb. You need to check the temp with a thermometer directly under the bulb and get it to around 95-100F (36-37C).
- Ambient heat maintenance. I use ceramic heating elements or radiant heat panels set on thermostats to maintain ambient above 80 degrees day and night for tropical species. In most cases you'd only need day heat for a temperate species like Testudo or DT, as long as your house stays above 60F (15-16C) at night. Some people in colder climates or with larger enclosures will need multiple CHEs or RHPs to spread out enough heat.
- Ambient light. I use LEDs for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most bulbs at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. Strip or screw-in LED bulb types are both fine.
- UV. If you can get your tortoise outside for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. In colder climates, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. 5.0 bulbs make almost no UV. I like the 12% HO bulbs from Arcadia. You need a meter to check this: https://www.solarmeter.com/model65.html A good UV bulb only needs to run for 2-3 hours mid day. You need the basking bulb and the ambient lighting to be on at least 12 hours a day.
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...
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...
Info For New People. Please Read This First.
Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...
I want to help you save your tortoise, but you have to participate and take the necessary action. We gave you the needed info back in January and you didn't act upon it. Here is the info again. Your tortoise is running out of time.
Okay good. Now we are getting somewhere.
-Warm side is good.
-Cool side is too cool. Get the whole enclosure warmer to wake this guy up and get the immune system working.
-Basking area needs to be 100 degrees directly under the bulb at tortoise shell height. Check this by laying a digital thermometer on its back and letting it bake for an hour or more. Adjust the height or the wattage to get the temp near 100.
-Night temp for a sick tortoise should not drop below 70-75. Use a CHE hooked up to t thermostat to maintain this. A healthy Russian under normal circumstances can handle those lows just fine, but not a sick one.
- I need to know what type of bulbs are in that hood. I can almost guarantee you have the wrong ones and that may be causing or contributing to your problem. You need a regular incandescent flood bulb for basking. There is no suitable safe UV bulb that will screw into a fixture like that. You need an HO tube for UV. You have to buy a fixture with it. The wrong bulbs, like what you are probably using, can burn their eyes and cause the problem you are having.
-What is a "normal light bulb" to you? Is that a round incandescent? A cfl? A LED?
Again, we need to know what types of bulbs you have screwed into that fixture. Can you take a picture of the bulbs? You should not be using any mercury vapor bulbs, or cfls, and that is most likely what the pet store sold you.
Where is the ambient lighting? You need to add some bright LED lighting to make it look like daytime in there. The light coming from that hood is not enough. This is part of why your tortoise has been inactive all winter. If you want your tortoise to live, please read the threads that have been linked and make the necessary changes.
Here is a breakdown of the four heating and lighting essentials:
- Basking bulb. I use 65 watt incandescent floods from the hardware store. Some people will need bigger, or smaller wattage bulbs. Let your thermometer be your guide. I run them on a timer for about 12 hours and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. I also like to use a flat rock of some sort directly under the bulb. You need to check the temp with a thermometer directly under the bulb and get it to around 95-100F (36-37C).
- Ambient heat maintenance. I use ceramic heating elements or radiant heat panels set on thermostats to maintain ambient above 80 degrees day and night for tropical species. In most cases you'd only need day heat for a temperate species like Testudo or DT, as long as your house stays above 60F (15-16C) at night. Some people in colder climates or with larger enclosures will need multiple CHEs or RHPs to spread out enough heat.
- Ambient light. I use LEDs for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most bulbs at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. Strip or screw-in LED bulb types are both fine.
- UV. If you can get your tortoise outside for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. In colder climates, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. 5.0 bulbs make almost no UV. I like the 12% HO bulbs from Arcadia. You need a meter to check this: https://www.solarmeter.com/model65.html A good UV bulb only needs to run for 2-3 hours mid day. You need the basking bulb and the ambient lighting to be on at least 12 hours a day.
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...
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...
Info For New People. Please Read This First.
Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...
I want to help you save your tortoise, but you have to participate and take the necessary action. We gave you the needed info back in January and you didn't act upon it. Here is the info again. Your tortoise is running out of time.
Those will not give off heat. They are fine for ambient light to make it bright and all, but they will not give heat.
I already have heat I just need ambient so will these be good
If you would pay attention to the posts in the beginning, you would see I already posted the temps needed. Tom posted also in the beginning the link you should have already read. By now the temps, water dish, etc, should have already been corrected and adjusted to the correct temps
