Sleep time

[dhemp]

Our Russian baby tort came home a week and a half ago and tore through greens like crazy..but the last couple days she has barely eaten and is sleeping alot... Is that normal? And how much do they normally sleep?

 

[ZEROPILOT]

A baby tortoise will sleep almost the entire day. I wouldn't worry too much since he had a big meal. Make sure that the temps are up high enough that he can digest the food. (80 degrees plus.) Or he may not eat much more until then.

 

[mini_max]

Hello and welcome! This is a wonderful site.

Our little guy was the same. My guess is that for the first few days they are more active than normal as they are trying to figure out where the heck they are and maybe even find their way "home". Then they go to the opposite extreme....just to completely freak you out. Then in a few weeks they normalize to a routine of eat, bask, explore, sleep, repeat. But the sleep component does stay pretty significant if he's a baby.

The temps and lighting are important for making sure he does eventually resume normal feeding and activity. My personal experience was that warmer = more active especially for a baby. My tortoise likes his cool side to be high 70s at the lowest, too cool and they won't do much.

As well, we initially had a coil uvb bulb, and these are BAD. They harm tortoises eyes, and there is also the possibility that tortoises hide from the light or keep their eyes closed to protect themselves, so that can be a contributing factor.

My final experience that I want to share is night heat - I initially used an infrared bulb. My tortoise was always awake when his day lights came on but went back to sleep before noon....for the remainder of the day. I was worried about how much he was sleeping and then I discovered he was awake all night! I learned here that the red light is visible to tortoises, so it was keeping him awake! We swapped for a Che, and this sorted itself out quite quickly.

Hope some of this may help you.

 

[dhemp]

A baby tortoise will sleep almost the entire day. I wouldn't worry too much since he had a big meal. Make sure that the temps are up high enough that he can digest the food. (80 degrees plus.) Or he may not eat much more until then.

Thank you so much for your help

 

[dhemp]

Hello and welcome! This is a wonderful site.

Our little guy was the same. My guess is that for the first few days they are more active than normal as they are trying to figure out where the heck they are and maybe even find their way "home". Then they go to the opposite extreme....just to completely freak you out. Then in a few weeks they normalize to a routine of eat, bask, explore, sleep, repeat. But the sleep component does stay pretty significant if he's a baby.

The temps and lighting are important for making sure he does eventually resume normal feeding and activity. My personal experience was that warmer = more active especially for a baby. My tortoise likes his cool side to be high 70s at the lowest, too cool and they won't do much.

As well, we initially had a coil uvb bulb, and these are BAD. They harm tortoises eyes, and there is also the possibility that tortoises hide from the light or keep their eyes closed to protect themselves, so that can be a contributing factor.

My final experience that I want to share is night heat - I initially used an infrared bulb. My tortoise was always awake when his day lights came on but went back to sleep before noon....for the remainder of the day. I was worried about how much he was sleeping and then I discovered he was awake all night! I learned here that the red light is visible to tortoises, so it was keeping him awake! We swapped for a Che, and this sorted itself out quite quickly.

Hope some of this may help you.

Thank you so much I really appreciate your help I feel much better now

 

[maddylyn]

Where can I get a different kind of UV bulb that isnt coil? all my local pet shops a;; carrying the same kind...is it really damaging her eyes??

 

[TortsNTurtles]

Where can I get a different kind of UV bulb that isnt coil? all my local pet shops a;; carrying the same kind...is it really damaging her eyes??

Amazon or http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/index.html has a sale currently.
Also my local Petsmart & Petco carry the T5HO bulbs & fixtures.