Sleeping A LOT.

[Raffiel the RT]

I'm worried about my tortoise. It is dead winter up here and he has been sleeping 23urs a day or more!!! He doesn't eat someways or even come out of his hiding place. It's about 90 degrees in there in the day and about 70 at night. I Ty to soak him once every week. I guess I'm just asking is this normal? Is this unhealthy? What should I do!!!???

 

[mainey34]

How old is your RT? What is your humidity? Lighting?

 

[Spn785]

What is basking temp? What is cool side during the day? If you keep your whole enclosure at 90 during the day that is too warm. 70 at night is too warm, it should be between 58 and 65. How long are the lights on during the day?

 

[Raffiel the RT]

The cold side where he sleeps is about 70 when the lights are on. When it's not on its about 60. His humidity is about 20% but he is soaked every week. He's about 8 yeArs old.

 

[kanalomele]

It sounds to me like he is wanting to brumate. Some RTs will just insist on it. If he's 8 and has been in good health this past year it won't hurt him. You can try bumping up your temperatures gradually over the next week until he is bound to think its summertime and get more active.

 

[Spn785]

Humidity needs to be higher. Leave the lights on for 14 hours a day and he/she should perk up. What else can you tell us about your setup? Do you have pictures?

 

[Mr. T's Owner]

When we first got Mr. T ( 1 month ago) he burrowed and slept all the time. With advice from this forum and other sites, we have fine tuned his enclosure, lighting temps, etc., and he is much more active. It did take a couple days after the temps were correct for him to be convinced it's summer time and be active and eat regularly (don't tell him its snowing outside as I type this).
His shell is looking much better with daily soaks as well

 

[Laurie]

I agree, the humitdity should be a bit higher. I try to keep mine between 40-50%. He can do with a "sleeping" temp of around 60F. You need to provide a basking temp of around 95*F , the warm side of your enclosure should be in the upper 70's and the cool side should be in the lower 70's. You need to create a temperature gradient so your tortoise can regulate its temperature.