Sleepy or sick?

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caspersmom

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We have had our Russian Tortoise, Casper, for about 3 months. He gets red and green lettuce, kale, dandelions, carrots and cabbage, all from our garden. He's a piggy little guy! He always has water in his dish and we've been giving him a warm soak about twice a week too. After the first week, he was pretty quiet that first week, he's been active for about 9 hours a day. The last week or two he seems to have slowed down. He's only out and about for a couple hours a day. His warm side is steady at about 105 and his cool side is between 75 and 80. Right now he is sound asleep with all his legs and neck stretched out. Is this normal? It's truly adorable, he looks like a really tired puppy, but is it normal for tortoises? Is it a sign he's too warm maybe? He doesn't have any signs of being sick. His eyes are shiny, no flaky skin, no crusty's on his nose or eyes. He still eats and digs, he loves to dig. We are still learning what is normal and not! Thanks!
 

Laura

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yep they sleep like that. its normal.
is he outside at all?
if he isnt getting at enough 'light' during the day, his natural body clock will tell him its time to slow down and sleep. temps too. need to stay warm.
 

lynnedit

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They do sleep like that, but he might be a bit warm. You might want to get the cooler side down closer to 70, so he at least has the option. At night, mine don't have any heat because our house does not get below 60.
Their lights are on a timer, and are on about 13 hours per day. Now that they are back inside, when I get up, they are out under their MVB to warm up for the day.
The warm side may be a bit warm too, but if they have a cooler side, they can move around to their preferred temp for the moment, so that is probably OK.
Sometimes making a few temp changes, or increasing the duration your MVB is on is enough to change their behavior. However, most torts tend to be less active in the winter,even if they are inside.
 
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