Sleepy tortoise question...

[herpgirl24]

Steve the Russian has decided he would like to sleep the winter away. I have only had him about 7 months and had no intention of hibernating him. However, he has burrowed down in the enclosure and is not interested in coming out. The first few weeks I was waking him every few days to try and stop him, but he just goes right back to sleep. Now he has been sleeping soundly for about two weeks.

Should I wake him, or let him do his thing?

The enclosure lights are still on and cycling as they normally would. The temperature in the enclosure has probably dropped degrees to about 80 rather than 90.

 

[Utah Lynn]

Hi Mandi. My male does the exact same thing. I also am not sure what is correct, so I dig him out every other day; Give him a good soak; put him back in the enclosure where he quickly devours his food and goes back under. On the other hand, my female arises eats and is ready to roam around all day, until I make her go to bed. Go figure.

 

[babylove6635]

lynn, that sounded a little sexest. lol just kidding. i have one female and one male that likes to sleep more than the rest, i just wake them up.

 

[Utah Lynn]

lynn, that sounded a little sexest. lol just kidding. i have one female and one male that likes to sleep more than the rest, i just wake them up.

@Judy

 

[herpgirl24]

OK then, I will continue to wake him up. I soak him, he eats a bit, then right back to sleep!

I wish I could sleep through the cold weather!

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

This topic comes up a lot around here with Russians. If a tortoise is inactive and fasts the entire winter indoors at room temperature, he will go through his fat reserves too fast and lose too much weight. Unless you can trick the animal into thinking it's still summer with lots of light, heat, and humidity (above and beyond most folks' normal setup, including mine), then he is going to try and hibernate (brumate). This means you will need to let him brumate in a refrigerator for 1-5 months, depending on your climate.

In order to do this, you need to let him cool off for a few weeks as a kind of transition. You also need to stop feeding him, and bathe him every few days or once a week so he can evacuate his bowels. After at least 2 weeks of this, put him in a box with some moist (but not wet!) substrate, and put the box in a fridge. It's better not to use a kitchen fridge for two reasons:

1) If people are constantly opening and shutting the door as they rummage for food, they will be freshening the air in there, which is good. However, this will also make noise and disturb the tortoises' brumation.

2) A fridge with food for human consumption is usually a bit colder than what a hibernating tortoise needs. Kitchen fridges are usually set to keep the air around 37*F, but your tortoise will need about 40*F.

So, put your tortoise in a separate refrigerator (we use a mini-fridge) that has been tested to make sure it can keep the internal temperature around 40*F. Tortoises don't need much air, especially while brumating, so just open it every few days. Alternatively, stick an aquarium tube or pen chamber in the door so there is some airflow (note: this changes the set-point of the fridge a little bit).

Make sure your tortoise is healthy enough to brumate. This means he is in good condition: no heavy parasite load, enough fat reserves, well-hydrated, and a healthy weight. In order to make sure he weighs enough, use the Donohue Formula:

W = 0.191 * SCL^3

Where:
SCL = Straight carapace length (in cm)
W = Weight (in grams)

Or, if you prefer English units:

W = 0.113 * SCL^3

Where:
SCL = Straight carapace length (in inches)
W = Weight (in ounces)

Reference:
https://sites.google.com/site/tortoiselibrary/basic-medical-care/first-aid--cares

If your tortoise is healthy enough, and he is trying to brumate at room temperature, then you can let him brumate in a refrigerator. We got our male and female Russian tortoise in April, and although they were very active during the warmer months, they tried to brumate as winter approached. Thanks to advice from other TFO members, I am trying fridge hibernation this winter for the first time. So far so good. I'll let everyone know how things go for us.

 

[GBtortoises]

If a tortoise is trying to brumate at room temperature there is something else involved, not temperature. Russian Tortoises instinctively go into brumation by sensing decreasing temperatures, typically when those temperatures consistently drop and stay below 55 degrees during the daytime with colder temperatures at night. Not normal room temperature.
But long before temperature triggers their instinct, light does. They sense that daylight is getting less intense and hours are getting shorter. This begins to take place as early as mid to late August in the Northern U.S. Most tortoises begin "preparing" for brumation, long before most humans realize it.
Many also mistake the normal actions of Russian tortoises burrowing for long periods as them going into brumation. If temperatures are consistently too warm, especially at night, light is too intense or duration of daylight is too long, Russian tortoises will begin to aestivate, which is again often mistaken for brumation.

What are your daytime, night time & basking temperatures? Humdity level? Types of lights and amount of time that they are on?

 

[herpgirl24]

The light is a MVB bulb. Basking area is 90-95 and the rest of the enclosure is right around 80. Humidity is reading at 35.

I took the top off his burrow area to try and keep him awake, it worked for a few days but now he is back to sleeping.

I am guessing that he was hibernated before I got him, he was used for breeding. I just don't want him to get sick from this.

I will keep soaking him once a week and making sure he eats before he goes back to sleep. Also keeping an eye on his weight.

 

[lynnedit]

All good comments. a tort cannot 'hibernate' at warm temps, he will lose weight and become ill.
Your warm/basking side is fine, but your 'cool side' should be closer to 70 during the day and can go down to 60-65 at night, since he is an adult. If they cannot get cool enough, they will revert to burrowing. They need the option of a temperature gradient so they can thermoregulate.
Not sure this is the issue since you have had him for 7 months, but adjusting this is worth a try.
MVB is on 12 to 14 hours per day?
Make sure you have an accurate thermometer; either an infared temp gun (point and take temp) or a digital thermometer with a wire probe that you can move from spot to spot. This is really important.

 

[nnaaddiinnee]

My russian started doing this when it started to get a little colder here. I added an extra strip bulb- a low output one like 2.0 as you don't want to over do it on the UV but it helps brighten it up. I also added a ceramic heat emitter as the background temperature of the room was getting cooler. I would keep waking your tort, bathing and offering food but also have a fiddle with heat and lights until your tort seems happy with it. Its 0 degrees celsius outside here now and my tort is very active in her table with just a few adjustments.