Tortoise sleeping all the time

[Rogue097]

Hi there, I just joined Tortoise Forum but have been reading through the threads for awhile. I have an adult male Russian tortoise and I'm just looking for some input. He spends the vast majority of his time sleeping, and I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong to affect his activity level. Overnight/once his light goes out he completely burrows and sleeps, but he does dig himself back out in the morning when the light comes on. But then he still just sleeps in that same spot. It's pretty much under his UVB light all the time, right next to his basking rock. He will get up in the early afternoon and go eat, then go right back to his sleeping spot.
I've tried messing with the humidity a bit. It's usually around 50%. I tried additional lighting in case it was too dark for him. If I take him out of the enclosure (for a bath, or sometimes just to encourage some exercise) he is pretty active. He walks around and explores and climbs things for awhile. When he gets bored he paces in front of his enclosure until I put him back in.
Does anyone have any experience/suggestions as to why he just sleeps all day and what I can do? Thanks in advance

 

[Kim&Tim]

Hi there, I just joined Tortoise Forum but have been reading through the threads for awhile. I have an adult male Russian tortoise and I'm just looking for some input. He spends the vast majority of his time sleeping, and I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong to affect his activity level. Overnight/once his light goes out he completely burrows and sleeps, but he does dig himself back out in the morning when the light comes on. But then he still just sleeps in that same spot. It's pretty much under his UVB light all the time, right next to his basking rock. He will get up in the early afternoon and go eat, then go right back to his sleeping spot.
I've tried messing with the humidity a bit. It's usually around 50%. I tried additional lighting in case it was too dark for him. If I take him out of the enclosure (for a bath, or sometimes just to encourage some exercise) he is pretty active. He walks around and explores and climbs things for awhile. When he gets bored he paces in front of his enclosure until I put him back in.
Does anyone have any experience/suggestions as to why he just sleeps all day and what I can do? Thanks in advance

Hi, welkom?
Do you have a picture of your enclosure? That would help alot.

How big is it, substrate type, what kind of uvb and basking lamp? Temperatures?
You say basking rock? Doesn't he have basking bulb?

 

[Rogue097]

Hi, welkom?
Do you have a picture of your enclosure? That would help alot.

How big is it, substrate type, what kind of uvb and basking lamp? Temperatures?
You say basking rock? Doesn't he have basking bulb?

Hi! I don't have a picture at the moment but it's about 4ftx2ft. I realize this is small, I intend to build him a bigger table. It seemed a lot bigger until I put all the "furniture" in :/. I have the zoomed Powersun Mercury vapor bulb, which hangs over the basking rock. The rock sits at 100 degrees. The cool end is 75 (room temp in my house). He has a big cave hide to go in, but he doesn't seen interested. The substrate is cypress mulch

 

[Kim&Tim]

Hi! I don't have a picture at the moment but it's about 4ftx2ft. I realize this is small, I intend to build him a bigger table. It seemed a lot bigger until I put all the "furniture" in :/. I have the zoomed Powersun Mercury vapor bulb, which hangs over the basking rock. The rock sits at 100 degrees. The cool end is 75 (room temp in my house). He has a big cave hide to go in, but he doesn't seen interested. The substrate is cypress mulch

Is it a real rock or one of those heated rocks? Either way, i think it becomes too hot. How do you measure the temps? The only reliable way is digital with a probe or a gun. All the other ones are not reliable. You should measure the basking spot at shell height.

Is the light straight down or an angle? It should not be on an angle, always straight down.

100 is too high. 90/95 is what you should aim for. The hide should be in the cool end, not near the heat. Or 2 hides, 1 near the heat 1 in the cool end, so he had choice.

Is the mvb the only light source? If so it's not enough light.

A pic would help!

 

[Rogue097]

Is it a real rock or one of those heated rocks? Either way, i think it becomes too hot. How do you measure the temps? The only reliable way is digital with a probe or a gun. All the other ones are not reliable. You should measure the basking spot at shell height.

Is the light straight down or an angle? It should not be on an angle, always straight down.

100 is too high. 90/95 is what you should aim for. The hide should be in the cool end, not near the heat. Or 2 hides, 1 near the heat 1 in the cool end, so he had choice.

Is the mvb the only light source? If so it's not enough light.

A pic would help!

It's a real rock, just a flat garden stone type thing. I am using an infrared digital thermometer to check specific spots, and then I have a regular thermometer on the wall of his enclosure, closer to the cool end. I checked the basking spot using a few stacked stone coasters to account for shell height. The light is straight down, and the hide is at the cool end.

The MVB is the only light source. The past few days I have tried putting some regular lamps over the enclosure down on the cool end too, just to increase brightness to see if it would do anything before I bought more lights, but I'm not sure if regular lamps really do much for him? I was also thinking I'd clear a space in a more sunlit spot in the house, as his current location is probably a bit on the darker side. But I don't want it to get too hot between the sunlight and the MVB either.

Here are some pictures from both ends. You can see the hole he's made himself by the back corner of the rock. This is where he always sleeps, burrowed at night or not during the day.

 

[Kim&Tim]

Do you have a picture of the tort too?

So I already said that your temps arevtoo high, you need to raise it to lower the temps. They can become sleepy or overactive from being to hot. How long do you have the mvb? Sometimes they quit putting out uvb after a few months. I've used them in the past, not a fan.

A regular lamp for extra lighting helps! They need enough light. Putting him in a lighter area also helps.

But you've already said it yourself, this is too small and it looks boring. They can become lethargic or going crazy from this. He has nothing to do and can see his whole enclosure in 1 sec, there's nothing to climb and no space to walk. So why wake up?

Torts like to walk and explore things. They need breakups in their enclosure so they can't see everything in 1 wink of an eye. Look at my page at my media of my indoor, you'll see what I mean.

I see a small water dish, he doesn't fit in there does he? He should! He needs to be able to get in and out himself.

How long do you have him?
What do you feed?
Does he have cuttlefish bone? Do you use supplements?
Do you soak him? How long and how many times?
Do you weigh him every week? You should!

I know this is alot, but it's important!

 

[Kim&Tim]

Russian Tortoise Care Sheet

Russian tortoises have great personalities, are very hardy, tolerate a wide variety of enclosure parameters, stay small, and are generally a good "starter" tortoise in my opinion. Here is how I like to set them up: Indoor Enclosure type and size: Most people want to know the minimum size...

www.tortoiseforum.org

 

[Kim&Tim]

Why does my Russian tortoise stay buried?

GBtortoises Wrote: Russian tortoises need a lot of light to remain active. The main question about Russian tortoises on this site is "Why did my Russian tortoise bury itself". Part of the answer to this question is that Russian tortoises require long, light intensive days (along with correct...

www.tortoiseforum.org

 

[Rogue097]

Do you have a picture of the tort too?

So I already said that your temps arevtoo high, you need to raise it to lower the temps. They can become sleepy or overactive from being to hot. How long do you have the mvb? Sometimes they quit putting out uvb after a few months. I've used them in the past, not a fan.

A regular lamp for extra lighting helps! They need enough light. Putting him in a lighter area also helps.

But you've already said it yourself, this is too small and it looks boring. They can become lethargic or going crazy from this. He has nothing to do and can see his whole enclosure in 1 sec, there's nothing to climb and no space to walk. So why wake up?

Torts like to walk and explore things. They need breakups in their enclosure so they can't see everything in 1 wink of an eye. Look at my page at my media of my indoor, you'll see what I mean.

I see a small water dish, he doesn't fit in there does he? He should! He needs to be able to get in and out himself.

How long do you have him?
What do you feed?
Does he have cuttlefish bone? Do you use supplements?
Do you soak him? How long and how many times?
Do you weigh him every week? You should!

I know this is alot, but it's important!

No this is really helpful, I appreciate it! I feel like I thought I did research and then things keep turning out to be wrong. I've raised the lamp this morning and will keep an eye on the temperatures, make sure they come down to a better level. I've had the bulb a month.

Wow I love your enclosure. I've been trying to look through the enclosure threads on here so I can build him a proper home correctly this time. I don't want him to be unhappy or bored!

He has a larger water dish also, I had just pulled it out to clean. I've had him a month. I don't have cuttlefish bone. I use calcium + D3 and a multivitamin (both powders) that I give him once a week. I feed him a base of greens (mustard/collard/turnip) and add in some bits from a spring green mix. I try giving him little other things to try (bell pepper, carrot pieces) but he always leaves them behind so far. I leave him dandelions that I grew myself in a pot as a treat. I soak him twice a week for 30 minutes.

I haven't weighed him. What should I be looking for in terms of regularity?

Here are a couple pictures I have. The second is him digging himself out of his hole this morning

 

[Kim&Tim]

Ah he's sweet ? and I'm only glad that you're trying to change things and looming for info.

It is actually quite normal that a new tort needs time to adjust. It could take awhile. Torts have great difficulty with change, so when being moved it's a very big deal for them.

You should get him cuttlebone, it's cheap and important. He can use it when he wants and keeps the beak short. You can buy it in the birdsection of the petstore

My enclosure was cheap as hell, really. I used an old bookcase, 2.6 ft x 6.7 ft, and I lined it with a piece of leftover vinyl flooring that I kept from a previous home. I cut in the corners to make a corner and attached it with very strong glass/aquarium tape.
I use Cococoir substrate and small piece cocohusk. It wat practically free. You can do this, I mean have zero building skills, but I am creative, that's all you need!
I use an 24 inch arcadia uvb tube, 60 watt floodbulb for basking and I have an aditional light just for some extra light. Some safe plants, some slate, some logs and bendy bridges. It's nothing special and easy to do.

 

[Rogue097]

Thank you so much, I'm definitely going to see what I can do and follow your suggestions. I'm excited to build him a new house. I put his temperatures where you suggested today and he actually stayed out of his little hole for quite awhile, so I feel a little better already

 

[Kim&Tim]

Thank you so much, I'm definitely going to see what I can do and follow your suggestions. I'm excited to build him a new house. I put his temperatures where you suggested today and he actually stayed out of his little hole for quite awhile, so I feel a little better already

That's great ? Goodluck and I'm sure you'll make something great????