Lonely Tortoise

Elizabeth Mitchell

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I have a 7 year old rescue female that I have had for almost 6 months now. She very healthy and active but lately I have noticed that if I am gone more than 3 hours she gets very sad, almost depressed. This is very strange because she is extremely social and always on the go, she's never still. Do i need to get her a friend (another female, I do not want baby's), or ....... What do I do?
 

leigti

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No, do not get her another tortoise friend. Tortoises do not do well in pairs. Give her a larger enclosure, rearrange the enclosure she has. Get her some new "furniture and "plants etc. to liven it up. And the best thing would be an outdoor enclosure if you can do it.
 

Elizabeth Mitchell

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No, do not get her another tortoise friend. Tortoises do not do well in pairs. Give her a larger enclosure, rearrange the enclosure she has. Get her some new "furniture and "plants etc. to liven it up. And the best thing would be an outdoor enclosure if you can do it.

I can do that. Thank you i was worried that it was something that i could not fix very easy. I'm gonna go get some plants for her soon then.
 

wellington

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No, do not get her another tortoise friend. Tortoises do not do well in pairs. Give her a larger enclosure, rearrange the enclosure she has. Get her some new "furniture and "plants etc. to liven it up. And the best thing would be an outdoor enclosure if you can do it.
I second this.
 

RosemaryDW

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She absolutely does not need a friend and the suggestions above are good ones.

What behaviors make you think she's sad/depressed? Tortoises don't have emotions in the same way as you and I so I'm wondering what kind of things you're seeing.
 

ZEROPILOT

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Tortoises. Especially Russian tortoises do not do well in pairs. They seem to be about the least social tortoise.
My brother has a Russian and he often places a golf ball in it's enclosure for him to "play" with.
While I'm convinced he isn't playing as he is pushing the ball all over, (He thinks he is ramming another tortoise) It DOES keep him occupied.
About 6 years ago I was watching him while his family went on vacation. I had no idea what I was doing, so I placed him in with my Redfoot pair. (I said I didn't know what I was doing.) The Redfoot where very large, but within 24 hours, the Russian was chasing them around like a sheep herder dog.
I had to buy a kiddie pool for him to live alone on my back patio.
 

Elizabeth Mitchell

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She absolutely does not need a friend and the suggestions above are good ones.

What behaviors make you think she's sad/depressed? Tortoises don't have emotions in the same way as you and I so I'm wondering what kind of things you're seeing.

When I let her out of her home to walk around so no longer moves at all. she just stays in the place I placed her. She used to go everywhere, I would turn around and she would be half way in another room. She also has been sleeping all day long, I have to get her out of her house and place her in front of food so I know she's eating.
 

MPRC

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To me this sounds more like stress or temperature issues. What are the temps in her enclosure? Has anything changed in/around her enclosure that she could construe as a threat? (tortoises are weird, it could be as simple as a 'scary' new throw rug)
 

Elizabeth Mitchell

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It stays between 70-75 degrees. Me and my roommate moved the room around. Would it really cause that much of a change in her? Whay should I do so she's not stressed?
 

JoesMum

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When you take a tortoise out of its enclosure it is away from the heat, UVB and humidity it needs to be healthy.

They are happiest and least stressed with 4 feet on the ground.

They are not social and don't like fussing and don't want tortoise company.

Have a proper sized enclosure, get the temperatures right and leave your tortoise in it to enjoy its day. You will have a much happier and healthier animal.
 

GingerLove

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I know, I know!!! Change the light bulb. Sometimes the UV quits working and my tortie starts acting all lethargic and depressed. Also continue to give her outdoor time and soaks. It always starts to perk my Ginger up after a while.
 

Kapidolo Farms

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I have a 7 year old rescue female that I have had for almost 6 months now. She very healthy and active but lately I have noticed that if I am gone more than 3 hours she gets very sad, almost depressed. This is very strange because she is extremely social and always on the go, she's never still. Do i need to get her a friend (another female, I do not want baby's), or ....... What do I do?

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread...-unhappy-lonely-some-part-of-its-life.148295/

In short what you should do is not project human sensibilities onto a reptile. I guess that might not be what you want to hear. I'm pretty sure, just a poke in the dark, that you are not a behavioral psychologist with a focus on reptiles??

They DO FEEL, I'd say there is no doubt about that. But not like people. They have tortoise feelings. Look at how tortoises treat each other for a window of insight on that matter. If you watch tortoise videos on YouTube, be sure to cancel out the crap interpretation offered by the person narrating the video unless it's David Attenborough.

Take dogs and cats as an example. They show strong emotions which are closer to people show emotions than say how starfish exhibit emotions. Tortoises are somewhere in between.

Good times.
 

GingerLove

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To me, lazy=depressed. Lazy means that something isn't normal with my tortoise. Depressed also means something isn't normal with my tortoise. I think when we say "depressed" we are just referring to the tortoise's change in behavior. :)
 

MPRC

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70-75 degrees sounds a little cold to me. Can some of our other Russian lovers weigh in? I keep my reptile room at 85 for fast happy redfoots.
 

Clunk

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I've had my Russian male rescue for a little more than 8 years now. Like you, I keep him indoors. UVB and Basking light at 90 degrees. He seems to like this temp because he will flop out with all his limbs outstretched for several periods a day. Anything higher and will tend to stay on the fringe of the heat lamp as opposed to directly underneath,

He has 3 modes of existence.

1) Hibernation. Sleeps the whole time, has varied anywhere from 2-4 months. Season doesn't seem to matter; has done it in Spring/Summer/Fall/Winter.

2) Aestivation. This is a period of reduced activity/lethargy and appetite. He will eat or drink very little and may be active for only a few hours a day. Low or no aggression (more on this below). Low maintenance mode. This is the tortoise I thought I was getting when I first adopted him.

This Aestivation phase has happened routinely just before and just after Hibernation, lasts roughly 2 - 3 weeks.

3) High activity phase (Godzilla). Active for 12+ hours per day, frequent naps under his heat lamp or under the sun (his room get lots of sun all year round). Eats voraciously. High aggression towards his reflection on any shiny surface. Literally cannot sit still for any length of time, makes a big mess of his food and water dishes requiring frequent cleanups. I call this his Godzilla phase because of the path of destruction he sometimes leaves in his wake. I do take him outside weather permitting which helps him burn off all that excess energy and shadow him around the house. Godzilla mode lasts for about 6 months. I am very thankful for his low activity phases, I couldn't handle this behavior year round.

I doubt moving the room around has anything to do with it. During their active phase they are very curious and just love to explore anything new. It is possible that your female is preparing to hibernate since you've had her 6 months. They like a nice dark cave-like hibernation enclosure. Just keep the basking temps constant, when they want heat they know where to go.

She doesn't need or want a friend as other have already stated. As far as I'm concerned one Russian Tortoise is already a handful.
 

Tom

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When I let her out of her home to walk around so no longer moves at all. she just stays in the place I placed her. She used to go everywhere, I would turn around and she would be half way in another room. She also has been sleeping all day long, I have to get her out of her house and place her in front of food so I know she's eating.

Hello and welcome to the forum.

Your tortoise should never be "let out of her home to walk around". In addition to being very stressful, it is very dangerous in many ways and usually leads to disaster. If your enclosure is not big enough to meet your tortoises exercise needs, then it should be made bigger. Same thing for outdoors.

Changing the room around can definitely have an effect on things. Tortoises do not generally like change.

It doesn't say what species you have, but Zeropilot mentioned a russian, so I'll go with that. Check these out:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
 

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