Hibernation

[kristie.craig]

My russian tortoise hasn't been eating and has been spending most of him time in a corner of his tortoise. Sometimes for days. I'm pretty sure he's trying to hibernate. What do I do? Do I leave his heat and UV lights on? Do u still put food out? How long do they hibernate? Thanks for the help

 

[GBtortoises]

How many hours a day are the lights on now? What type of lighting? What are the day and night time temperatures as well as the basking temperature? Tortoises brumate (hibernate) when light and temperature levels are greatly decreased. Not at normal activity levels.

 

[kristie.craig]

Well I live in Washington and its been getting pretty cold but I have him inside. Inside at night it doesn't go below 60. In hit tortoise table (4ft x 2ft) he has a heat light and a UV light. off to the The temp in his corner is between 65-77. I turn his lights on between 9 and 10am and I turn then off between 10 and 11pm.

---

Well I live in Washington and its been getting pretty cold but I have him inside. Inside at night it doesn't go below 60. In his tortoise table (4ft x 2ft) he has a heat light and a UV light. Directly under the heat light it's about 100. he usually lays off to the side in his corner. The temp in his corner is between 65-77. I turn his lights on between 9 and 10am and I turn then off between 10 and 11pm.

 

[GBtortoises]

Well I live in Washington and its been getting pretty cold but I have him inside. Inside at night it doesn't go below 60. In hit tortoise table (4ft x 2ft) he has a heat light and a UV light. off to the The temp in his corner is between 65-77. I turn his lights on between 9 and 10am and I turn then off between 10 and 11pm.

---

Well I live in Washington and its been getting pretty cold but I have him inside. Inside at night it doesn't go below 60. In his tortoise table (4ft x 2ft) he has a heat light and a UV light. Directly under the heat light it's about 100. he usually lays off to the side in his corner. The temp in his corner is between 65-77. I turn his lights on between 9 and 10am and I turn then off between 10 and 11pm.

---

Regardless of how cold it may be outdoors your tortoise activity level is respondant to it's immediate environmental conditions. In other words the heat and light within it's enclosure as well as light sources from outside it's enclosure but within the same room. 60 degrees at night is no where near cold for a Russian tortoise or most other temperate climate species of tortoise either. Your temperatures are okay. But your light duration is far too short. For normal activity indoors the lights should be on a minimum of 14 hours a day with 15 or even 16 hours being better. If the tortoise is in a room that gets light from outdoors the time the lights come on should correspond relatively close to the time that the light appears in the room in the morning. Then stay on the 15 hours after that. A timer should be used so that the light cycle is more consistent. Basking temperatures should be in the range of 95-105 degrees, with the cooler end of the enclosure in the 70's. Too hot overall within the enclosure will cause a Russian tortoise to seek shelter to aestivate. The lighting should be intense and of sufficient coverage to light the entire enclosure well. Not just in the baskng area. This is best achieved by a combination of a basking lamp along with a tube style UV light that is long enough to light the remainder of the enclosure that the basking lamp doesn't.

 

[kristie.craig]

Since my enclosure is bigger should I get 2 heat lights? I have a bar UV light. Where should that be in conjunction to the heat light(s)?

 

[GBtortoises]

You shouldn't need more than one basking light in a 2' x 4' enclosure unless the area around the outside of the enclosure is low, like below 60 degrees during the daytime. However, you might need to add more heat sources if you can't maintain the desired temperatures with what you currently have in place. You are the only one that will be able to determine that. Place a few thermometers at different points in the enclosure and check them a few hours after the lights have come on to see if the temperatures are at the levels that you want.