New to tortoises... Need help! Tort just laying in one spot

[Nugget1994]

Hello!

I am a first time tortoise owner. I bought Nugget off of Craigslist about a week ago. He came with an enclosure that I found to be less than ideal, A very small box with a little amount of hay for bedding and a 50w heat lamp that barely brought the temp to 75 degrees.

He is now in a 50 gallon Tupperware tote with about 4 inches of playsand/coir mix. And has a "hot" and "cool" end. The hot end is still only about 85-90 degrees, but I thought too much of a heat change could shock him.

Here's the problem I am having now though... the first 4 days I had him he was pretty active. Was doing laps around his new home and eating well. My gf and I had him out for around 2 hours a couple days ago and let him roam the appt (we never let him out of our sight). The next day he seemed kinda tired, until I gave him a bath, which he hates! After that though, he's just kinda later around. Hasn't really moved from the hot end of the tote. He buried himself about halfway down and has just kinda "slept". Hasn't eaten anything or really moved a considerable amount in 2 days... What's wrong with him?!?!? I have a rep vet appt on Monday. Should I take him in earlier???

 

[Yvonne G]

This story is repeated over and over again by new tortoise-keepers here on the Forum. I wish we knew the answer, it would save us all a whole lot of trouble. All we can say is make sure the habitat is set up the way it is supposed to be, go over everything again and double check, then just wait for the tortoise to acclimate to new digs.

I'm guessing that we all need to try to ease new tortoises into new ways of living instead of making drastic changes all of a sudden. I think we should continue to take care of the tortoise the way he was cared for in his previous home, and gradually make upgrades, changing his life slowly so he has time to get used to the idea of being in a new place.

Take your tortoise outside for some sun. Real sun really perks an animal up. But keep your eyes on him. Russian tortoises get out of sight very quickly.

If you're sure he hasn't eaten something off the floor during his sojourn out of the habitat, then I don't think you need the vet. Just give him time to get used to living in a new place with new food, etc. Hopefully he'll snap out of it in a day or two.

In the meantime, re-read the care sheets. Here's a good place to start:

http://russiantortoise.net/care_sheet.htm

 

[kezilulu]

Double check the heat of the basking end and make sure it's still reaching 85/90 as my Russian suddenly became quieter and sleepier after having him about 3/4 weeks having tried to figure out what was wrong I checked the temp and it was only reaching 80/85. I changed the bulb to a higher watt, positioned it ever so slightly higher and boom literally a couple of hours later he was back to being the little torty Ferrari I was used too! It's surprising how the smallest change in temp can make a massive difference!
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