Red foot sleeping in water bowl

[addouk]

Hi all I need some advice and help please for my 18 month old little pal "Ru". For the most part Ru seems really happy, he/she is active likes to climb, be petted, comes when he hears my voice, likes to nosey about, and eats REALLY well..
The issue I have is that he has started to sleep in his water bowl .
The water bowl is located at the end of the vivarium away from the ceramic heat bulb, his hide is in the middle of the viv to allow him to keep warm. If he isn't asleep in his water he digs.
Yesterday he didn't seem himself but today he is back to his happy self but again has slept in his water bowl tonight so I have lifted him out and put him in his hide.
His shell seems fine, I've checked for rot..but am wondering is it normal? Also the seasons are changing here so not sure if it's something to do with that (though he didn't do it last year).
Thanks so much for any advice or info given x
I've included a pic of his set up and a couple of pics of him

 

[JakeDevoe]

Heeeeees so cute

 

[dmmj]

Could be temperatures are off or parasites. What are your temperatures?

 

[MPRC]

One of my 6 sleeps in her water dish most nights. There's no sign of shell rot so I let her do it.

 

[crimson_lotus]

Every once in a while I catch mine doing that, it's like a phase. I have had her checked for parasites and there is no shell rot, I know she's not constipated and she is definitely warm enough in there so why not.

 

[Anyfoot]

Hi all I need some advice and help please for my 18 month old little pal "Ru". For the most part Ru seems really happy, he/she is active likes to climb, be petted, comes when he hears my voice, likes to nosey about, and eats REALLY well..
The issue I have is that he has started to sleep in his water bowl .
The water bowl is located at the end of the vivarium away from the ceramic heat bulb, his hide is in the middle of the viv to allow him to keep warm. If he isn't asleep in his water he digs.
Yesterday he didn't seem himself but today he is back to his happy self but again has slept in his water bowl tonight so I have lifted him out and put him in his hide.
His shell seems fine, I've checked for rot..but am wondering is it normal? Also the seasons are changing here so not sure if it's something to do with that (though he didn't do it last year).
Thanks so much for any advice or info given x
I've included a pic of his set up and a couple of pics of him
View attachment 188797View attachment 188798View attachment 188799

I think dmmj hit nail on head, double check your temps, if it's uncomfortably hot or too dry he's using the water to cool down or hydrate. If all that's ok then get your little guy checked for parasites.
How much protein are you feeding?
You won't get shell rot in clean water.

 

[Redstrike]

I think dmmj hit nail on head, double check your temps, if it's uncomfortably hot or too dry he's using the water to cool down or hydrate. If all that's ok then get your little guy checked for parasites.
How much protein are you feeding?
You won't get shell rot in clean water.

Agree with both of these assessments. Just wanted to add that a couple fecal samples may provide you peace of mind to rule parasites out. I've lived a few places and the cost to run them had a pretty wide range depending on the area but I was glad I did it each time.

Also, that's a good looking tortoise! Nice and smooth!

 

[Anyfoot]

Agree with both of these assessments. Just wanted to add that a couple fecal samples may provide you peace of mind to rule parasites out. I've lived a few places and the cost to run them had a pretty wide range depending on the area but I was glad I did it each time.

Also, that's a good looking tortoise! Nice and smooth!

@Redstrike , I was also thinking that over feeding of animal proteins leads to high fats in the blood, making the kidneys work harder and can cause dehydration. Your thoughts on please.
@addouk , don't be alarmed with what I just said, I could be wrong and yours is most likely temps.

 

[addouk]

Thanks so much all, am a little worried now..how would I check for parasites?
He gets a pinkie mouse once a week or once a week and a half..his diet consists of fruit, greens, salad.
His mister is on twice a day, he had a soak once a week. He seems happy enough still, I've checked his shell and it looks ok.. I will post a pic in this post.
He is doing his business fine.. I wonder if it is his temp..we have moved his Viv to a larger room (from upstairs to downstairs), and I adjusted the temp stupidly thinking that with him being in a bigger room it needed increasing (now I recognise it didn't as his habitat hasn't changed size etc).
Thanks so much for all the advice (I don't know if you can tell yet if I have a boy or a girl too)

 

[Anyfoot]

Thanks so much all, am a little worried now..how would I check for parasites?
He gets a pinkie mouse once a week or once a week and a half..his diet consists of fruit, greens, salad.
His mister is on twice a day, he had a soak once a week. He seems happy enough still, I've checked his shell and it looks ok.. I will post a pic in this post.
He is doing his business fine.. I wonder if it is his temp..we have moved his Viv to a larger room (from upstairs to downstairs), and I adjusted the temp stupidly thinking that with him being in a bigger room it needed increasing (now I recognise it didn't as his habitat hasn't changed size etc).
Thanks so much for all the advice (I don't know if you can tell yet if I have a boy or a girl too) View attachment 188816

1 pinkie a week is what I feed.
Check your temps and humidity, that would be my first choice of what to do.
Also put a hide at each end of the enclosure so he has a choice where to sleep, put a bit of moist moss in the hides too.
Dont want to harp on but I would swap that water dish out for a terrocota saucer too. Put that in the middle of your enclosure away from the sides so he can't flip into it. Where you have that water he could climb the corner and flip into the water.
Next poop he does, have a good inspection of it, pull it apart and look for anything abnormal(worms). Failing that it's a fecal test at the vets.

 

[addouk]

@Anyfoot..
Thanks for that! I did have a terracotta plate in there but he didn't bother with it much. I will switch back though and will sort the hide at either end for him today. I actually had to pull apart a poop yesterday because he pooped on the glass! I know..I don't know how either.. anyways no worms there. It def sounds more like a temperature thing from the sound of it, and that being the only change I have made. Thanks again

 

[Redstrike]

@Redstrike , I was also thinking that over feeding of animal proteins leads to high fats in the blood, making the kidneys work harder and can cause dehydration. Your thoughts on please.
@addouk , don't be alarmed with what I just said, I could be wrong and yours is most likely temps.

Without doing more research, I honestly can't say. It sounds reasonable! At one pinkie mouse/week I think it can be ruled out.

Fecal floats at a veterinarian is how I've screened for parasites in the past. It sounds like you may have upped your temps too much with the move? Try dialing that back a bit and go from there (since tort is otherwise acting normally).

 

[HI Tortoise Rescue]

I'm willing to bet that your tortoise simply likes to sleep in water. I have several juveniles, & one sleeps in its water dish every night. The other two like to soak, but I've never seen them sleep in the big dish. It's definitely not temperature-related here in Hawaii, where it doesn't vary more than six degrees from day to night.

Ken

 

[addouk]

Thank you for the info I feel a lot better, I've turned the temps down a bit and also got a hide in either end of the vivarium and so far so good..no more water sleeping and using both hides .
Thank you so much!
Anyone like to hazard a guess at the sex of my little one (pic in an above post)
He/she is about 18 months old and is 6inches shell length at the moment.
Thanks

 

[HI Tortoise Rescue]

Not much sexual differentiation at that age. Wait a few years.

Ken