Russian Tortoise walking around .

[LiamHing]

I bought a Russian Tortoise today, it's 2 years old and I bought it from someone locally, he has it in a home made vivarium.

It's layered in small bark , it has water, leaves and plenty of shade as well as the heated bulb.

Now, my problem is, it's constantly walking around the perimeter of the "vivarium" which is becoming annoying and doesn't seem right.

Any help?

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Liam, and welcome to the Forum!!

Get used to it, bro...this is what they do.

You might consider putting him into a bigger habitat with more sight barriers and something to look at besides bare walls and substrate.

 

[tyrs4u]

They can pace 2 miles a day if they wish, then the rest of the energy is used to bury itself for bed

 

[Levi the Leopard]

Where are you located?

Is a really big outdoor pen an option? I'm sure he'd love to be outside vs. being in the vivarium.

I couldn't keep my Russian's indoors. The noise they make scratching the walls when they are in temporarily drives me nuts!

 

[GotTort]

My RT hatchling is currently on newspaper while getting treated for flagellates. He's pacing quite a bit. I gave him a couple of hides with Cyprus mulch. How can I make him happier with this temporary situation?

 

[lynnedit]

Russians (and many other tortoises) just are not happy unless they have a large area to roam. Eventually most get used to smaller enclosures, but not all.
GotTort,you just have to go through the process until the treatment and follow up is over :/ It's worth it in the end.

 

[LiamHing]

Cheers for all the replies, unfortunately I live in the UK so it wouldn't be hot enough outside, it settled down at 00:40 and has been sleeping since.

Just glad it settled down, and its normal for them to do that.

What I'll do is a few hours a day is let it roam around for a bit

 

[JoesMum]

I will add that this is your tort's first day in a new home. Torts can take weeks to get used to new things and settle down. Expect behaviour to be erratic for a little while.

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

I bought a Russian Tortoise today, it's 2 years old and I bought it from someone locally, he has it in a home made vivarium.

It's layered in small bark , it has water, leaves and plenty of shade as well as the heated bulb.

Now, my problem is, it's constantly walking around the perimeter of the "vivarium" which is becoming annoying and doesn't seem right.

Any help?

That's how it is with Russians, and a lot of other tortoises, too. In nature, Russians have a home range of 25-50 acres, so they like to walk. Just give your tortoise the biggest enclosure you can, outdoors if possible. Weather permitting, let him walk around outside. If it's not so nice out, you can let him walk around inside the house, as long as you don't let him get into dangerous places, like behind the fridge, for example.

How big is your vivarium? Vivaria are usually used for reptiles that need lots of humidity, but Russian tortoises don't. If you can, get an open-topped pen or tortoise table for an enclosure. This should give him more room, although he still might try to get out. Also, fir bark doesn't hold moisture very well, so I'd recommend switching to another substrate, like coconut coir.

Where are you located?

Is a really big outdoor pen an option? I'm sure he'd love to be outside vs. being in the vivarium.

I couldn't keep my Russian's indoors. The noise they make scratching the walls when they are in temporarily drives me nuts!

Yes, our male Russian tortoise often tries to climb the walls of his pen, and the relentless scratching and banging around really drives me bonkers, too. When he does that, I either let him outside, or else just let him walk safely around the house.

 

[Tyrtle]

Ours has taken to the pacing in his indoor enclosure too. Also drives me nuts. Sometimes I give him a soak when he does it. Fortunately this time of year, he can go outside for a good portion of the day. When I bring him in in the evening, he usually paces for about an hour then goes to sleep.

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

Ours has taken to the pacing in his indoor enclosure too. Also drives me nuts. Sometimes I give him a soak when he does it. Fortunately this time of year, he can go outside for a good portion of the day. When I bring him in in the evening, he usually paces for about an hour then goes to sleep.

Yes, it always amazes me how, even after a nice, long, full day outside, our male sometimes still paces when we bring him in for the night. Gahhh!

 

[JoesMum]

Is there a reason these torts are being brought in when they are still warmed up? I find it much less stressful for me and Joe alike to bring him in, if I have to, once he has cooled down (not got too cold) and packed up and gone to sleep for the evening. I can then pop him straight into his overnight accommodation and he won't budge until morning.

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

Is there a reason these torts are being brought in when they are still warmed up? I find it much less stressful for me and Joe alike to bring him in, if I have to, once he has cooled down (not got too cold) and packed up and gone to sleep for the evening. I can then pop him straight into his overnight accommodation and he won't budge until morning.

Great point. A warm tort is an active tort. Once evening falls, they are more likely to be cool and less active. Of course, my male Russian sometimes becomes active again in the warmth of his pen, but sometimes he'll just go into his cave and retire for the evening.

 

[Spn785]

A friend of mine has a Russian tortoise (Iwatched it for a month), and his outdoor enclosure is a little over 1/3 of an acre, and the tortoise STILL paces around the edge trying to get out. I'd say you just need to get used to it.

 

[JoesMum]

A friend of mine has a Russian tortoise (Iwatched it for a month), and his outdoor enclosure is a little over 1/3 of an acre, and the tortoise STILL paces around the edge trying to get out. I'd say you just need to get used to it.

Agreed... they're never satisfied. BUT if you do have to bring them in to a smaller enclosure overnight then doing it when they are cool and couldn't care less is less stressful all round.

 

[Tyrtle]

Is there a reason these torts are being brought in when they are still warmed up? I find it much less stressful for me and Joe alike to bring him in, if I have to, once he has cooled down (not got too cold) and packed up and gone to sleep for the evening. I can then pop him straight into his overnight accommodation and he won't budge until morning.

Great point. A warm tort is an active tort. Once evening falls, they are more likely to be cool and less active. Of course, my male Russian sometimes becomes active again in the warmth of his pen, but sometimes he'll just go into his cave and retire for the evening.

Same for me. If I bring him in when he's cooled down, he will still sometimes warm up and start pacing.

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Is there a reason these torts are being brought in when they are still warmed up? I find it much less stressful for me and Joe alike to bring him in, if I have to, once he has cooled down (not got too cold) and packed up and gone to sleep for the evening. I can then pop him straight into his overnight accommodation and he won't budge until morning.

Great point. A warm tort is an active tort. Once evening falls, they are more likely to be cool and less active. Of course, my male Russian sometimes becomes active again in the warmth of his pen, but sometimes he'll just go into his cave and retire for the evening.

Same for me. If I bring him in when he's cooled down, he will still sometimes warm up and start pacing.

Not to mention in the morning before I can even get him outside. There's a couple hours in the morning where it's too cold yet to go out.

 

[JoesMum]

Fair enough, but stress may not be removed completely, but it can be reduced. Indoor temps at night don't need to be as high as daytime ones and spot and UVB lamps should be off, so it is possible to keep things cool enough not to reactivate until next day. I bring Joe in just before I go to bed, so our central heating for the humans has gone off for the night too.

 

[Blakem]

My Russian is in a 24x5 outside area. He tries, and tries, and TRIES to climb walls. When I would put him in my backyard, he would find the gate and pace, despite the MANY plants, rocks and climbing areas. I did notice, after 6 months of owning my Russian that he seemed to have matured and decided his area wasn't big enough, which concluded in CONSTANT pacing. It calmed down when I made a larger area.