sleeping russian

[tinsel]

Does anyone else's Russian tortoise sleep for long periods? Mine is about 7 years old and we have had her 5 years. She usually eats twice a day and is very active. At some point once or twice a year( and at different times in the year), she will start to eat once a day, then not at all and sleep continuously. If I wake her she and take her out of the tank, she will walk around. When I put her back in the tank, she goes right back into her log and goes to sleep, not eating anything. This goes on for a couple of months and then it ends and she goes back to her regular schedule. Tank temps are consistent. Does this happen to anyone else?

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Interesting.
I have never heard of this.
My guess, and it is a complete and utter guess with no scientific justification whatsoever, is hibernation.
From what you say you don't seem to hibernate your tortoise ?
So i hypothesize that once a year, or there about, your tortoise who doesn't have the natural temperature trigger or biological clock mechanism to instigate the start of hibernation, feels 'tired' and it must be time for it's brumation. Thus it eats less and then nothing at all to clear it's stomach and intestines, as in nature, ready to brumate. But then the temps never drop low enough and after a while the tortoise adapts and ceases trying to brumate.
She has no fixed temperature trigger to start brumation so it happens seemingly randomly, set off simply by a feeling of 'surely this year must be over by now!'
Hmmmmm, what do you think ?
Plausible ?

 

[JoesMum]

Does anyone else's Russian tortoise sleep for long periods? Mine is about 7 years old and we have had her 5 years. She usually eats twice a day and is very active. At some point once or twice a year( and at different times in the year), she will start to eat once a day, then not at all and sleep continuously. If I wake her she and take her out of the tank, she will walk around. When I put her back in the tank, she goes right back into her log and goes to sleep, not eating anything. This goes on for a couple of months and then it ends and she goes back to her regular schedule. Tank temps are consistent. Does this happen to anyone else?

Russians do spend a lot of time underground.

To get to the bottom of the inactivity you and we really need to know the weather, temperatures and daylight hours outdoors as well as the temperatures indoors.

I have seen many reports of torts reacting to the shortening days as winter approaches by becoming less active, even when their indoor temperatures and lighting are perfect.

Equally very hot weather outdoors or air conditioning being switched on can affect indoor temperatures.

You should be constantly aware of the 4 important temperatures: warm side, cool side, directly under the basking lamp and overnight minimum. They need to be measured accurately. A min/max thermometer will give you the overnight temperatures. A temperature gun type thermometer (inexpensive from Amazon) is best for spot checking the rest.

It's not healthy for a tort to be left for a couple of months of inactivity without being monitored. They can easily become dehydrated and lose a lot of weight. A tort will not hibernate properly unless the temperature is consistently below 10C.

Do you weigh your tort throughout? You should do so at least weekly if he's inactive.

A properly hibernating tort should lose very little weight and definitely no more than 10%.