Not Eating!

I recently rescued a dumped Russian tortoise. He has been set up TEMPORARILY in a glass terrarium, with a basking area of 90 and the rest of the area is about 80-85. He was in rough shape when I got him, looked to be a bit dehydrated, overgrown nails and beak, etc. The thing is, he hasn’t eaten for 5 days now, or at least it doesn’t look like he has at all! I feed my torts spring mix and collard greens usually, with calcium D3 sprinkled on top.

I know he needs time to settle in, relax, and get used to his surroundings and a routine. I’m bothering him as little as I can throughout the day. He is soaking himself frequently, which brings me to my first question. Should I soak him now or wait a couple more days? I’m very scared that I will stress him out even more, stress can kill reptiles..
And secondly, how long can a young adult Russian go without eating?? I expected this, so I wasn’t worried at first.. I keep telling myself “he will eat when he gets hungry enough” but I’m finally starting to worry now.. any suggestions on how to get him to eat something?

Thank you for anything! I’ll try to answer any questions. View attachment 243235

I can’t see your picture, but to answer your questions-
Definitely soak every day for a while. Russian tortoises are notorious for hating soaks, but they need it, and he’ll get used to it eventually.

They can go months without eating, but yes, he will eat when he’s ready.

Please give these a read and come back with questions

Russian Tortoise Care Sheet https://tortoiseforum.org/index.php?threads/Russian-Tortoise-Care-Sheet.80698/.

Beginner Mistakes https://tortoiseforum.org/index.php?threads/Beginner-Mistakes.45180/

TechnoCheese said:

I can’t see your picture, but to answer your questions-
Definitely soak every day for a while. Russian tortoises are notorious for hating soaks, but they need it, and he’ll get used to it eventually.

They can go months without eating, but yes, he will eat when he’s ready.

Please give these a read and come back with questions

Russian Tortoise Care Sheet https://tortoiseforum.org/index.php?threads/Russian-Tortoise-Care-Sheet.80698/.

Beginner Mistakes https://tortoiseforum.org/index.php?threads/Beginner-Mistakes.45180/

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Oh wow, months?? I knew they could go a while, but that’s longer than I thought! Thank you! You’ve really helped my paranoid mind lol.

Just keep offering a variety of food he’ll come around.

daniellenc said:

Just keep offering a variety of food he’ll come around.

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Thank you!

If you see him soaking himself regularly then he's probably okay. Are the soaks deep enough to reach the base of his tail or is he just dipping his feet? Is he having bowel movements at all? When I bring mine out of hibernation I always feel a lot better once they start doing regular 'business'.

With a basking spot of 90 degrees he/she prob doesn’t feel like eating. Most of the time, if they can’t heat themselves up they won’t eat. They can’t digest their food well with a cold body temp. However, in a small glass tank, if you raise the basking temp to an appropriate temp you will prob go way too high on the ambient cool side temp. In my opinion, you need a bigger enclosure and a hotter basking spot.

TechnoCheese said:

I can’t see your picture, but to answer your questions-
Definitely soak every day for a while. Russian tortoises are notorious for hating soaks, but they need it, and he’ll get used to it eventually.

They can go months without eating, but yes, he will eat when he’s ready.

Please give these a read and come back with questions

Russian Tortoise Care Sheet https://tortoiseforum.org/index.php?threads/Russian-Tortoise-Care-Sheet.80698/.

Beginner Mistakes https://tortoiseforum.org/index.php?threads/Beginner-Mistakes.45180/

Click to expand...

Is that normal to russian tortoises not eating till 1 month or more? because i have my russians eating everyday until one day they stop eating for more than 2 weeks.

@FLemko, you’ll get better information if you make a new thread of your own, rather than adding a question to an existing thread.