RT hatchling sleeping too much?

Joined
Mar 20, 2020
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89
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Denver, Colorado
Hi everyone!

I recently got a hatchling russian (a little over two months) and he sleeps most of the day. He'll walk around sometimes and will eat A LOT, but he mostly takes really long naps under the sphagnum moss and inn the substrate. I make sure to spray it down and keep the basking spot at 90 F, as well as soak him everyday for fifteen minutes and make sure that he's fed.
I'm a little nervous since I just got him, and I want to make sure that it's a normal behavior for hatchlings to burrow and sleep most of the day.

Thanks,
Gracey and Noodles

NOTE: I'm using 'he' because it's what comes to mind.
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nicoleann2214

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Mar 11, 2020
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917
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NY
Hi everyone!

I recently got a hatchling russian (a little over two months) and he sleeps most of the day. He'll walk around sometimes and will eat A LOT, but he mostly takes really long naps under the sphagnum moss and inn the substrate. I make sure to spray it down and keep the basking spot at 90 F, as well as soak him everyday for fifteen minutes and make sure that he's fed.
I'm a little nervous since I just got him, and I want to make sure that it's a normal behavior for hatchlings to burrow and sleep most of the day.

Thanks,
Gracey and Noodles

NOTE: I'm using 'he' because it's what comes to mind.
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Hi welcome! Hatchlings do like to hide most of the time from predators, and sleep when their babies. What’s your ambient temps? And cold side temps? You could try upping your soaks to 25-30 minutes a day. I don’t know much about russians I’m sure someone more knowledgeable will be replying soon! Best of luck. ?
 
Joined
Mar 20, 2020
Messages
89
Location (City and/or State)
Denver, Colorado
Hi welcome! Hatchlings do like to hide most of the time from predators, and sleep when their babies. What’s your ambient temps? And cold side temps? You could try upping your soaks to 25-30 minutes a day. I don’t know much about russians I’m sure someone more knowledgeable will be replying soon! Best of luck. ?
ambient temps are around 85 and the cold hide is room temperature, but he never goes in there, it's pretty dark.
 

Golden Greek Tortoise 567

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Read this care sheet check to make sure if everything is correct. If not, that may be why the little guy is sleeping so much or it could be just because babies do sleep most of the day.

 
Joined
Mar 20, 2020
Messages
89
Location (City and/or State)
Denver, Colorado
Read this care sheet check to make sure if everything is correct. If not, that may be why the little guy is sleeping so much or it could be just because babies do sleep most of the day.

I read through this , and I'm starting to think that maybe he's just sleeping because he's a baby. I do plan on rearranging my enclosure, both for enrichment and because the feeding slate and moss get too hot/dry. I have both a uvb bulb and a zoomed heat bulb at 75 watts that raises the temp on the basking spot to a good temperature, and I also have a ceramic heater to keep both the basking spot and other temps warm. do you recommend I keep the zoomed heat bulb? could that be hurting his eyes?
 

Minority2

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Tortoise Hell
I read through this , and I'm starting to think that maybe he's just sleeping because he's a baby. I do plan on rearranging my enclosure, both for enrichment and because the feeding slate and moss get too hot/dry. I have both a uvb bulb and a zoomed heat bulb at 75 watts that raises the temp on the basking spot to a good temperature, and I also have a ceramic heater to keep both the basking spot and other temps warm. do you recommend I keep the zoomed heat bulb? could that be hurting his eyes?

All hatchlings will sleep a large portion of the day. Just make sure to keep the entire enclosure above 80 degrees at a minimum of 80% humidity level. Yes even Russian tortoises should be raised in moderately high to high humidity early onwards in order to ensure that their bodily organs will grow in healthy and not hindered like the old school dry method where sold hatchlings will often have a higher chance of dying soon after being bought by new owners.

sphagnum moss is not favored as a substrate choice because tortoises tend to eat them. There are far choices such as fir bark and coco coir for humidity retaining purposes.

Is your uv(B) bulb a tube bulb or something else entirely? Am I reading this correctly? You have 3x light fixtures for a uv(B) bulb, a red heating bulb and a ceramic heat emitter?
1. I personally don't recommend mercury vapor bulbs because they're overly expensive for what they do and the cheaper branded ones are known to cause eyes issues in tortoises. You'll save more money in electricity bills using a t5 fixture as a uv(B) source than you would for any other uv(b) choices. For heating stick with an incandescent flood bulb and ceramic heat emitter/reptile heat panel. I would personally choose a reptile heat panel over a ceramic heat emitter more for the safety and energy efficiency of use.

2. Red bulbs are unnatural in nature. Some dislike it for this very reason. Tortoises can actually see a very broad spectrum of color which makes people think red bulbs can cause adverse affects in tortoises. I can't link the study describes this, I believe it may be in one of the scholarly sources on the forum. In short, you rarely see people on this forum recommending them and or using them.
 
Joined
Mar 20, 2020
Messages
89
Location (City and/or State)
Denver, Colorado
All hatchlings will sleep a large portion of the day. Just make sure to keep the entire enclosure above 80 degrees at a minimum of 80% humidity level. Yes even Russian tortoises should be raised in moderately high to high humidity early onwards in order to ensure that their bodily organs will grow in healthy and not hindered like the old school dry method where sold hatchlings will often have a higher chance of dying soon after being bought by new owners.

sphagnum moss is not favored as a substrate choice because tortoises tend to eat them. There are far choices such as fir bark and coco coir for humidity retaining purposes.

Is your uv(B) bulb a tube bulb or something else entirely? Am I reading this correctly? You have 3x light fixtures for a uv(B) bulb, a red heating bulb and a ceramic heat emitter?
1. I personally don't recommend mercury vapor bulbs because they're overly expensive for what they do and the cheaper branded ones are known to cause eyes issues in tortoises. You'll save more money in electricity bills using a t5 fixture as a uv(B) source than you would for any other uv(b) choices. For heating stick with an incandescent flood bulb and ceramic heat emitter/reptile heat panel. I would personally choose a reptile heat panel over a ceramic heat emitter more for the safety and energy efficiency of use.

2. Red bulbs are unnatural in nature. Some dislike it for this very reason. Tortoises can actually see a very broad spectrum of color which makes people think red bulbs can cause adverse affects in tortoises. I can't link the study describes this, I believe it may be in one of the scholarly sources on the forum. In short, you rarely see people on this forum recommending them and or using them.
I don't use the moss as a substrate, more for noodles to burrow in. also, I use a t5ho 5.0 uvb light, and my heat light isn't red, it's like a regular lightbulb. the heater doesn't emit any light, just makes sure the basking spot is warm enough. the picture shows what I mean
 

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Minority2

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Tortoise Hell
I don't use the moss as a substrate, more for noodles to burrow in. also, I use a t5ho 5.0 uvb light, and my heat light isn't red, it's like a regular lightbulb. the heater doesn't emit any light, just makes sure the basking spot is warm enough. the picture shows what I mean

Having the moss in the enclosure is still not something people in the forum generally recommend. What the tortoise doesn't eat will likely mold.

Can you link the specific type of bulb you're using for your basking light? You wrote zoomed heat bulb and when I googled that the only two choices were red heating bulbs and halogen bulbs, both style of bulbs which are not good for tortoises. One is bad for their eyes and the other gives them a lethargic type of feeling. The suggestion to use an incandescent flood bulb is still the most logical choice.

Be sure to test your 5.0 uv(B) tube bulb regularly with a solar meter. Depending on how old, specific brand, and how high or low it is, the amount of uv(B) may change. The mesh grate also blocks a portion of the uv(B).

Is the ceramic heat emitter located on the left hand side, the lighting fixture with the wider housing? In a standard enclosure layout a ceramic heat emitter is best positioned either in the middle or cool side end of the tortoise enclosure to ensure that the heat will spread evenly throughout the enclosure. Some people would even use ceramic heat emitters for larger enclosures. Personally I still suggest running a single long reptile heat panel because that would be the most efficient way to regulate a closed chamber enclosure without having to double up on spending additional equipment to get the same results.
 
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