Down at tortoise height it would be low 70s-mids 70s in the day. In order to keep the nighttime low higher is it acceptable to keep the basking light on? I'm not sure how else to keep him warm. I'll try keeping his substrate more wet and we're getting a new UVB light in the next couple days...
Here's his enclosure. We'd like a bigger one in the future but its what we can manage right now. Heat is mid 70s on the cool side, 96 degrees under the heat lamp. I ordered a new UVB bulb to get here in a few days as this one is almost a year old I believe.
Our russian tortoise typically breaths out air whenever he pulls his head back into his shell. Lately, he has been doing this more often and the sounds are shorter and higher pitched, almost like a little sneeze. He will also pull his head in as usual but then make another little sneezing sound...