Behavioral question Russian vs sulcata

[KelseaB]

My fiance works in a mom and pop reptile shop and I am in quite frequently waiting till he is off. They have sulcata there that are right around Clyde's size (1.5"-2"). The sulcata are a lot more active than Clyde. Is this normal? Clyde is normally most active in the morning then again about mid afternoon. He will eat, stomp around then settle for a nap. Then around 2 he wakes up has a snack then goes back to sleep and pretty much is settled for the day.

Are sulcata more active or should I be worried about Clyde?

 

[lismar79]

I have one of each I have to say my Russian is definitely more active. It could be that the sulcata is just not in the right type of environment or in too small of an environment and is trying to find its way to more satisfactory space.

 

[KelseaB]

How much does your Russian move around during the day?

 

[Tom]

This depends on the housing, temps, and individual personalities of each tortoise. Plus most russians are less active this time of year. They "know" they should be hibernating. They can tell its winter by the short days and different light intensity and hue, even if you are doing your best to keep them warm in the colder months.

When I've had babies of both at the same time, I didn't really see a big difference in activity levels.

 

[KelseaB]

Good to know. I noticed the heat running a couple of degrees over 100 so I dialed it back just a couple degrees. Should I extend the light timers? It's at 13 hours a day.

 

[Tom]

Good to know. I noticed the heat running a couple of degrees over 100 so I dialed it back just a couple degrees. Should I extend the light timers? It's at 13 hours a day.

13 hours should be enough, but the quality and quantity of the light is important too.

 

[KelseaB]

He's got 2 heat bulbs one hot one warm then a uvb reptisun 10 on the hotspot side.

 

[Tom]

He's got 2 heat bulbs one hot one warm then a uvb reptisun 10 on the hotspot side.

Is your reptisun 10 a cfl bulb or a long tube, aka strip light?

What kind of heat bulbs? What wattage, what color, and what type, spot, flood or round?

 

[KelseaB]

The reptisun is a florescent tube light. The basking bulb is a generic floodlight and the cool side has a much smaller weaker floodlight.

Couldn't tell you wattage. I went through about 8 combinations before getting Clyde to make sure I had a good temperature gradient for him so I'm not sure what combo I ended up with.