Greek tortoise - always asleep

[Amcb]

Hello,

We have a two year old Greek tortoise who seems be sleeping too much. We’ve had him for a few months and when he first arrived he’d be up for 8-10 hours a day basking under the light for most of it.

Having come back from holiday (with friends looking after him) he now only wants to sleep. When we wake him up he is hungry but will then soon go back to sleep.

Can anyone let us know if this should be a concern?

The basking temp is around 35 degrees and ambient temp is around 20. We give him a warm bath regularly and feed him weeds - dandelion sow thistle etc.

Would really value any help

 

[Lyn W]

Hi and welcome.
This the caresheet that will help you check his temps humidity substrate etc are as they should be

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

What about your night temps?
If you post pics of his enclosure and the lamps you use, members can advise on anything that may be affecting his behaviour.
What has his diet been overwinter? I'm still waiting for the weeds to come back, or do you grow your own?

 

[Amcb]

Hi Lyn,

Here is a picture of the enclosure. The temperature at night is about 20 degree but the ambient temp is about 25 in the day, sorry got my terms mixed up in the previous post.

Thanks fo your help

 

[Lyn W]

Hi Lyn,

Here is a picture of the enclosure. The temperature at night is about 20 degree but the ambient temp is about 25 in the day, sorry got my terms mixed up in the previous post.

Thanks fo your helpView attachment 342100

Thanks.
There's a few things I think you can improve on, but most of us have ben given old, incorrect information when we started out. Thankfully TFO has helped us make changes to get things right. If you follow the caresheet as closely as possible your tort should thrive.

The enclosure is a bit small and cluttered for a 2 year old. They need space to roam for digestion and for bone and muscle strength so maybe remove some of the things to give him more room until you can give him a larger enclosure. Do you have a garden where he can have a safe space for supervised outside time in the summer?

The water dish is quite steep and could be a tipping/drowning hazard. Many of us use cheap terracotta plant saucers sunk level with the substrate to make it easier and safer for torts to access and exit.

There seems to be a lot of white on his food - if that's calcium powder then torts only need a small pinch a couple of times a week.

What bulb are you using in the fitting?

 

[Tom]

Hello,

We have a two year old Greek tortoise who seems be sleeping too much. We’ve had him for a few months and when he first arrived he’d be up for 8-10 hours a day basking under the light for most of it.

Having come back from holiday (with friends looking after him) he now only wants to sleep. When we wake him up he is hungry but will then soon go back to sleep.

Can anyone let us know if this should be a concern?

The basking temp is around 35 degrees and ambient temp is around 20. We give him a warm bath regularly and feed him weeds - dandelion sow thistle etc.

Would really value any help

In addition to all that Lyn said, did you maintain normal heat in the house while you were gone? Often when people go on holiday, they lower the thermostat since no one is home. This would make it feel like brumation time to the tortoise.

Up your temps a few degrees all around, do a 30 minute warm soak daily for while, and set your light timers for at least 13 hours a day, even if the tortoise is sleeping for part of that.

 

[Amcb]

Thank you both, we think he may have had a day or two without the UV lamp on which might have made him want to hibernate.

We have the bulb attached.

Hopefully he’ll be back to himself soon but he still seems to sleep a lot, he hasn’t lost his appetite though

 

[Lyn W]

Thank you both, we think he may have had a day or two without the UV lamp on which might have made him want to hibernate.

We have the bulb attached.

Hopefully he’ll be back to himself soon but he still seems to sleep a lot, he hasn’t lost his appetite though

I used to use those because they are convenient, but mvb bulbs aren't recommended anymore because they have been found to dry and damage tort shells. They are easily damaged and the UVB output also fails quite quickly, so they need to be replaced regularly, sometimes within 6 months, and they aren't cheap.
Many of us now use a T5 HO uvb tube kit - I like Arcadia - with a separate flood basking bulb, they also do those for about £3-5, and also a CHE run through a thermostat for night and extra heat when needed you may not need the CHE if your night temps are within the range given in the caresheet.
Do you have a garden where your tort can have outside time in the summer?

 

[Amcb]

Thank you, I think we’ll change the lighting.

Is it 12% you get? And 24 watt?

Yes we have a garden for him in summer

 

[Lyn W]

If he is

Thank you, I think we’ll change the lighting.

Is it 12% you get? And 24 watt?

Yes we have a garden for him in summer

If he is able to have regular short spells of supervised outdoor time in the sun in a safe enclosure with shade, then you may be able to manage without a uvb over the summer, but with our unpredictable weather it's always good to have an indoor option.
My tort is a leopard so has different requirements but the caresheet will probably tell you which uvb tube you need.