how active is your tortoise

[Jessicap]

I was in a pet store yesterday and saw my first tortoise for sale! It was a baby sulcata that they were selling for an outrageous $299.00. It was sooo active, running around in the enclosure, in and out of his water dish. Are they always so active or did I catch it at a good time? Are other species like Greeks, Hermanns and russians this active? I have a Redfoot and he prefers his hide only coming out a couple time during the day for short periods of time. And moves in "typical" tortoise fashion - SLOW. The sulcata baby was really cruising.

 

[tobibaby]

mine cruises all day he wakes up at about 6 6:30 in the morning and here we go, nonstop action, sometimes he chills but hardly hides, sometimes we see him running in his box, going up and down his balcony.. he sits up there and looks down like he is the king of his box (actually he is lol), he is pure entertainment. he is very spoiled and he acts like he is undistructive. when i take him out he likes to hang w/ me follow me around and chill next to me when i sit, he is just an absolute joy.

 

[Tracy Gould]

Hi Shelby my Hermann is very active, doing circuits around the table with only small basking stops or soaks in the water. Shelby also will climb the hill and sit watching me and rarely goes in to one of the hides to cool down.

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

When kept outside, every tortoise I've ever owned was fairly active, waking up at sun-up to look for food and taking care of ITB (Important Tortoise Business) until the heat of the day (around here, from about 11am 'til about 3-ish), when they wisely will take a siesta somewhere dark and cool...then it's back up and out, looking for more food or soaking or some other ITB (Important Tortoise Business).

Inside, they wake up about 8am, eat, head over to the basking spot, sleep a little there, wake up again, eat again, hang out until dark, go into their sleeping area and tomorrow's a new day!

I've really never kept tortoises that just sat around like a rock, other than the one hinge-back, and it may well have been because he was very unhealthy before I got him.

 

[Snapper]

When my tortoise is looking for food because "heaven forbid" I haven't fed her yet, she is one active tort. After feeding, she is content to be lazy, until she gets hungry again, and then she starts motoring around.

 

[Jessicap]

How about those with red foot tortoises? Do you find them to be real active too? Now I am getting a little worried because my Sidney is not active at all. He seems healthy otherwise, eats good, drinks, poops, eyes clear and bright, shell good except for some lumps (was that way when I got him)

 

[kimber_lee_314]

Yes, all of mine, even the redfoots, are active especially when outside. They have their little routines, stumbling out in the mornings, banking themselves against something to bask in the sunshine, then they start grazing. The redfoots are often in their water dish midmorning. By noon they are having their siestas under a bush in the shade. By afternoon they are cruising around - grazing again. By dusk they have found their sleeping spots.

 

[moswen]

mos is a yearling sulcata, and since my other girls don't do this i would attribute the trait to him being male, but he will tromp around his enclosure all day long playing "king of the substrate." he really looks like he's claiming everything he lays his eyes on. he's funny to me to watch, bc he's so animated that in my head i can just imagine what he's thinking;

"and that is mine, and that is mine, and-oh, that's REALLY mine... that's mine... I SAID THAT IS MINE! DON'T TOUCH IT! that's mine, oh, wait, what is that? -oh... ya well that's mine too."

then he gets bored of the "that's mine" game and he'll either fall asleep or sometimes he'll scratch at the walls. then he wakes up and starts again!

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

How about those with red foot tortoises? Do you find them to be real active too? Now I am getting a little worried because my Sidney is not active at all. He seems healthy otherwise, eats good, drinks, poops, eyes clear and bright, shell good except for some lumps (was that way when I got him)

Ask over in the red-foot section...it may well be that Sydney is perfectly normal (I've never kept redfoots, other than babysitting a pair for about a week for a vacationing friend, so I know very, very little about 'em).

 

[Jessicap]

Yes, all of mine, even the redfoots, are active especially when outside. They have their little routines, stumbling out in the mornings, banking themselves against something to bask in the sunshine, then they start grazing. The redfoots are often in their water dish midmorning. By noon they are having their siestas under a bush in the shade. By afternoon they are cruising around - grazing again. By dusk they have found their sleeping spots.

you have multiple red foots together? I was wondering if you think Sidney may be less active because he is alone. I know I read that they are okay alone but wondering if there was another one if he would be more adventurous. Or could I be doing something WRONG! Now I am getting worried. He is not active at all.

 

[Tracy Gould]

Jessicap is yours a baby I have only had Shelby 9 months, and She/He was only hatched in Sept 09 but at first for the first few months Shelby seem to sleep a lot I was worried too but got told they do sleep a lot like human babies do.

 

[Scirish]

Hey Jessicap! My redfoot was the same for a long time he usually only came out to eat. However for the last month and a bit his activity has gone way up. All I did was slightly increase the overall temperature and boost the humidity a bit. I am talking very minimal. His diet stayed the same. Maybe try adjusting something a little bit to see if it changes anything. I also have a lot of stuff for him to climb on and explore in his enclosure. I am not saying you are doing anything wrong cause I am sure you are not. But I was in the same boat as you until I changed things around a little and now he is way more active and is out and about most of the day. Of course I am no expert but it worked for me!

 

[Balboa]

From my limited experience with a couple rescues at this point a redfoot SHOULD be active, but they often don't feel "well" from the way they've been kept for sometime (not necessarily the current keepers fault, a wild caught/ranch-raised's life has been pretty rough before they wind up in a home)

My first was very lethargic at first, but recovered fairly quickly with proper cares. Now she's a non-stop motorboat, constantly putting around the enclosure.

My second was smaller (which may have something to do with activity levels) and has been a much slower road to recovery. She now wanders around at least a little and self regulates her needs (finds her way to the food and eats like a horse when she's hungry, moves about to regulate her temp, etc) and is showing new growth. She is nowhere as active as the first yet though.

IMHO when they're sick and dehydrated from previous cares it is downright painful for them to move, and they lack much of the will to keep going, or they may even be stuck in a brumating mode. This creates a downward trend as they won't move around enough to see to their own needs. (They may linger too long in a hot or cold spot just because they're too tired to move etc)

Hopefully over time as they start to feel better, more comfortable with you and their surroundings they hopefully begin to heal and become more active. In some cases damage may be so severe (from say serious dehydration) they may never fully recover, but they should be able to obtain some quality of life, just never be quite as active as they might have been.

Like I said previously just my ideas and observations from my limited experience and research while caring for two redfoots, not gospel.

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Ours all seem very active when they are warm and grazing.

 

[Jessicap]

Thank you everyone! I am now very glad I asked. I have always thought is was just the redfoot way - come out to eat drink then back to cover. When he hears me near I see his little head stick out of the hide and watch me but not too often do I catch him out. My enclosure is small right now 55 long tank so it is mostly a walk down to his water dish, back past his food dish and hides on the far end. I am in process of new 4 x 8 enclosure ( picking up lumber tomorrow... yeah) In the mean time I will try to increase the temps - currently low 80s - mid 90s under heat lamp. Humidity tends to drop more than I would like - is often in the 60% so will try to mist more often.