Is it unusual for my baby Russian tortoise to stay in his hide all day?

[KieranAmy]

Hi, we’ve had our Russian tortoise for just over a month now and he seems to stay in his hide almost all day, comes out occasionally to eat something.

Is this normal?

Temps -

Basking - 35 degrees Celsius
Hot side - 30 degrees Celsius
Middle - 25 degrees celcius
Cool - 22 degrees celcius
Nighttime low - 20 degrees celcius

He is currently in a 4ft enclosure and feeding on various foods including multi leaf lettuce, dandelion and tortoise pellet

 

[LJL1982]

Hi, we’ve had our Russian tortoise for just over a month now and he seems to stay in his hide almost all day, comes out occasionally to eat something.

Is this normal?

Temps -

Basking - 35 degrees Celsius
Hot side - 30 degrees Celsius
Middle - 25 degrees celcius
Cool - 22 degrees celcius
Nighttime low - 20 degrees celcius

He is currently in a 4ft enclosure and feeding on various foods including multi leaf lettuce, dandelion and tortoise pellet

What type of enclosure is it...4ft viv? 4x4 enclosure 4x1 tortoise table?

Also how old is the tortoise and what is his carapace length roughly (shell length)

 

[LJL1982]

Also what type of lighting and heating are you using?

 

[KieranAmy]

What type of enclosure is it...4ft viv? 4x4 enclosure 4x1 tortoise table?

Also how old is the tortoise and what is his carapace length roughly (shell length)

It’s a 4ft by 16inch table. He is roughly 2 inch in diameter

 

[KieranAmy]

Also what type of lighting and heating are you using?

I’m using a neorep 80w mercury vapor bulb. UVB+uvb+D3

 

[LJL1982]

I’m using a neorep 80w mercury vapor bulb. UVB+uvb+D3

What type of enclosure and is the bulb hung over or is it a tortoise table with a side mounted light fitting?

 

[KieranAmy]

What type of enclosure and is the bulb hung over or is it a tortoise table with a side mounted light fitting?

It’s a wooden tortoise table with the light hung over

 

[LJL1982]

It’s a wooden tortoise table with the light hung over

How far away is the bottom of the bulb from his back if he lies under it?

 

[KieranAmy]

How far away is the bottom of the bulb from his back if he lies under it?

Roughly 12 inches

 

[LJL1982]

Presumably the 4ft x 16in is including a foot of hide so his lit area is about 3ft by 16inch?

 

[KieranAmy]

Presumably the 4ft x 16in is including a foot of hide so his lit area is about 3ft by 16inch?

More or less yes

 

[LJL1982]

More or less yes

If I take a solar meter and put it under a similar bulb, even in a dome focusing downward, there is a significant amount of IV light around it for the immediate area, certainly covering the space of your enclosure.

Mercury vapour bulbs can be very drying to tortoises shells and eyes, the lumen over his whole enclosure having no significant downward variant as I move further from the lamp.

I suspect he is finding it all a bit too hot and dry out there and is sheltering as he would in the wild. In the wild they would move between basking part of day, and shade, but your whole enclosure is effectively basking conditions.

I would try getting a hung uvb tube light and then get a solar basking light in a dome to focus it downwards to one spot.

The main issue here is that your enclosure does not offer any ability for him to escape the UV or heat when he wants to.

We can't see UV light well. If we could you would see it over a much larger and much brighter area than it appears in your enclosure and room.

An adult Russian needs a 4 x 8 space and ideally even a hatchling or juveniles would have a non hide space of 2ft x 4ft...its needed for the bulbs alone, but also tortoises travel a lot during the day!

Russians are one of the less active Testudo breeds so if he's being kept warm then he should be walking about.

You could try bathing him for a few days too to see if he becomes more active, he could be dehydrated.

 

[LJL1982]

Also, if he's 2 inches, he's presumably a baby. He's shy and the world is a big place. You could alternatively put some semi shade into the open part of the enclosure if you haven't already. If you look at my photos I have a pets at home rabbit large size wooden stick thing. I have several in her enclosure. She likes the one up by her lights as she isn't much of a breed to bask, and so she sits up the warm end half in and half out of there, or sleeps up next to an artificial plant.

How is your humidity? Open tortoise tables are tough to keep it up, maybe give it a spray down daily with a plant misting gun like you can get in Homebase or B&M for like £4

 

[KieranAmy]

Also, if he's 2 inches, he's presumably a baby. He's shy and the world is a big place. You could alternatively put some semi shade into the open part of the enclosure if you haven't already. If you look at my photos I have a pets at home rabbit large size wooden stick thing. I have several in her enclosure. She likes the one up by her lights as she isn't much of a breed to bask, and so she sits up the warm end half in and half out of there, or sleeps up next to an artificial plant.

How is your humidity? Open tortoise tables are tough to keep it up, maybe give it a spray down daily with a plant misting gun like you can get in Homebase or B&M for like £4

Thankyou for the response. Yeah I think I’ll give it a spray and see if that helps. He clearly comes out some points and we don’t see him because his food gets eaten on his slate in the middle of the enclosure. He gets bathed daily also