Is My Tortoise Scared?

mynamesmittens

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Jan 24, 2014
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I got my russian tortoise two or three years ago from the pet shop. He's not super friendly, but he's not really a hermit, either. He hisses when I pick him up and goes back in his shell, but that's it. Then he comes out and tries to get me to put him down.

Today I came home from work and thought I saw something on his foot while he was basking (it was just a piece of lettuce) and I brushed his foot with my hand (which doesn't normally make him do more than pull his foot in) and a few seconds later he was freaking out. He ran around his enclosure for about twenty minutes and kept making a hissing noise before he settled into the corner and spent about forty minutes digging. There's nothing about him that makes me think he's sick. No nasal drainage, his eyes look normal.

I put food in his habitat to see if he was just hungry, but he didn't even notice it. He just walked all over it and I have no idea what he thinks he's running from. I hear him hiss every once in while in the corner, as if something's startled him. I tried taking him out, thinking maybe he was just having issues with being in his habitat too much, but when I put him on the ground, he hardly took a second to look around. He just kept running. He's never gotten scared like this before. It makes me wonder if something happened while I wasn't home that freaked him out, but my mom says he was fine when she came in to look at him. She showed him to two of her friends while I was gone, but nothing happened other than that.

Does he sound sick or just scared? I have no idea what kind of sickness would make him act like this. And if he's scared, how do I make it stop? Him being scared makes me scared.

Edit: deleted a lot of this. Too much for an easy read. Thought I'd keep it simple.
 

wellington

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Post a pic of your enclosure. What are you using for heat and lights?
Also, you really do need to get him to eat better things. Check out thetortoisetable.org.uk for edible items. Then, chop them up small along with his favorite and sprite with water. This way he has too eat the better stuff to get his fave. Slowly reduce the amount of his fave foods until you are only feeding the better stuff.


Btw, Hello and Welcome
 

WillTort2

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I'm thinking the visitors may have scared him by accident. Time will probably make him relax a little more each day. I find that a quiet night and a good hide will help them relax.

Good luck.
 

Yvonne G

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Hi, and welcome to the Forum!

It sounds to me as if something was touching him and he was trying to get away from it. Like maybe a piece of substrate had gotten stuck on him someplace and he didn't know what was 'getting' him.
 
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