My baby Russian tortoise is too sleepy!

[SarahLovesTorts]

Hi, I am Sarah and we got our Russian tortoise on the 28th of August 2015 and he is only 1 year old. When we got him he would make a new venture out every day and discover more of his enclosure but over the last month he has became very sleeps and just buries himself and sleeps. He doesn't eat any food unless we bathe him but sometimes he even falls asleep in the bath sometimes or as soon as we get him out and still wont eat anything. We don't see any of his poop or wee. The enclosure is wooden and 3ft long with a vapour bulb at 90 degrees (F). we feed him mainly rocket will calcium supplements on Mondays and Fridays. Im not sure if there is something wrong with him PLEASE HELP! . PS: we read he is too young to hibernate at 1 and could die due to conditions so we thought we better not.
Sarah

 

[Lyn W]

If you post pics of his enclosure members will be able to offer better advice as to how you could improve things for your tort.

Is your bulb a coiled or long thin loop sort?
What are your 4 temps - basking (under lamp) warm side cool side and overnight - what night heat do you use?
He needs a more varied diet than just rocket.
There is a caresheet for Russians under the Species Specific section which will recommend temps, diet, humidity, substrate etc. - http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/

You may find www.thetortoisetable.org.uk useful to ID tort safe foods.
Also look at the Beginners Mistakes thread which will help you correct any mistakes.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/


Sorry for all the questions but the more information you provide the more help you will get.

 

[AnimalLady]

Around this time of year torts that hibernate tend to slow down a little. I know that many have had success messing with their temps and such. I recommend that you post a pic of your enclosure and give us all the temps in there, cool side, basking side, overnight temp, and humidity.

I also highly recommend that you change up his diet a bit. Torts NEED variety, its the key to a healthy happy tort. There are so many weeds that you can feed that you probably have right in your backyard! When I have a hard time finding weeds I buy a Spring Mix Salad blend from the grocery store, I make sure to pick out as much Spinach as possible (a few pieces every now and then wont hurt). I also look out for dandelions and mustard greens.

Good luck, hope to see pix!