arami25
Member
Hey everyone,
I have an adult male russian tort named Little Foot. I live in Atlanta, GA and the outside temperatures here have been around 35-45 F for most days but at the peak of the day it can get up to 60 F. I can definitely tell that my tortoise wants to find a nice, dark, cool place to brumate for the rest of the rest of the winter, but I am just not ready for that because I do not have the money or space for a minifridge to maintain constant temperatures. Also my room temp is at 70-75 F.
This is what he keeps doing: He walks around the perimeter of his kiddy pool and wants to get out of it so there's constant scratching at the wall of the pool and it can get pretty irritating when I'm trying to sleep at night. I end up staying up and trying to put him to bed by encouraging him to burrow in his dirt. He just won't have it! Now, he's barely eating and doesn't even seem interested when I try to offer something that he likes. I still soak him to ensure he's hydrated and I still offer him food. I keep his lights on during the daytime and that's when the wall scratching begins, like he's demanding to get out and walk to a darker part of my room. He's been like this for about 5 days.
I really would like to give him what he wants because he was wild caught (I know I feel bad, but I've learned my lesson on that) and I was thinking about getting a storage bin and filling it all the way up with dirt so that he has enough depth to dig in and have constant temperatures to brumate. HOWEVER, I felt like that won't be a good idea because my room is not as cold as outside.
So now I don't know what else I can do to help him cope and not brumate this year. He didn't brumate last year and this is the second year I've had him. Basking temp is at 100-105 F and the rest of the enclosure gets 70-75F. I could put another basking light or CHE to increase overall enclosure temps. I was going to go to the hardware store and get him more dirt to dig into.
Suggestions?
Many thanks,
Amanda and Little Foot
I have an adult male russian tort named Little Foot. I live in Atlanta, GA and the outside temperatures here have been around 35-45 F for most days but at the peak of the day it can get up to 60 F. I can definitely tell that my tortoise wants to find a nice, dark, cool place to brumate for the rest of the rest of the winter, but I am just not ready for that because I do not have the money or space for a minifridge to maintain constant temperatures. Also my room temp is at 70-75 F.
This is what he keeps doing: He walks around the perimeter of his kiddy pool and wants to get out of it so there's constant scratching at the wall of the pool and it can get pretty irritating when I'm trying to sleep at night. I end up staying up and trying to put him to bed by encouraging him to burrow in his dirt. He just won't have it! Now, he's barely eating and doesn't even seem interested when I try to offer something that he likes. I still soak him to ensure he's hydrated and I still offer him food. I keep his lights on during the daytime and that's when the wall scratching begins, like he's demanding to get out and walk to a darker part of my room. He's been like this for about 5 days.
I really would like to give him what he wants because he was wild caught (I know I feel bad, but I've learned my lesson on that) and I was thinking about getting a storage bin and filling it all the way up with dirt so that he has enough depth to dig in and have constant temperatures to brumate. HOWEVER, I felt like that won't be a good idea because my room is not as cold as outside.
So now I don't know what else I can do to help him cope and not brumate this year. He didn't brumate last year and this is the second year I've had him. Basking temp is at 100-105 F and the rest of the enclosure gets 70-75F. I could put another basking light or CHE to increase overall enclosure temps. I was going to go to the hardware store and get him more dirt to dig into.
Suggestions?
Many thanks,
Amanda and Little Foot