My Russian tortoise is not eating but is stomping around his enclosure.

lymcBoris

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Hi. I wonder if anyone has an be advice please. Our 3 year old tortoise Boris has for the last week and a half been stomping around and around his enclosure but not eaten a thing. He is stomping all over his food and spreading it about. He is trying to climb the walls and has behaved this way before, but has always had a good appetite. He has lost 40g since his last weight in last month and it's unusual for him to lose weight. All of my temps are as normal. 35c under basking lamp. All of my setup is as advised from care sheets and we have been well established for a good couple of years. This is out of the blue. I wondered if anyone had any experience of this behaviour. Could he be going through some sort of hormonal change? He is def a boy as we have seen his penis out probably about 5 months ago. That was quite a shock. I'm worried as he is losing weight and shows no interest in any of his favourite foods. Thanks
 

Herman_WA

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Don't know if it helps to ask this, but what size is your enclosure? Do you let him roam around your house?
 

lymcBoris

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Hi. My enclosure is 6ft by almost 3ft open. I don't let him roam because we have dogs. I've attached a video of Boris. He's trashed his enclosure and keeps trampling through his water dish and filling it with Coco soil. His food is everywhere. I've just replaced his ceramic heater as this was off for a long time because I put in another basking lamp about 6 months ago. I was worried he might be too cold.
 

lymcBoris

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More photos. I can't post videos and the pics keep cancelling. Very annoying.

IMG_20210125_170240.jpgIMG_20210125_170300.jpgIMG_20210125_170240.jpgIMG_20210125_170300.jpg
 

KarenSoCal

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More photos. I can't post videos and the pics keep cancelling. Very annoying.

I don't know why your pics are cancelling. The reason you can't post videos is because that is a perk for members who have supported the forum financially. Scroll down on this page to "Become a Supporting Member". You can, however, upload your video to YouTube and post the link they give you.

I know you said your tortoise has been fine until recently, but I'm wondering about the lights. Are you using MVB's in both domes? If not, how are you supplying UVB?

Russians need a lot of space to walk in order to digest their food. We recommend a minimum of 4ft x 8ft for an enclosure. It's possible he needs more space. Climbing the walls is often from letting the tort roam the floors, but since you're not doing that, space could be why. If he can't digest, he won't eat.

Dragging food and water might just be because the dishes are in the way. Try pushing them more toward the center of the enclosure, away from the walls.
 

Yvonne G

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Hi, and welcome!

In the picture Boris looks to be quite young, maybe just coming into breeding size. If this is the case, he's trying to get out of his 'territory' in search of a mate. I can make a suggestion about the water - move it out to the middle of the enclosure, away from the edge. Same with the food if it's on the edge. (Oops - I see Karen has already suggested this) He's going to keep marching until his hormones/testosterone settles.

Another thing - if your enclosure is on the floor, it would be a good idea to move it up off the floor, as that's the coldest area of a room, and with an open-topped enclosure the cold air is rushing in and over-powering the heat from the light.
 

lymcBoris

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View attachment 316353
More photos. I can't post videos and the pics keep cancelling. Very annoying.
I don't know why your pics are cancelling. The reason you can't post videos is because that is a perk for members who have supported the forum financially. Scroll down on this page to "Become a Supporting Member". You can, however, upload your video to YouTube and post the link they give you.

I know you said your tortoise has been fine until recently, but I'm wondering about the lights. Are you using MVB's in both domes? If not, how are you supplying UVB?

Russians need a lot of space to walk in order to digest their food. We recommend a minimum of 4ft x 8ft for an enclosure. It's possible he needs more space. Climbing the walls is often from letting the tort roam the floors, but since you're not doing that, space could be why. If he can't digest, he won't eat.

Dragging food and water might just be because the dishes are in the way. Try pushing them more toward the center of the enclosure, away from the walls.
Hi I am using 60w flood bulbs(no spots) in ceramic lamps and there an Arcadia ProT5 UV 39W strip light which is mounted down the top centre of his enclosure. The table is on legs up to waist height and he is next to a window for natural light also. Thanks for the idea of moving the dishes, I'll try that. I've just put in an upside down wash basin with hole cut out for a humid hide. He seems to have settled a little since I put the ceramic heat Lamp back up the top end (the darker end of his enclosure. I think he's definitely full of testosterone! He's mounting a small wooden tortoise that I put in his enclosure.
I would like to enlarge his enclosure but he's in my son's bedroom and it's taking up quite a bit if space already being 6ft by 3. But maybe we can work something out.

He is only about 3 years old so maybe it is hormones. He drank some warm water today and ate about 1 leave. That's it. At least he ate something. But he's never gone off his food before in the 2 years that we've had him.

Thanks
 

lymcBoris

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Hi, and welcome!

In the picture Boris looks to be quite young, maybe just coming into breeding size. If this is the case, he's trying to get out of his 'territory' in search of a mate. I can make a suggestion about the water - move it out to the middle of the enclosure, away from the edge. Same with the food if it's on the edge. (Oops - I see Karen has already suggested this) He's going to keep marching until his hormones/testosterone settles.

Another thing - if your enclosure is on the floor, it would be a good idea to move it up off the floor, as that's the coldest area of a room, and with an open-topped enclosure the cold air is rushing in and over-powering the heat from the light.
Thanks for the reply. I think this is probably what's happening with his hormones. His enclosure is waist height on legs. I'll move the dishes and hope he settles and gets interested in his food again soon. He usually gobbles up his mazuri pellets, but won't even look at them at the moment. Due to it being winter and no weeds available, we give him the florette salad mix with added kale and Romain plus soaked mazuri pellets. He has wasted the lot.
 
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