My Tortoise Sleeps 24hours + and doesnt wake up.

[Taco The Tortoise]

I bought my tortoise about a week ago and he is about 5-6 months old. He goes to his cold/humid side of his table and burrows under the soil and stays there for over 24 hours until i pick him up cause i get worried. That's the only way hes woken up so far because I don't want him to starve or get dehydrated from being a sleep so long. Any idea if what hes doing is normal or if i should try and just let him sleep until he wakes up himself? warm side is 91 and 35% humidity and cold side is probably around 70-75 with 60ish % humidity. the cold humid spot is also an enclosed section so it doesnt get light or heat on it. but he also has a warm dry hide he uses sometimes during the day. He also is eating well. oh and hes a marginated tortoise.

 

[method89]

Your humidity is too low on both sides. your cood side is too cold. ambient temp should be 80-85.

Check out this care sheet. Give it a good read.

*Marginated tortoise (Testudo marginata) Care-Sheet*

Marginated tortoise (Testudo marginata) Literature and images by Chris Leone www.gardenstatetortoise.com www.hermannihaven.com The Marginated tortoise is the largest of the Mediterranean species belonging to the genus Testudo. Males may surpass 14” while most females top out between 10 and...

www.tortoiseforum.org

Also post pictures of your setup if you can.

 

[Taco The Tortoise]

Heres the setup. How would i increase the temp on the cold side also should i just mist the enclosure more the soil is more moist but the humidity thing is higher up on the side.

 

[method89]

Ideally you would have a closed chamber. it keeps heat and humidity pretty constant. based on this picture, it appears your lights are too close to the tortoise and probably making the one side uninhabitable for him. What type of lights are you using? it looks like you have a red heat bulb

 

[method89]

you could get a Ceramic heat emitter (CHE) and put it on a thermostat set at 80-85. by the looks of it you have your lights too close to each other as well.

 

[method89]

Read this as well:

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

www.tortoiseforum.org

 

[Taco The Tortoise]

ok cool ya they both emit heat but the one is uva and uvb and heat and the other is just red heat. i leave the red one on at night and turn the other off.

 

[method89]

ok cool ya they both emit heat but the one is uva and uvb and heat and the other is just red heat. i leave the red one on at night and turn the other off.

what is the temp in your home at night? if its high 60's low 70's you dont need night heat and I wouldnt use the red bulb in the day or night either way. I would move that fixture over to the cool side and replace the bulb with a CHE, but it on a thermostat during day and turn off at night

 

[Taco The Tortoise]

ya i leave the red one on at all times but good idea ill move the red one into the middle. i had that other one there cause it gives off uva and uvb but im assuming it doesnt have to be very close to give off the uvb

 

[Taco The Tortoise]

Here he is btw. Name is taco

 

[Taco The Tortoise]

btw thank you very much for the help it was greatly appreciated. New to reptile keeping and i'm loving it. Getting a western hognose hatchling soon very excited.

 

[Srmcclure]

I would definitely switch to a large closed chamber. Especially if its gonna stay by that TV above it lol. Humidity plus TV is usually not good ?

 

[Taco The Tortoise]

I never use the TV. It gets used maybe like 2 times a month. And i started just watering the substraight every 2 days now with purified water. humidity is anywhere from 55-70 now.

 

[Srmcclure]

I never use the TV. It gets used maybe like 2 times a month. And i started just watering the substraight every 2 days now with purified water. humidity is anywhere from 55-70 now.

Just giving you a hard time ?
Definitely read that caresheet method sent you and it should help out a lot for you and taco ?

 

[Taco The Tortoise]

ya i read through the whole thing. I just soaked him today and switched his lights around so the hotter one is in the middle of the pen. should raise the overall temp of the pen a bit. He is very active today which is good to see.