New owner of Russian tortoise. .. need answers please! !

jlreddish83

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Dec 1, 2014
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Hi, I just got a new female Russian tortoise, this is the third day I've had her. She was fine the first couple of days but now she's buried herself under the hay and ate very little today. I picked her up to check on her, when I set her back down over an hour ago. .. I'm a different spot than she was, she has yet to move. Could she be going into hibernation? She's still young. She's been eating fresh greens, red leaf lettuce, romaine lettuce and carrots. She hasn't drank very much keeps dumping her water bowl over. What is wrong? What do I need to do? ? Thanks in advance
 

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Grandpa Turtle 144

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Well let's start with where are you from , a pict of your tort and its enclosure would help .
 

jlreddish83

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She's still new to her environment so it will take a while for her to feel safe. A couple things though: hay is not a good bedding, it molds. The water dish should not be tippable....dig it in. And please read:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
Thanks, I'm getting sand and coconut noir tomorrow, and the water bowl was dug in as much add I could get it to go! ! Her habitat is still a work in progress so any help and tips would be greatly appreciated! !!
 

jlreddish83

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We live in ga, it's getting a bit chilly here, I have a uvb and a 150 wt heat lamp in her habitat. Like I said, we're working on her habitat, it's a 50 gal tote instead of an aquarium.
 

mini_max

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Got my little dude a few weeks ago and went through a similar experience. Make sure that the temps are good. If a baby, warmer end of any recommened range, particularly at night is better. They are more active when it's hotter. And know that young ones sleep and hide quite a lot. Sometimes when you first get them they seem really active because they are searching for their home and learning their space, but then they mellow out once they get it all figured out and, which the new owner (like me) can misinterpret as trouble.
Also, my little guy was staying burrowed all day. Then one night I couldnt sleep and found him out and about. Turns out that my infrared night heater was keeping him up, and when I switched to a ceramic heat emitter bulb, things turned around quite quick.
And one more newbie to newbie pointer. I was all worried about his enclosure and making it perfect, so for the first 2 weeks I was constantly changing and rearranging it, and in hindsight, he didn't really normal out until I just STOPPED MESSING WITH IT (and him)! Get the basics right - safe heat, substrate, food/water and a hide. And then just let her do her thing, and change things later as she gets used to her home. This is just my opinion of course.
Keep us posted.
 

mini_max

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Also, I learned that my guy was burrowing in the day to possibly escape the coil uvb bulb. I got rid of that and my heat lamp and went with a single Mercury vapor bulb for day.
 

jlreddish83

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Great, thanks for all the info. I haven't moved her habitat around just yet, waiting until I get the coco coir before I do any of that! I finally got her to eat and move around a bit after eating, she pooped and went back to her burrow, so for now, I'll just let her go until I get the rest of the stuff for her habitat. Thanks again for the tips! !
 

Gillian M

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:tort:Welcome to the forum! You are going to have to be patient if you've decided to have a....tortoise as a pet. They are wonderful animals, gorgeous, cute but....are not that easy to deal with. They need tme...so much time to adapt to a new environment, new home, new everything. I personally have had a Greek tort for about 3.5 years and I am now addicted to it!
Good luck.
 

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