Newly acquired Tortoise, sudden changes

[ChumWaters]

I found a tort in the middle of the road. I'm 99% sure its a Russian Tortoise as of right now. I'm still currently trying to locate its owner but in the meantime I'm trying to take care of it.

He is outdoors and where I live the temps are highs of 80 by day and lows of 40 by night right now.

I needed a better situation for my Tort buddy. I knew nothing about Turtles yesterday, I know a good amount today. I made him a temporary enclose thats about 5x5. If he isn't claimed hes going to get something bigger and better WITH proper temp management.

When I was making it and storing him in my lawn he was EXTREMELY active. If you picked him up he still kept going in your hands.

You'd lose him after a minute if you weren't watching. I gave him a bunch of green leafy food options as instructed - no go. I finally finished and put him in the enclosure and he tired to escape immediately. After giving up, he just went lethargic... He barely moves. He didn't move overnight.

He looks healthy in all aspects. Clean eyes, hard body, good weight, healthy looking skin, was extremely active.

I soaked him in warm water and got nothing out of him. He moves his head out of his shell slightly, but no use of the legs anymore. He hides immediately in his shell when I go near him. He literally hasn't moved spots in maybe 8-10 hours. He isn't burrowed either.

What could be wrong? Help me out!

 

[Yvonne G]

When you found him he was actively trying to find his home territory and be safe. Then you penned him up in a smallish space and he was no longer able to try to find his home territory. This is very stressful on a tortoise.

If you are able to keep him, it takes a couple of weeks for them (especially Russians) to settle in and learn that this is their new territory and it is a safe place to be. He'll need a couple of hiding places where he can be out of sight of predators (either real or imagined).

Give him a nice warm soak for about 15 minutes. Place him in a little tub with high sides and add enough warm water to come up to the middle of his sides. Even if he scrambles to get out, just leave him in there for about 15 minutes. Doesn't matter if the water cools. It can't get any cooler than room temp. and Russians to quite well in room temperature.

I live in Clovis, and my weather is very similar to yours. My Russian tortoises live outside with no extra heat. They do fine in our weather even down to the cool nights. Just make sure your guy can get out of the direct sun and be able to cool himself down.

(Having been in the tortoise rescue business for over 20 years, I know better than to take someone's word for the kind of tortoise they found. So, can we please see pictures of your new little tortoise?)