Question considering health of Russian Tortoise

[McKenna]

Hi, I own a Russian Tortoise and I've had him almost 3 weeks. His bavior seems a bit off and I don't if it's for health reasons. I want to know what I need to do to help him. For the past few days he seems to sleep all day every other day. So one day he's out all energized, sitting in the basking area, and very social. Then the next I don't see him at all. Hes sleeping in his hide away all day. I don't want to take him out because I want to leave him alone, but he doesn't even come out to eat. Also, he never drinks water. I have a shallow bowl that he can easily crawl into that is always full of clean water and he never goes in and drinks on his own. He drinks when I bathe him once a week, but I feel like he needs to be drinking more water. Also another issue, he doesn't eat by himself. He only eats if I give it to him by hand or put him in his food bowl. He eats a lot and it's not like he's refusing. I just want to know what to do? Did I train him that he can only eat if I force him to? If that's the case how do I train him to eat on his own?

 

[Careym13]

Hi McKenna and welcome to TFO. I do not keep Russians, but if you post pictures of your set up, info about your four temps and diet then some of the members here who keep Russians will chime in and help. Also, check out the Russian section of the forum for care sheets and other info :http://www.tortoiseforum.org/forums/russian-tortoises.81/

 

[Yvonne G]

Quite a bit depends upon more info from you:

How old is your tortoise?
What is the habitat like? (indoors? Outdoors?)
What type of food are you asking him to eat?
What is the lighting situation? (type and size)

Good pictures of both the animal and his living space are worth a thousand words!

 

[Jodie]

More info will help. For the drinking issue, if you are worried that he is not getting enough water, soak him more often. 3X per week or even every other day will not hurt, and could help.

 

[McKenna]

Quite a bit depends upon more info from you:

How old is your tortoise?
What is the habitat like? (indoors? Outdoors?)
What type of food are you asking him to eat?
What is the lighting situation? (type and size)

Good pictures of both the animal and his living space are worth a thousand words!

He is 9 months old, indoor inclosure coconut fiber substrate, 40 gallon tank. I feed him in different patterns of kale, mustard greens, and collard greens. I was going to go buy 3 different veggies today. I have a 100 watt basking bulb (dome 5.5 in), a 50 watt red bulb for night (dome 5.5), and 50 watt uvb day light bulb (18 inches).

 

[McKenna]

Quite a bit depends upon more info from you:

How old is your tortoise?
What is the habitat like? (indoors? Outdoors?)
What type of food are you asking him to eat?
What is the lighting situation? (type and size)

Good pictures of both the animal and his living space are worth a thousand words!

 

[Jodie]

Is your UVB bulb a coil CFL light? These hurt their eyes and could be your problem.

 

[McKenna]

Is your UVB bulb a coil CFL light? These hurt their eyes and could be your problem.

It's not a coil, it's a 18 inch bulb