Questions about my russian's behavior after I made a change to his enclosure.

[Kevboosh]

My russian's enclosure, until recently was open topped. He has a plastic tub for a humidity hide that he started sleeping in. Since the weather is going to cool down soon, I finally got around to covering his enclosure. I got a bunch of plexiglass slabs that I covered about three quarters of his enclosure with. The temperature zones are perfect now and the air should be a little less dry. The problem is, for the past week, he has spent almost all day in his humidity hide. He wakes up, does a bask, eats and then has been spending the rest of the day in the plastic tub hide. The hide is the warmest place in his enclosure other than directly under his basking light. It was also in the part of his enclosure that gets some sun. I got worried that he might be going into the shade of the plastic tub to cool off but ending up just getting warmer. Is that possible or would he know that he should leave it if he wanted to cool off? It's the darkest, most shaded place in his enclosure so, naturally, it LOOKS like a place to beat the heat but, since it's plastic, it's not. He never buried himself so maybe he wasnt TOO hot? I removed the plastic tub earlier today and he has been behaving more like I'm used to. Wandering and taking little naps in his log tunnels. Should I leave the plastic tub out or maybe modify it with some more ventilation before putting it back in? If what he was doing(hiding almost all day) was healthy, I'll put it back but, I have to admit, I didnt like not seeing or hearing him anymore.

Pictures are of his enclosure right now. I removed one of the plexiglass slabs in order to make a zone that is more clearly cooler than the other. I've been being neurotic about fungus gnats so there is some fly paper hanging. I'm pretty sure they're under control though mounting his uvb light in a less ugly way is the next step, now that I got the more important stuff out of the way.

Thanks in advance for any advice/input!

 

[SinLA]

I would give him two hides, so he has a choice of a hotter one or cooler one.

My guy loves this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B083JPLRXS/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

 

[Kevboosh]

I would give him two hides, so he has a choice of a hotter one or cooler one.

My guy loves this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B083JPLRXS/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

He has 3 of these at different temperature areas.

 

[SinLA]

Oh, then I would say leave him be and let him pick which hide he wants...

 

[Kevboosh]

Oh, then I would say leave him be and let him pick which hide he wants...

So it's not something to be worried about for him to start hiding/sleeping almost all day? It's october but, in california it's still plenty warm. In my house, where his enclosure is, the temperature is basically the same. The only difference is that the sun is hitting his window at a different angle and he has more of it shining directly into his enclosure for more of the day. I'm just curious about why his behavior would have changed and if it's something I need to worry about.

 

[Kevboosh]

The first thing I did was to try and rule out boredom. Usually when I move around some of his rocks and stuff, it reinvigorates his interest in his surroundings. He didnt really seem to care.

 

[Kevboosh]

I just read Tom's brumation thread. Maybe he simply knows it's starting to be that time, even without any temperature or light change.

 

[SinLA]

I just read Tom's brumation thread. Maybe he simply knows it's starting to be that time, even without any temperature or light change.

Yes this is likely what it is