Something wrong or living his best life?

Dcatalano

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Jan 22, 2021
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Colorado
Gabby, my 10+ yr old Russian tortoise, seems to be settling into his new digs. He’s curious to check me out while I’m drinking coffee watching him as he’s soaking in the mornings. He eats and soaks in his water dish, and basks off and on all day.
But I’m noticing he goes into his hide around 5pm and burrows in until the next morning. Is this normal or is something wrong?

932E4C4A-BA3A-43C7-B2D1-0B1CF126642B.jpeg
 

ZenHerper

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Feb 27, 2020
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If the enclosure is in view of a window, he's probably cue-ing from the short daylight outside. See what happens in a few weeks.

Either way, it's a normal tortoise Evening behavior.
 

Falcon70

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Agree with ZenHerper here. Unless you're matching the intensity of natural lighting from the spring/summer with artificial light, they're hardwired to slow down, even with stable temperatures. I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

My Russian is also pretty lazy when she comes inside for the winters. Will come out to eat most days and bask under her heat lamp for a bit, but spends a lot of time sleeping.
 

Dcatalano

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Jan 22, 2021
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Colorado
Thanks! He seems ok, has an appetite and all, but burying himself so early made me wonder. He has always had a hide but not a good deep substrate before he came to me so maybe he’s got that instinct kicking in and can’t get enough of digging in now.
 

Ginger The Tortoise

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Feb 5, 2021
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Fayetteville, North Carolina
Gabby, my 10+ yr old Russian tortoise, seems to be settling into his new digs. He’s curious to check me out while I’m drinking coffee watching him as he’s soaking in the mornings. He eats and soaks in his water dish, and basks off and on all day.
But I’m noticing he goes into his hide around 5pm and burrows in until the next morning. Is this normal or is something wrong?

View attachment 317052
This is completely normal.
 

RosemaryDW

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Feb 17, 2016
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Newport Coast, CA
He’s a reptile. If he sees the sun going down, so will he. Especially as he grew up taking those cues in his native home.
 
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