Hello Fellow Tortoise Owners,
I am new to this community as I stumbled upon it while performing some google searches with my Tortoise symptoms. I appreciate any comments or suggestions you can provide for my situation.
I have owned a Russian Tortoise since June 2010 when I got him at 9 months old from a breeder. So he is now approximately 1 year and 4 months old. For the first 6 months of his life he (his name is Gary) had 2 separate bulbs (heat emitting and 1 UV light). In early January we upgraded Gary to a larger enclosure and replaced the old bulbs with a mercury vapor bulb. The temperature under the light is ~95. The cool end is 70 and the enclosure is large enough that Gary is able to choose his climate. Initially he seemed to like his new enclosure as he spent time exploring and basking.
However, over the next 2 weeks in early January he gradually stopped eating and pooping. It has now been over 3 weeks since we have seen him eat anything or poop. He also remains in his hide box for most if not all of the day (can't say for sure since obviously we don't watch him all the time). Lastly, when we take him out of the hide box to show him food or soak him it takes him a while to open his eyes and then he just seems generally more sluggish. The switching of enclosures could just be coincidental as he should have had plenty of time to adjust by now.
I've read about common Russian Tortoise symptoms such as running nose, watering eyes or shell rot and Gary doesn't seem to have any of these symptoms. We live in the Chicagoland area so we are in cold winter months right now but Gary's temperatures have not changed. I read about some tortoises that had a "sense" that is was winter and went into somewhat hibernation. I don't know if this could be the case but in all other respects seems healthy.
Thank you for your input and suggestions and please let me know if you need further information. Cheers!
I am new to this community as I stumbled upon it while performing some google searches with my Tortoise symptoms. I appreciate any comments or suggestions you can provide for my situation.
I have owned a Russian Tortoise since June 2010 when I got him at 9 months old from a breeder. So he is now approximately 1 year and 4 months old. For the first 6 months of his life he (his name is Gary) had 2 separate bulbs (heat emitting and 1 UV light). In early January we upgraded Gary to a larger enclosure and replaced the old bulbs with a mercury vapor bulb. The temperature under the light is ~95. The cool end is 70 and the enclosure is large enough that Gary is able to choose his climate. Initially he seemed to like his new enclosure as he spent time exploring and basking.
However, over the next 2 weeks in early January he gradually stopped eating and pooping. It has now been over 3 weeks since we have seen him eat anything or poop. He also remains in his hide box for most if not all of the day (can't say for sure since obviously we don't watch him all the time). Lastly, when we take him out of the hide box to show him food or soak him it takes him a while to open his eyes and then he just seems generally more sluggish. The switching of enclosures could just be coincidental as he should have had plenty of time to adjust by now.
I've read about common Russian Tortoise symptoms such as running nose, watering eyes or shell rot and Gary doesn't seem to have any of these symptoms. We live in the Chicagoland area so we are in cold winter months right now but Gary's temperatures have not changed. I read about some tortoises that had a "sense" that is was winter and went into somewhat hibernation. I don't know if this could be the case but in all other respects seems healthy.
Thank you for your input and suggestions and please let me know if you need further information. Cheers!