Tortoise not getting up! not basking! Please help me!

[Harry]

Hello everyone!

I need some help, my Russian tortoise about 1 year old will NOT get up in the mornings unless i get her up, even after i get her up and put her next to her food she will eat a bit then, without basking, go back to bed in her half log hide. her basking spot is around 34C (93F) and 45% humidity and her cooler end is around 29C (84F) and 53 % humidity.

She gets fed watercress, dandelions, kale, with calcium powder every-other day, she gets bathed twice per week at the minimum, she lives in a tortoise table inside and goes outside when its hot, i live in England so its not hot alot!

She dose have a UVA/UVB tube light that is within 6inch of her when she out!

Her substrate is top soil.

If i dont wake her up then she will sleep ALL day and not eat or even come out at all.

Thanks for all the replys!
Harry

 

[lismar79]

My russian did this a lot. Would sleep all morning and get up in early afternoon. I started soaking her evey morning while I got her food ready. When I take her out from her soak she eats for some reason. So this became her pattern. She now, months latter, gets up most of the time on her own.
Also, russians do like cooler temps. Your basking is fine but I would lower cool end to mid low 70f

 

[Harry]

My russian did this a lot. Would sleep all morning and get up in early afternoon. I started soaking her evey morning while I got her food ready. When I take her out from her soak she eats for some reason. So this became her pattern. She now, months latter, gets up most of the time on her own.
Also, russians do like cooler temps. Your basking is fine but I would lower cool end to mid low 70f

She wouldn't even get up in the afternoon, and ok I will try soaking her every morning before i set off for school, however this mean's I will have to soak her at about 6:30 in the morning, also i have tried to lower then temps on the cool side however i can never seem to get them into the 70F's
any tips?

 

[lismar79]

How big is your enclosure? Is your basking light the only source of heat? Can you move the light to a far side so you geta grad decline of temps.
Post pictures of enclosure if you can.

 

[wellington]

Post a pic of the enclosure. I'm thinkng too warm and possibly dehydrated, if she's not coming out too eat, or drink. Also, what kind of temp gauge are you using? Those round disc type that most pet stores sell are never very accurate. Get a temp gun or a digital thermometer. They are more accurate.

 

[lismar79]

This is a good link to read too: http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/why-does-my-russian-tortoise-stay-buried.59575/

 

[Harry]

I have attached some pics of her cage and the thermometer i use and a pic of her out so you can see how big her cage is. also the cage is lighter then it looks

 

[lismar79]

Its a nice enclosure. I would do two things before going to a vet (parasite check, and general health check)
1- plants. Add additional hidding areas with plants. Torts are prey in the wild and he may not feel safe when out
2- by a temp gun. The gage you got is fine but only reads in its area. A gun is much more accurate to read all areas. Something like this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/GM550-Non-Contact-IR-Infrared-Digital-Thermometer/dp/B007Q87J3U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1405259723&sr=8-1&keywords=temperature gun

 

[Harry]

Its a nice enclosure. I would do two things before going to a vet (parasite check, and general health check)
1- plants. Add additional hidding areas with plants. Torts are prey in the wild and he may not feel safe when out
2- by a temp gun. The gage you got is fine but only reads in its area. A gun is much more accurate to read all areas. Something like this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/GM550-Non-Contact-IR-Infrared-Digital-Thermometer/dp/B007Q87J3U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1405259723&sr=8-1&keywords=temperature gun

Ok i have orders the a temp gun and it will be delivered by the 15th so not to long to wait, what are some good plants that she wont eat and wont attract loads of flys and stuff to her tank?

 

[Yvonne G]

I don't think the tortoise is warm enough.

 

[lismar79]

Here is a website to I.d good plsnts. Make sure you wait about 6 months to a year before planting any plant bought at a store, garden shop. They use chemicals. You might want to see if you have any you can dig out of your yard or plant them from seeds.

http://m.thetortoisetable.org.uk/m/plants_19.asp

 

[Harry]

I don't think the tortoise is warm enough.

The tortoise is warm enough.

 

[Harry]

Here is a website to I.d good plsnts. Make sure you wait about 6 months to a year before planting any plant bought at a store, garden shop. They use chemicals. You might want to see if you have any you can dig out of your yard or plant them from seeds.

http://m.thetortoisetable.org.uk/m/plants_19.asp

Will do, thanks

 

[lismar79]

Yvonne is one of the experts so I would take that advice. Either way a temp gun will tell you.

 

[Harry]

Yvonne is one of the experts so I would take that advice. Either way a temp gun will tell you.

trust me mate, shes very warm because i have tested the temp with 3 different thermometers and in the basking spot they have all came out around 35C to 37C

 

[Yvonne G]

then maybe the tortoise is too hot. Russian tortoises like it a bit cooler.

 

[mikeh]

The UVB tubes are to be mounted up above the animal, not inline parallel to its eyes. This may bother them enough to avoid it completely but may also cause damage to eyes in long term exposure at such a shallow angle and close proximately.

 

[Yvonne G]

Good catch, Mike! I saw the mounting, and thought it looked 'different'/wrong???, but it didn't register enough to say something about it.