Tortoise Sleeps In In the Morning

[Berzerkerwar]

Hello, so my Russian Tortoise Tortimer loves to sleep in the morning. He'll sleep to even 10 or 11 I've seen so far. I've been taking him out of his hideaway so far to let him eat and drink. He looks very healthy and is active once awake, it's just he'll sleep for a long time if I don't wake him. Should I be waking him up in the morning for food and water, or should I let him sleep and wake on his own?

 

[Yvonne G]

Maybe your light isn't providing enough heat in the a.m. to get him out of bed.

 

[mtdavis254817]

During the summer my torts are housed outside.. My Aldabra starts moving around 9:30,and the sulcatas around ten... They will come out of their hides at dawn but just lay out till they start moving about.. on the foggy mornings my Aldabra will get an early start

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[GBtortoises]

Hello, so my Russian Tortoise Tortimer loves to sleep in the morning. He'll sleep to even 10 or 11 I've seen so far. I've been taking him out of his hideaway so far to let him eat and drink. He looks very healthy and is active once awake, it's just he'll sleep for a long time if I don't wake him. Should I be waking him up in the morning for food and water, or should I let him sleep and wake on his own?

What time does your tortoise's lighting come on each day and what time does it go off? What type and wattage of lighting? What is the daytime and nighttime temperatures?

 

[Berzerkerwar]

He has a 125 mercury vapor bulb, it's 70 degrees at his hideaway and 90 degrees underneath the basking area, and around 65 give or take during the night. I turn his light off 7 or 8 and turn it back on around 7 or 8 in the morning.

 

[thatrebecca]

Does the light shine into his hide in the morning? I recently shifted the opening of my DTs' outdoor hides to face east, so the morning sun flows in, and they started waking earlier (not much, about a half an hour). The funny thing is, one is a morning tort -- he bounds out of his burrow and starts trooping the enclosure looking for food. The other sits in the doorway of her burrow under the sun looking like she needs a cup of coffee for a good 45 minutes before she visits the food dish.

 

[Berzerkerwar]

I'll try turning his hideaway towards the light to see if that helps, currently it's facing away. Thanks for the advice!

 

[markjsimmons]

I have three Russian Torts & if I didn't know any better I'd think they were teenagers! Because they don't like to rise before 10 most days... It's only this last two weeks the older of the three is up at around 7.30.

 

[dwright27]

I have three Russian Torts & if I didn't know any better I'd think they were teenagers! Because they don't like to rise before 10 most days... It's only this last two weeks the older of the three is up at around 7.30.

Here I thought tortoises were pretty much done evolving and there's your little Russian trying to grow wings!

My cherry head doesn't seem to be an early riser either.. the light comes on at 7:30 am and shuts off 12 hours later. He comes out of his hide around 9:30-10am

 

[markjsimmons]

Yeah! I did notice that feather! My wife Lisa says if you find a feather near an Angel isn't far behind... That's Horace and Hilda, Holly is always around, normally tunnelling!

 

[lynnedit]

He has a 125 mercury vapor bulb, it's 70 degrees at his hideaway and 90 degrees underneath the basking area, and around 65 give or take during the night. I turn his light off 7 or 8 and turn it back on around 7 or 8 in the morning.

Consider getting a timer for your lights. Have them come on at 6am, (off 6-8pm). The tortoise does need the basking area warmed up prior to coming out.
See if you can add rocks, or slate, or reposition the bulb to get the basking area up to 95f.
Make sure the bulb isn't >12 months old.