VERY worried about my NEW Russian Tortosie

[Jc918]

I am VERY worried about my Russian tortoise. I have had him for about 6 day's total. Before I got him he lived at Petco for about 1 year. The store said he ate and moved around just fine.

He is NOT moving around very much or eating. Maybe for about 10 minutes total through out the whole day he will move around. He mainly just sleeps under the log I got him under the heat light. The temperature in the habitat is about 87-91 during the day. Then at night I pull the heat lamp back and drop the temp down to about 76-80.

He still under a guarantee , Honestly I don't want to return him I have been becoming attached to him but I also don't have money to go to the vet and it's not fair to the Russian also so If I need to I will return him.

Can someone tell me what might be going on and also some things to try. I have been told it's all to do with the stress but I am getting worried since it's been longer then 5 days now with little food being munched on nd hardly much movement at all


Thanks

 

[terracolson]

he needs to be outside!

 

[Jc918]

I took him outside for a walk yesterday. He moved around pretty good outside after that I put him back in his home and he moved around for a good 5 min or so then went right back under the log and went to sleep NO MORE movement since then. Should I take him out every day for awhile ????

 

[Kristina]

That sounds too hot to me! My Russians head for the shade once it hits 85, and at night, even in the house, I let the temps drop to 70 or a little below. Outside, it gets down to 65 or so.

I think he is overheated! He needs a hot spot, but the rest of the enlcosure needs to be cooler! Especially at night.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

I also am wondering what you are feeding him? If he's lived at Petco for a year then he thinks brightly colored pellets are food, if you are offering him greens he may not know they are food. Lower the temp at night, actually he probably doesn't need any heat at night inside your house. I also would create a place for him outside and put him out everyday. I keep my Fat Nat in the house but I put her out in a safe pen on days that we actually get sun.
But let's start with food, what are you offering for food?

 

[Jc918]

Thanks maggie for helping me,

Ok when I spoke to the lady at petco, they said they feed him "Mustard greens " "green peppers " squash" I have tryed it ALL they only thing I have seem him eat since he has been with me is green peppers, He won't touch anything else. He walks away from his food bowl. I have even tried a strawberry NO luck. I know his diet is supposed to be made of 80% veggies and 20% fruit

Do you think my temperature has anything to do with it ? I am thinking it's too hot and he just doesn't want to move. Right now the tank tempature is 82. But it will go up to 88-90. I had him out and the tank open. I just took him outside for a 15 min walk and gave him a shallow bath up to his feet . When he was in his bath there was a white discharge in the water and yellow stool.

 

[jwhite]

Your temps sound off. You should have a basking area that is between 90-95 F. and a cool area low to mid 70's. His diet should be all greens no fruit. check out russiantortoise.org they have a real good listing of what their diet should consist of. Hope this helps


Jon

 

[chairman]

The Petco near me feeds their Russians the Zoo Med Grassland Tortoise food. I would imagine that your local store probably did the same; few stores actually go to the effort to feed fresh food. You might try picking some up and mixing it in with the food he is supposed to be eating. Eventually you can get him eating the good stuff.

 

[dmmj]

Ok I am gonna rant about the petco, I would not believe anything they say. They are most likely lying. They either fed him the pellets or a bunch of vegetables neither which i believe are a good food source. Taking him outside seem to liven him up, so you should do that more often, russians should be outside if at all possible. I feed mine dandelions, hibiscus leaves and flowers, radish tops, grass from my yard, and such. I will second the earlier post no fruits or veggies mostly greeens. Only give fuit as a treat mine get it once a month and some people think that is even to much.

 

[tortoisenerd]

You need something you can have a temperature gradient, about 70-95, and multiple hides. If you don't have money for vet bills (yearly check ups and fecal tests are part of pet ownership in my opinion), then I think you need to obtain the money through extra work or re-think this. A tort not cared for properly will not thrive. If the tort isn't even eating exactly what they fed it (which is horrible but what you need to start with), then it is either sick or the husbandry (animal care) is off--think enclosure size, temperature, and hides. Sounds too warm and stressed in my opinion. yes, outdoor time is great if it is between 70s and 90s and in a safe penned-in area.

Don't just let it run free in the house or in a large yard. When you bring it back to the tank after running around outside in a huge area, that is stressful. Use cinder blocks or similar to pen off an area no more than 2-3 times the tank size and provide a hide and a water dish. Keep an eye on the tort if you don't have screening over the enclosure in case of predators. Ask Petco about paying for a vet bill. They have done that in the past if the tort is sick. If it isn't, then you may be out the bill though (it is more of a reimbursement typically). Are you keeping lights on at night, or just heat? You want only 60-70 at night, 70-95 in the day. What kind of thermometer is it? Ideally you want an accurate temp gun, starting at $25. Those ones with the color scale aren't to be trusted, and the probe ones are very slow. Yes, it is too warm in there. Probably the tank is acting as a hot box due to the small size and it is glass. If it is just a heat bulb, move it up. You shouldn't need any night heat in summer if your house it as least 60 F. Yes the white pee is normal. You can fill the water up to where the bottom and top half of the shell meet, baby bath warm and bathe him daily for a bit and then every few days. You need a large shallow water dish in the enclosure too.

It is your decision to use the guarantee. If you don't have the money, maybe a tort is something better to have in the future when you can make the 50-100 year commitment, time and money. Sorry but I'm a realist and you had mentioned it in your post.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

My Russian didn't eat very good until I offered her dandelion flowers and leaves, I add cooked yellow or red squash with them. I cook the squash in the microwave until it is soft like a baked potato. Offer him that...Cooked squash dandelion leaves and yellow flowers that are on them. You might need to feed those pellets until you can get him onto a better diet. Leave all lights off at night and just have one hot basking light during the day. Try that and see how he acts...
Kate made some good suggestions about how to keep him outside. Does he graze when he's out?

 

[Jc918]

Thanks everyone for the input. Ok so I built a 4 foot box with a upper level. I am hoping this will be better for him. I will try and post some photos tomorrow. I will start to turn his light of tomorrow at night and see if that will help. I got cypress mulch from home depot and a mixture of this brick stuff from the pet store that you mix in watter. I will keep everyone posted on my turtles condition as of today he still is NOT moving around NO FOOD & NO WATER.

I am going to take him outside tomorrow for a walk and then try and feed him. keep everyone posted

 

[-ryan-]

DON'T TAKE HIM OUTSIDE. I know I'll offend some people by saying that, but we need to use some common sense here. The tortoise has been there less than a week and we all know it can take months for them to acclimate. Keep an eye on the temperatures, put food in the enclosure for him, and don't touch him unless it's an emergency (checking on him is not an emergency). Any extra contact right now (even putting him outside, which we all know is very beneficial) is going to increase his stress levels making it less likely that he will acclimate quickly and properly. If you want to start seeing normal tortoise behavior, let the tortoise do his thing and get used to his new environment.

Don't take it the wrong way, because I used to be that way too, and I was once guilty of the act of digging up the tortoises and placing them near their food to get them to eat (also completely counter productive). The only one that knows what the tortoise needs is the tortoise, and if he is hiding and not moving much, he's trying to tell you he's scared and needs some time to himself. He will adjust if you are patient with him. I have tortoises that even now will hide out and not eat for over a week. All I do is check the temps, try to figure out where the tortoise is (without disturbing it) and that's about it.

Good luck with the tortoise and just remember, if you were abducted and placed in a room you were unfamiliar with, it would be a pretty stressful situation. Add to that a 200' tall animal that keeps bothering you or picking you up and I think you will start to realize what the tortoise is going through. I am not saying that you are bothering your tortoise, but just offering a warning. Hands off is best. Even when I have fresh hatchlings I just put them in the rearing enclosure and don't touch them. I have one that hatched two weeks ago. I touched him just long enough to move him from the incubator and into the enclosure, and literally have not touched him since. He disappears in the substrate quite a bit, but since I leave him alone he does not view me as a threat. That's why when I sell them to the local reptile store the employees are always so surprised that the tortoises eat so much and grow so readily compared to others (and I am fortunate to have this store, because they seem to specialize in CB tortoises).

Again, good luck, and give your tortoise my best regards.

 

[tortoisenerd]

What are the temperatures in the enclosure now? If you had a light on all night you were both cooking him and annoying him to the point he probably couldn't sleep either. Torts need a day/night cycle--they need it to get dark and a bit colder at night. Please let it have a dark place to sleep and make sure you have proper temps, a range from 70-95 F in the same enclosure at the same time. If you are not currently achieving this, let us know exactly what kind of bulb/s, fixtures, etc, you have right now so we can advice what to change and possibly buy.

To try and get him to eat, I would place a hiding spot near the food and put him in the hiding spot. Having the food and hiding spot in the part of the enclosure that is about 80 F is good. Then, leave the room. That may get him more comfortable. You also need a hiding spot near the basking spot (the part of the enclosure it is 95 F) so the tort feels safe to go bask, and a hiding spot in the cool part of the enclosure (70 F) so the tort feels safe to go cool down. Torts move around to keep their bodies at the ideal temperature and to digest their food (unlike humans whose bodies stay at 98.6 degree or so all the time). That said, if it is too warm or too cold they won't eat. I agree it is stressful to the tort to "take him for a walk". Once you have a safe outdoor enclosure set up and the tort is eating, then is a good time for it to have outdoor time. Too much change stresses it out even more. It already has been at the pet store, your aquarium, and now your tort table. Good luck and great job making changes so far!

 

[ehopkins12]

DON'T TAKE HIM OUTSIDE. I know I'll offend some people by saying that, but we need to use some common sense here. The tortoise has been there less than a week and we all know it can take months for them to acclimate. Keep an eye on the temperatures, put food in the enclosure for him, and don't touch him unless it's an emergency (checking on him is not an emergency). Any extra contact right now (even putting him outside, which we all know is very beneficial) is going to increase his stress levels making it less likely that he will acclimate quickly and properly. If you want to start seeing normal tortoise behavior, let the tortoise do his thing and get used to his new environment.

Don't take it the wrong way, because I used to be that way too, and I was once guilty of the act of digging up the tortoises and placing them near their food to get them to eat (also completely counter productive). The only one that knows what the tortoise needs is the tortoise, and if he is hiding and not moving much, he's trying to tell you he's scared and needs some time to himself. He will adjust if you are patient with him. I have tortoises that even now will hide out and not eat for over a week. All I do is check the temps, try to figure out where the tortoise is (without disturbing it) and that's about it.

Good luck with the tortoise and just remember, if you were abducted and placed in a room you were unfamiliar with, it would be a pretty stressful situation. Add to that a 200' tall animal that keeps bothering you or picking you up and I think you will start to realize what the tortoise is going through. I am not saying that you are bothering your tortoise, but just offering a warning. Hands off is best. Even when I have fresh hatchlings I just put them in the rearing enclosure and don't touch them. I have one that hatched two weeks ago. I touched him just long enough to move him from the incubator and into the enclosure, and literally have not touched him since. He disappears in the substrate quite a bit, but since I leave him alone he does not view me as a threat. That's why when I sell them to the local reptile store the employees are always so surprised that the tortoises eat so much and grow so readily compared to others (and I am fortunate to have this store, because they seem to specialize in CB tortoises).

Again, good luck, and give your tortoise my best regards.

words of wisdom. I did the same thing when I got my second Russian. she didn't even come out of her shell for a full 3 days. And I constantly picked her up and tried to get her to eat. I realize now that she probably would have settled a lot quicker and smoother had I not messed with her so much. I know it's tempting. But you must resist!