Yearling tortoise trying to go into hibernation?

[Hannah84]

My horsfield tortoise is about 15 months old and still pretty tiny, but he has really started slowing down over the past few weeks and I'm worried he's trying to go into hibernation, which he is too small for. He isn't eating as much as normal and he is sleeping a LOT. Sometimes he won't even get up if he sleeps far away from his lamp, or he'll get up for a couple of hours then tuck himself away again. He seems fine physically, and I give him regular soaks. Is this just the change of seasons? But he does live indoors in a heated tortoise table so on the other hand how can he know, unless it's like a body clock thing? All thoughts v welcome.

 

[Tom]

They are never too small to hibernate.

Its a bit early in the season for this.

I would up his temps and set your light timer for around 13-14 hours. Perhaps even add another florescent tube for more light?

What type of UV bulb are you using? How old is it?

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Offer his very favourite foods to get him back into the habit of eating again.

 

[Gillian M]

Don't panic, torts do get into these 'funny' moods, and please keep us updated. Good luck.

 

[tglazie]

All advice offered here has been spot on. Also, yes, tortoises do behave funny this time of year. Here in South Texas, it has been unbearably hot, and though my youngsters seem to be tolerating their limited exposure to the heat rather well (they sleep indoors at night in humid, temp controlled rubermaid containers filled with soil, going out to eat in the morning, shortly after which they retire to their insulated, humid outdoor huts, which are consistently fifteen to twenty five degrees cooler than the outdoors), the adults have chosen to spend most of their time in their insulated shelters. They usually emerge in the morning for a quick run around graze, but they tend to miss many mornings this time of year, which isn't at all unexpected.

As far as the baby goes, another point is to ensure adequate hydration. I always soak my tortoises twice a day this time of year. Make sure he has humid moss or soil in his hiding area and that the temperature doesn't drop too low. I keep my newly hatched marginateds' hide in the upper seventies to low eighties, because moderately warm and humid is beneficial, but cool and moist is a killer. Ultimately, it is important to understand that babies spend a great deal of time hiding and sleeping. In fact, mine spend practically all of their time doing this. At any given point in the day, I will go out to the enclosures to check on the kids, and typically, I'll see three or four of the fifteen kids exploring, grazing, and doing other tortoise stuff. Hilariously enough, whenever they see me, they tend to high tail it to the nearest shade plant or shelter door. This is hardwired into their survival strategy, which is why no one ever sees baby tortoises in the wild, which makes sense when you think of all the predators that want to eat them during their hatchling phase.

Anywho, keep us in the loop as to any new developments. We'd all be curious to know the nature of your setup, the nature of your light source, the region in which you live (after all, tortoise keeping strategies vary from region to region; my strategies in South Texas would hardly be entirely applicable to someone living in Vermont or Arizona, for instance), whether or not your tortoise is kept in a closed top or open top enclosure. Tortoises are complicated beasts, and it's easy to miss some tiny detail that contributes to a change in the animals behavior, often in a big way.

T.G.

 

[Hannah84]

Thanks all. I'm in London, in the UK. He lives indoors in an open top tortoise table. I use a mix of topsoil and herbivore fibre as a substrate and he has lots of hidey holes (like his flower pot in the photo!) which I put moss in for him to get cosy. I'm now wondering if it might be his lamp. He was on a 125w bulb (this one: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Exo-Terra-PT2192-Mercury-Vapour/dp/B00101JIFG) with UVA and UVB, but I was worried he was getting too hot in the summer so I switched it for a 75w version about 2 months ago. Perhaps I should switch back and see what happens? He does spend quite a lot of time sleeping but at the moment it's nearly all the time, and he usually has such a healthy appetite but he doesn't seem interested at the moment.

 

[ascott]

Thanks all. I'm in London, in the UK. He lives indoors in an open top tortoise table. I use a mix of topsoil and herbivore fibre as a substrate and he has lots of hidey holes (like his flower pot in the photo!) which I put moss in for him to get cosy. I'm now wondering if it might be his lamp. He was on a 125w bulb (this one: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Exo-Terra-PT2192-Mercury-Vapour/dp/B00101JIFG) with UVA and UVB, but I was worried he was getting too hot in the summer so I switched it for a 75w version about 2 months ago. Perhaps I should switch back and see what happens? He does spend quite a lot of time sleeping but at the moment it's nearly all the time, and he usually has such a healthy appetite but he doesn't seem interested at the moment.

The change in behavior is usually an indicator something has changed for him...if you have changed the heating/ uv element to lower and the eventual behavior has followed..I would switch back to the stronger one..give a cweek to see if 4here is an eventual return of normal behavior. also..a species designed to brumateduring winter konths does not require only outward physical changes, they absokutely do have Iinner workings going on..if it were me, I would change back the light/ heating element to start with..also, make sure that bulb is not more than 6 to 9 months old so proper uv being offered.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

What was the temperature then and what is it now ?
Might be worth switching back to the old one, if it's still not too old measuring the temp and just adjusting the height to suit.