Yet Another Russian Tortoise Question - Tortoise Acting very lathargic and sleepy.

[clp8886]

I've had my Russian for 2-3 Years. I built an 8 foot by 4.5 foot enclosure outside for him with plenty of plants and foliage. And feed 5-6 days a week with Romaine Lettuce, Mixed Spring Greens, and also plant weeds, dandelions, and Hibiscus in his enclosure.

In Texas it gets very very cold in the winter, so I also purchased an indoor enclosure for those months when it's routinely under 20-30. I have a heat lamp, and a Zoo Med UV Bulb (the Dual Bulbs kept breaking) and this winter he's been kind of slowing down, eating less, and the past week has barely touched his food.

I keep a spray bottle and routinely keep him hydrated, but even now, he's just very very slow. Here are some pictures. My therm is currently broken, not picking up a new one until tomorrow if available.

Anything I should be concerned about? He's definitely pooping/urinating - me and this guy have been through a lot together.

 

[Ink]

What is the temperature? Welcome to the forum

 

[clp8886]

Thank you. The house temperature is 71 (Yesterday the basking spot directly under the heat lamp was about 98. I'm picking up a new temp gun tomorrow so that I can give you an actual real-time reading.

 

[SinLA]

Be careful with those water bowls. They can flip over and fall into them...

 

[Ink]

Hopefully an expert will be able to help you. You don't have to answer if you don't want to, but why don't you feed him everyday? Endive and escarole are much better greens to feed than romaine. My opinion I am not an expert.

 

[clp8886]

Hopefully an expert will be able to help you. You don't have to answer if you don't want to, but why don't you feed him everyday? Endive and escarole are much better greens to feed than romaine. My opinion I am not an expert.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but in doing my initial research I found the following:

Why Do Tortoises Need Starve Days?​

Tortoises need starve days because they have a slow digestive system. It can take 17 days for food to travel through a tortoise’s digestive tract, which is why tortoises poop every 2-3 days.

Starve days assist tortoises by giving their digestive system a break. The food inside them needs time to process and go through the tortoise’s intestines. If the tortoise eats non-stop, the food will get backed up in the digestive tract, and the tortoise will get constipated.

Constipated tortoises will be disinterested in meals until they can pass their stool. They’ll feel lethargic as their body uses its energy to digest the large amount of food.

source: https://www.tortoiseknowledge.com/should-tortoises-be-fed-every-day/

Now the caveat to this is that when I dump fresh food in I do a substantial amount, and also have several texas native plants all over his outdoor enclosure that he can graze on. Indoors, if he clears all his food i'll feed him the next day, if there's still some food remaining, I leave it for a day, then replace with fresh food, usually this only happens 1 or 2 days per week.

 

[clp8886]

Be careful with those water bowls. They can flip over and fall into them...

I appreciate advice like this, I honestly had no idea this was a hazard. I have a water plant dish? outside and didn't really use this thing other than when he comes inside.

 

[clp8886]

What is the temperature? Welcome to the forum

Basking: 97
Shaded/night area : 71.2
Rest of enclosure: 71.2

 

[SinLA]

So that thing about starving is not good advice. Here is good advice:

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org