I have had my Russian for about 2 months now. I have the right temps in the enclosure, I feed him greens mixed with other veggies. I have a pile of Timothy Hay in one corner of the enclosure for him to snack on and hide in. The problem is that he only comes out of his hole in the hay for about 30 min. to an hour in the morning and then stays hidden for the rest of the day. Is this normal? If not what could be wrong and how can I correct it?
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Hiding all the time?
stanleytl04
Nov 14, 2005 02:43 PM
Replies (3)
pako
Nov 14, 2005 08:34 PM
>I have the right temps in the enclosure...
One end at ~70, the other ~95, with nighttime drops??
Do you have a warm, *damp* hide in addition to, and SEPARATE from, the hay?
>I feed him greens mixed with other veggies.
?? Other veggies?? See
www.russiantortoise.org for correct food items.
>...The problem is that he only comes out of his hole in the hay for about 30 min. to an hour in the morning and then stays hidden for the rest of the day. Is this normal? If not what could be wrong and how can I correct it?
The UVB mercury-vapor bulb for my RTs comes on at 7 AM and the RTs are up and about as soon as it's on. They're out and basking/roaming for several hours. By the time I get home from work about 6 PM, they're all tucked in although the light remains on till 9 PM. One of the RTs prefers the cool, dry end for sleeping while the other three prefer the damp, warm hide for sleeping---they have the choice! Water in a shallow, wide container is available at all times.
stanleytl04
Nov 15, 2005 08:26 AM
What would you recomend for a warm hide other than the hay? Mine is out and about as soon as the light comes on but only for about and hour or so in the morning at the most. Maybe he is just lazy.
pako
Nov 15, 2005 10:35 AM
>What would you recomend for a warm hide other than the hay?
I use a mixture of *damp* coir bedding (Bed-a-beast, I think) and play sand under a standard black reptile hide (reptiletubs) directly under a ceramic heat-emitter with its thermostat set to ~72 (I keep my place cool).
You don't want to have the hay around water because it will readily mold so keep it in the cool end of the habitat.
