Horsfields sleeping

[Petrus]

How often do horsfield tortoises sleep? Mine seem to sleep a lot. They have a cave in their enclosure and they spend a lot of time in there too. They are absolutely demolishing all the food I am giving them. Does this sound normal?

[yuna1971]

They might be at settling in stage. So you might have to expect a bit of this. However, it could be anumber of things. We need to know room temps, basking temps, cool end temps - are they in a tort table or a viv. All this can play a factor as to why they are sleeping. It is also an outside temp/weather factor. Its winter, its cold, theres less natural light - they know this. Also I do believe Horsefields are technically only active for part of the year (**Confirm timescales someone...? Is this right?)
It could be any of the above factors. Final factor is health and I think if everything above is ruled out by process of elimination, then you might need to get a poo sample from BOTH and get it tested for worms & protozoa.
The other checks might be best to start with first.

[Petrus]

Originally Posted by yuna1971

They might be at settling in stage. So you might have to expect a bit of this. However, it could be anumber of things. We need to know room temps, basking temps, cool end temps - are they in a tort table or a viv. All this can play a factor as to why they are sleeping. It is also an outside temp/weather factor. Its winter, its cold, theres less natural light - they know this. Also I do believe Horsefields are technically only active for part of the year (**Confirm timescales someone...? Is this right?)
It could be any of the above factors. Final factor is health and I think if everything above is ruled out by process of elimination, then you might need to get a poo sample from BOTH and get it tested for worms & protozoa.
The other checks might be best to start with first.

This might be a silly question but do they go into their shell when they sleep?

I don't want to exaggerate - they are lively and they move around a lot. It's mainly when they are basking that they close their eyes.

[Alan1]

yes, sometimes in shell and sometimes not

regards activity, see here

The steppe tortoise, Testudo Horsfieldi. Extreme climatic conditions of Central Asia limit steppe tortoise’s activity to only three months per year. They remain inactive most of their ‘‘active season’’ (90%), and spend very little time foraging (_15 min per day). This suggests that steppe tortoises can satisfy their energy requirements with modest feeding efforts. Interestingly, steppe tortoises avoid feeding on grass species and feed mostly on plant species that are usually highly toxic to mammals. This result suggests that steppe tortoises and ungulates do not compete for food

http://russiantortoise.org/diet_research.htm

[yuna1971]

Originally Posted by caledonia

yes, sometimes in shell and sometimes not

regards activity, see here



http://russiantortoise.org/diet_research.htm

...LOL in other words...they seem to prefer duvet days on most days!
(smile) xx

[jamestaylor18]

it mite be worth remembering that horsefields in the wild area only awake 3 months of the year

[Petrus]

I measured the temps. I've still got them in the viv that the previous owner had them in. I hope to et a tortoise table in the next week. The basking spot is about 95 F and the cool spot is about 78F. I know this is slightly on the high side. They've been pretty active today and they are loving their bath just now.