has any one else!

[alicia]

got a non hibernating tortoise (like my leopard) who is slowing down, (going to sleep earlier) and basking and then sleeping again

my temps are alright though, as it has never been below 21c at night

just wondering if any one is the same becuase i know they slow down in the winter, do they know its colder weather haha??


xx

[sarah]

I have:
Pancakes
Stars
Red foots
and Tunsians

Plus horsfields and iberas that are not hibernating due to being new.

Mine are in my heated garage and the temps are quite high, but my iberas and horsfields that im keeping up are slowing down.

[kim davies]

ive got a sulcata.xxx

[Laraine]

Hi I have Leopards, my guys started to slow down, so I added the following
an extra basking lamp,
an extra tray of edible plants
2 extra hides, large pieces of cork bark, they use these as tunnels to get around their table
an extra water dish

I also feed them fewer weeds and grasses on the slate for breakfast, and put some weeds and grass into a water bowl/bath in another part of the table later in the day, so they have to go hunting. I also flatten the log hide, their favourite, after breakfast, then they climb and wander all over this.

They do still like to doze under the lamp, but doing the above has made them a bit livelier.

Laraine

[alicia]

thanks laraine, that was great info. my leopard has a baskin spot of 36c-38c
and a cooler side of 25c-27c and
and night temps are 21c-24c
so hes warm enough for me to not put in an extra basking light,

also do tortoises eat less in winter then??


thanks for all your advice

. alice

[Laraine]

I think the 36 - 38 degrees is a bit on the high side, my basking area is 30 degrees and the cooler areas range around 22 to 25 degrees. What height is your lamp, it may need to be moved up a little.

Laraine

[alicia]

ahh! okie dokie, ill move it up untill it gets to about 30c. it is very warm in there. i moved it down due to him showing signs of having rns and he had antbiotics and i was told to keep him very warm.


what bulbs do you use?

thanks for all your help so far by the way =]


alice.

[Laraine]

I have a 160w Powersun I bought from Dazza, and the other basking lamps are just 60 watt bulbs in small spot lamps with a flexible arm/neck so I can bend it down and over the side walls of the enclosure. I have the basking bulbs aimed at the areas where the guys like to bask.

Laraine

[alicia]

okay, thanks for all your help. your tortoises table look so good. and so many tortoises haha.


thanks again!


alice.

[EJ]

Ok... let me see if I can get this point across...

Reptiles are cold blooded. That means their metabolism is temperature dependent. That means that the lower the temperature the slower the metabolism. That means the slower the metabolism the slower the activity level. You can run it the other way.

My sulcatas, leopards, redfoots, and Aldabs have been enduring temperatures into the upper 30s and lower 40s at night... yup they are slowing down.

They don't 'know' it's cooler... it is cooler.

This is actually a lead in to hibernation... most tortoises I've kept are capable of hibernating... including the above mentioned tortoises. Again, it is an adaptation to unfavorable conditions.

(sorry for using your post for an opportunity)

Originally Posted by alice

got a non hibernating tortoise (like my leopard) who is slowing down, (going to sleep earlier) and basking and then sleeping again

my temps are alright though, as it has never been below 21c at night

just wondering if any one is the same becuase i know they slow down in the winter, do they know its colder weather haha??


xx