The Tortoise Table

That's absolutely briliant news! Hibernation is always a nervous time, but you and your tortoise have come through it with flying colours -- thanks so much for keeping us updated, and I wish you both a happy sun-filled year!

Nina

Hi, That is great that you have a tracker on her. The advice about length of hibernation comes from the Tortoise Trust's article on 'Safer HIbernation' http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/newhibernation.html . There is a section called 'Hibernation Underground' about halfway down, and a bit furthe...

Ooh, this is a difficult one. I've never hibernated mine outdoors, but I know that some people do still use this method. Do you know the date when she started her hibernation, and do you know exactly where she is in the garden, in case you do want to wake her up? The current thinking is that tortois...

Hi Sian,

Lin has pointed out to me that netting on the top of an enclosure would be dangerous because birds could get their feet caught if they land on it. So a wire mesh would be much better.

Nina

Hi Sian -- lovely to hear from you! Gosh, aren't you lucky to have moved to the Isle of Wight, but I'll bet that Dee and family were really sad when you moved. My son and I used to go for a week or so to Shanklin every year when he was younger, and I always thought it was like the UK in miniature --...

Hi Sebastien, Welcome to the Forum, and congratulations on your new tortoise. What species is it? There is nothing nicer than a good outdoor enclosure for a tortoise, and in addition to making it interesting, with plants, hidey places, rocks, etc. it's important to make it secure, as tortoises are a...

We have been attacked by spammers tonight, posting hundreds of very offensive messages on the forum, and we are doing our best to delete each message and ban the spammers and their IP addresses. We are working on our security levels so that this can't happen again, but it takes time to ban and delet...

Good luck Kate, and let us know how you get on.

Cheers,
Nina

Hi Emma, Learning experiences are always valuable, and it's important that you feel comfortable with whatever you do, so for this year you've probably made the right decision -- and you'll be able to sing 'We Wish You a Merry Christmas' to Penny on Christmas day! Do let us know how you get on, and p...

Gosh that article on algal calcium and the study of human consumption were really interesting! I think I might buy some of that for myself (lol, older woman with bone density steadily deteriorating!). The fact that the plant derived calcium is more easily absorbed and utilized compared to calcium de...

Well, you can probably just view that experience as a dress rehearsal for next year :) I think you might well have given in too early -- but I know how awful it is to hear them scratching around and staring up at you with eyes wide open when you go to look at them. How did she get out of the box she...

Gosh, that's a great result! Thanks for all of the information -- I wonder if it's possible to buy a small amount before investing in such a large tub -- I will have to investigate. This is all really interesting Dave, and thanks for letting us know.

Nina

Hi Dave, Interesting subject. I had some correspondence a year or so ago with William Espenshade who keeps lots of tortoises in California and runs a place called Kapidolo Farms. Unfortunately you can google Kapidolo Farm and get a link to the website, but then a notice comes up that says ''This web...

Hi Nic, Great to hear from you, and I don't think there is any problem with Fergus sleeping in his bath. My Doris used to like to sit outside her water bowl, put one foot in it and then stay like that for ages. As long as the water is nice and warm he should be fine, but I wouldn't let the water get...

It sounds like you've got the perfect set-up and back up plans -- happy hibernation!

Nina
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Hi Emma, The ideal temperature for hibernation is 5C, and it can go down to around 2C (theoretically it can go down to just above freezing, but we say 2C to allow for thermometers not being completely accurate). 7C - 8C should be OK, but hopefully you will want it to be a bit colder than that, and I...

Hi Emma, I read your post about five minutes after putting my two into their hibernation boxes in the fridge, and having a slight panic in case they had a wee in the bath they had before they went in (but weights were fine so some relief) -- so I know exactly how you are feeling! It's really difficu...

Just to let people know that our problems with the website being down, and then not showing full entries for the plant database, and also our emails service not working for about three weeks, have all been fixed and everything should be working fine now. The problems occurred when our host company m...

You've truly joined the ranks of tortoise keepers if you're worrying a lot. Lol, I think I worry more about my tortoises than I ever did about my son when he was growing up! But you are right in saying that they are lovely animals -- endlessly fascinating, I think. Do ask away -- that's what we're h...

Aww, Penny is lovely, and you have a really nice set-up for her. I'm surprised that she weighs well over a kilo -- she doesn't look as big as that, but it's difficult to tell without something next to her to reference her size. They are so unpredictable. Mine have done the same thing in the past. On...

Hi Emma, Well, she's a big one, and so your time frame for winding her down sounds right. I do think she must be older than 7 though. It's great that she has had lots of outdoor time, and it's absolutely normal for her to be sleeping a lot now (mine are doing exactly the same thing as yours).. If yo...

Hi Emma, It's always really scary at hibernation time -- even for those of us who have been doing it for a while -- and especially when they are winding down and fasting and look up at you as if to say "What have I ever done that you should treat me so cruelly?". But don't worry, you're no...

Hi Crazytorts, and many apologies for being so late in responding to your post! We discovered last night that the system that automatically notifies us of new posts stopped functioning in mid-September, and we are only now responding to them! I'm so glad that you find the app useful, and you're righ...

Hi Jody, I just wondered how you and Jemima are getting on. I hope you didn't worry too much about the 26g increase -- it's a lot, but you can bring down the average monthly increase by ensuring that she gains less in future months, and of course in hibernation she won't gain anything at all and wil...

Hi Kate, I'm so sorry but I missed this entire thread, as the system that notifies us automatically when a new message is posted failed some time in September, and we are only now going through them! There was a huge number of spam posts that came in during that time, so we are gradually going throu...