Hi Kazcp1 and welcome to The Tortoise Table.
Hibernation is always a bit of a scary time, but we'll help you through it, and can send you lots of information.
First of all can you confirm what species your tortoise is, and how much he weighs?
Your vet's instructions are OK, but slightly different to the standard advice that most of us follow, especially on the waking from hibernation part, but also the way you reduce the number of hours of heat and light. The vet is right that you must withhold food from the tortoise for a certain period before hibernating, as a tortoise has to go into hibernation with an empty stomach but a full bladder (and if he wees in hibernation then you must wake him up so that he doesn't dehydrate). The amount of time you withhold food depends on his weight and age, so do let us know what those are.
The fridge you use must not have an ice compartment, and you should open the door every day for a few seconds to allow for an exchange of air (you can miss the odd day, but every day is best). You will want to keep a record of his weight throughout the whole process -- at the start of wind down (which is what the preparation period is called), the day he goes into the fridge, and every three weeks or so while he is in the fridge. If he loses more than 8% - 10% of his body weight in the fridge then that is another reason to wake him up. If he is doing well in the fridge then you ought to be able to leave him in there for about 8 weeks for a first hibernation.
I have attached information sheets on preparing for hibernation, the hibernation itself, and waking from hibernation (there is no need to do the long process that your vet described in reverse -- you can just take him out of the fridge, put him in his tortoise table at the cool end, and let him walk towards the light at the warmer end to warm up and he will be fine. And then give him a nice long soak in warm water to get rehydrated. Have a read of the instructions and get back to us. You will see that in the winding down instructions they talk of four weeks with no food, etc. -- this is for an adult tortoise, and if your tortoise is not an adult the fasting time will be anywhere from two to four weeks, depending on the weight. So, for example, if your tortoise weighs 500g, you will probably want to withhold food for three weeks, and you can still use the four week model for reducing light and heat, but your four 'weeks' will be five days each instead of seven. Sorry if this sounds complicated -- it isn't actually, and if you would like to chat on the phone about it some time I'd be happy to do that, at your convenience.
Here are links to the instructions:
Winding down/Preparation:
https://www.tortoise-protection-group.o ... cedure.pdf
Fridge Hibernation:
https://www.tortoise-protection-group.o ... Sept16.pdf
Waking up:
https://www.tortoise-protection-group.o ... 080608.pdf
In addition to the fridge and box (we use shredded newspaper instead of hay, because if hay gets damp it can go mouldy), you will want a thermometer that will tell you at any time what the temperature is in the fridge. The best are digital fridge/freezer thermometers where you sit the display on top of the fridge and then the probe on the end of the long wire goes into the fridge where the tortoise is. Here is what I mean (you can get them in lots of places, but do try and get one with a Max/Min function on it, so that you can see how warm or how cold it got in the fridge since you last looked.
https://www.pharmacy-equipment.co.uk/pr ... er-tmm105/
And remember that the later you put him into hibernation the later he will wake up, and that means there might be more plants available outdoors for him to eat when he wakes.
Sorry this is so long!
Nina
Kazcp1 wrote:
> Hi, I'm currently reading more about hibernation so came across your post!
> My tortoise we believe is nearly 4, I took him to the vets last week for a
> check and he advised me that he should be hibernated every year and he's
> never been before. He has advised me to start a controlled hibernation from
> today as follows -
> 2 weeks in his table, no food but water still
> Then 2 weeks no food and no light but water bowl still
> Then 2 weeks in a colder room
> Then 4 weeks in the fridge, in a ventilated see through plastic box with
> hay on top of him (so i can see if any urine etc) with weekly checks, if
> all ok then carry in for 2 more weeks and then do the above in reverse to
> bring him out of hibernation.
> How does this all sound? I'm so nervous