Tortoise Hibernation

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davidm1234
Posts: 1
Joined: 03 Oct 2017, 19:04

Tortoise Hibernation

Post by davidm1234 » 03 Oct 2017, 19:13

Hi I was wondering if you might be able to help me  with Tortoise Hibernation as I am wanting to Hibernate 5 marginated tortoises in a under counter fridge I am in the middle of trying to set the fridge up but I am having problems with the temps. my setup is 2 polystyrene box's with lots of shredded paper in 1 main digital thermostat that controls the fridge and 3 stand alone thermometer's . I have both box's one on top of the other as have limited space and I put the main fridge thermostat probe along with 1 stand along thermometer in 1 box and the other 2 in the second box I do have water bottles in the bottom of the fridge. When I set the main stat to be 4c I leave it to settle for about 4hrs then I notice all the boxes are just and just reading the same. but if leave it a little longer and come back I notice the temps have dropped to around 1 or 2c then if leave the fridge the temps start to read near to what I set them to be. Hope that makes sense as the main problem I am having is maintaining the same even temps in each box's. if you need more info or photos please feel free to ask Thank You

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Nina
Posts: 2003
Joined: 16 Mar 2017, 11:22

Re: Tortoise Hibernation

Post by Nina » 03 Oct 2017, 19:34

Hi David,

Oh dear, it is definitely that time again. I had problems stabilising my temps in my under the counter fridge last year, so I know what you are struggling with.

First of all you might be fine with polystyrene boxes, but I would never use them with my tortoises (Horsfields), as they would claw their way out in no time -- but Horsfields do take longer to settle down than many other species. I use plastic boxes with holes burned into them, and lots of shredded paper. Yo might be fine with polystyrene, but tortoises will move around in their boxes, and even try to 'dig down' when temps fall a bit, so you don't want them digging through that polystyrene. I'm assuming too that there are holes in the boxes (or something similar) to allow an exchange of air.

For thermometers, I have three. All are the digital ones with probes on the end of a long wire, and a Max/Min function (like this: http://tinyurl.com/y89ztena -- I don't have this paricular one, but you get the idea). The display units sit on top of the fridge and one probe goes into each of the boxes (I have two torts), and a third one just sits on a shelf. The max/min function is very helpful as you can tell how high or low the temp went since you last re-set the thermometer without having to open the door.

How long ago did you set the fridge up (with the water bottles, etc.)? It can take quite a while for temps to stabilise after you first set the fridge up -- particularly with water bottles in there, so the best thing is not to open it at all for several days -- or maybe more (that was the mistake I made last year -- I kept opening it to check that I had set it up right and it took ages for my temps to stabilise). And of course every time you open the door of the fridge, the temperature inside will rise and then take a little while to go back down to the level you want.

I'm not sure if I've been any help here, but I nearly went mad last year trying to stabilise the temps before I put my torts in. In the end, it was fine and they had a good hibernation, and it was much morre stressful for me than it was for the tortoises!

Nina

Hannah
Posts: 4
Joined: 01 Nov 2017, 08:04

Re: Tortoise Hibernation

Post by Hannah » 01 Nov 2017, 08:13

Hello, I inherited a tortoise last year, who has always hibernated outside in the garden. This year, I'm putting him in the fridge and have found a great gadget that keeps the temperature constant. It's called the Ink Bird ITC 308 and it's an external thermostat that overrides the one in the fridge. It's really easy to set up...see YouTube. .. and works a treat. There's no need to add water bottles to help keep the temperature stable, plus it has alarms you can set for too high and too low. I tested mine in an ice bath, and it was one degree out, so was able to adjust that, and now it reads exactly the same temperature as the thermometer in the fridge, which I know is accurate. It's a bit odd at first, as the fridge is off completely, no light inside, no noise, no nothing! But it works. I think he'll be fine in the fridge, as long as we don't have a power cut.....

Hannah
Posts: 4
Joined: 01 Nov 2017, 08:04

Re: Tortoise Hibernation

Post by Hannah » 01 Nov 2017, 08:26

PS. I should have said, you can buy the Ink Bird on Amazon or Ebay for about £25. Bargain!

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Nina
Posts: 2003
Joined: 16 Mar 2017, 11:22

Re: Tortoise Hibernation

Post by Nina » 01 Nov 2017, 08:52

Hi Hannah,

Well, this sounds very interesting indeed! We'll look into it and let you know what we find. If there really is a gadget that can completely control the temperature in a fridge that would be a huge relief!

Nina

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