Horsfield hibernation 2nd try
Posted: 20 Jan 2018, 17:50
Hi everyone its been a while
some may remember last year I attempted to hibernate my horsfield called Pastie. unfortunately after just 1 week he lost around 20g so had to abort. This year has been far more successful. Started winding down 23rd November, weight 487g.
Hibernation day was 16 December and his weight was 446g. Week 2 was 447g and week 3 449g. Occasionally heard short scraping sounds and each time he was weighed he had dug down into the soil in one particular corner and had a small amount of soil on his face and other parts which explained the extra weight. Today is day 35 or 5 weeks. Weight was again 447g so it appears he has not lost any weight at all. On previous weighing sessions his eyes have been shut and touching his feet made them wiggle. However today after brushing some soil from his shell and feet before weighing he made a hissing sound a couple of times and pulled his head in. I know the sound is the air coming out of his lungs, but he usually does that when he is spooked and awake. His front legs did move a bit too. His eyes were still shut so maybe it was just a reaction to being bought out to be weighed. Or perhaps he has had enough?
Having no experience of hibernating a tortoise this far I just want to know whether this is normal behaviour? he has never been hibernated before and I thought perhaps a period of 4-6 weeks would be sufficient. The temperature at the back of the hibe box where the probe is situated ranges from about 3.5 to 4.5 degrees and its probably half a degree warmer at the front where he prefers to be.
Its still not clear to me whether the 10% weight loss is to be taken from when winding down starts or the day he goes in the fridge. if its from when winding down started then his minimum weight would be 439g. I prefer to think that its from when they go into the fridge. Thankfully he does not seem to have lost any weight at all which is the complete opposite to what happened last year.
So howe long should I continue the hibernation? Do they occasionally do a bit of scraping whilst in the fridge during this period? What do you experts think?
sorry for all the questions, but just want to make sure I am doing everything correctly.
Nina. Just read through your reply to the post about rockos weight. did you risk putting dolly in the fridge. Talk about bad timing, just a few days before she was supposed to go in too.
Kind wishs Darren
some may remember last year I attempted to hibernate my horsfield called Pastie. unfortunately after just 1 week he lost around 20g so had to abort. This year has been far more successful. Started winding down 23rd November, weight 487g.
Hibernation day was 16 December and his weight was 446g. Week 2 was 447g and week 3 449g. Occasionally heard short scraping sounds and each time he was weighed he had dug down into the soil in one particular corner and had a small amount of soil on his face and other parts which explained the extra weight. Today is day 35 or 5 weeks. Weight was again 447g so it appears he has not lost any weight at all. On previous weighing sessions his eyes have been shut and touching his feet made them wiggle. However today after brushing some soil from his shell and feet before weighing he made a hissing sound a couple of times and pulled his head in. I know the sound is the air coming out of his lungs, but he usually does that when he is spooked and awake. His front legs did move a bit too. His eyes were still shut so maybe it was just a reaction to being bought out to be weighed. Or perhaps he has had enough?
Having no experience of hibernating a tortoise this far I just want to know whether this is normal behaviour? he has never been hibernated before and I thought perhaps a period of 4-6 weeks would be sufficient. The temperature at the back of the hibe box where the probe is situated ranges from about 3.5 to 4.5 degrees and its probably half a degree warmer at the front where he prefers to be.
Its still not clear to me whether the 10% weight loss is to be taken from when winding down starts or the day he goes in the fridge. if its from when winding down started then his minimum weight would be 439g. I prefer to think that its from when they go into the fridge. Thankfully he does not seem to have lost any weight at all which is the complete opposite to what happened last year.
So howe long should I continue the hibernation? Do they occasionally do a bit of scraping whilst in the fridge during this period? What do you experts think?
sorry for all the questions, but just want to make sure I am doing everything correctly.
Nina. Just read through your reply to the post about rockos weight. did you risk putting dolly in the fridge. Talk about bad timing, just a few days before she was supposed to go in too.
Kind wishs Darren