Preparing hibernation for Mediterranean Spur Thighed

[Georgia Beeston]

Hello,

Just wanted some advice as i've recently adopted a tortoise who according to my vet is an adult (around 3 years old).

I see that she's already begun withdrawing (not eating, going to the cooler part of her enclosure, and sleeping for most the day).
Is this normal? And should I begin preparing her for hibernation from now?

Thanks,
Georgia

[Kirkie]

If it’s a new tortoise and it’s inside, You have the option not to hibernate this year. This means you not only have to keep day and night temperatures up around summer levels but also light levels. This is the hard bit. For my non hibernating species I use Arcadia Jungle dawn LED lamps to really boost light levels.

If you want to hibernate the tortoise, you need to gradually get the temperatures down. This can be difficult indoors if you are trying to keep a house warm. You can move them to a spare room or similar , leave the central heating off, open the windows and the temperatures should drop as outside cools down. You then need to find somewhere cold that won’t freeze, about 5C is perfect. This is why people use the fridge method.

I prefer to give my tortoise a deep substrate of soil and potting compost in their hibernation boxes. They rarely loose any weight when buried down during hibernation.