Coming out of hibernation

[BeeL]

Hi - I usually hibernate both my tortoises in the fridge, but my spur thigh decided to hibernate herself in the garden. Obviously, I decide when to take them out of the fridge to end their hibernation, but am not sure if I should interfere with her natural hibernation or let her rouse herself when she is ready. Any thoughts or advice greatly appreciated.Thanks

[Nina]

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 tortoises shouldn't really hibernate for much longer than 14 weeks, as the longer hibernation goes on after that time the more risk there is to their immune system becoming compromised. Other risks of garden hibernation are damage by rats (and occasionally foxes), which can burrow down to where the tortoise is and nibble on legs, etc. Having said that, many tortoises do hibernate successfully in gardens (with or without the consent of their owner!).

As 14 weeks ago was the very end of November/beginning of December, and if she has been hibernating a lot longer than that, then I think I would be tempted to wake her up. You might find that wherever she did dig down, she might have moved a bit or dug down further, because in very cold weather (and we have had some spells), tortoises tend to dig deeper to avoid being damaged by frost (so don't panic if she isn't exactly where you thought she was).

These are just my thoughts, and it would be good if someone who has long experience of hibernating their tortoise in the garden could come on with some advice.

Nina

[lin]

Hi Beet. How long has she been in hibernation and do you have a thermometer down with her recording the temps and also is the area she is in sheltered and safe from flooding or excess water retention.

I have never hibernated mine outside but I do follow a group that does natural hibernation and maybe you could have a look into how they do it for reference. They’re tortoises seem to have been waking for a week or so now —. https://m.facebook.com/groups/643422690 ... ?ref=share

Lin

[BeeL]

Thank you for your responses. She’s dug down in a well drained, sheltered spot (and her tracker indicates she’s still there). She took herself off mid October, so way beyond the recommended 14 weeks. This time scale of 14 weeks is news to me I’m afraid. I have taken your advice and requested to join the group who hibernate naturally, so hope they will accept me into the group and I can get some advice from them. Many thanks

[lin]

BeeL
Please do keep us posted on how she gets on, we’re very interested.

Lin

BeeL wrote:
> Thank you for your responses. She’s dug down in a well drained, sheltered
> spot (and her tracker indicates she’s still there). She took herself off
> mid October, so way beyond the recommended 14 weeks. This time scale of 14
> weeks is news to me I’m afraid. I have taken your advice and requested to
> join the group who hibernate naturally, so hope they will accept me into
> the group and I can get some advice from them. Many thanks

[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/n ... ation.html . There is a section called 'Hibernation Underground' about halfway down, and a bit further down is a section called 'Hibernation Period', where they recommend a hibernation periiod of 8-10 weeks for small tortoises and no more than 16 weeks for very large tortoises.

My tortoises came out of hibernation on Sunday after just over 14 weeks (fridge hibernation). They are Horsfields, so a fairly small species, but I do know that in the wild this species hibernates in their native habitat for a very long time, and so feel that they are OK with 14 weeks. One of them lost only 7g in just over 14 weeks and the other lost 9g, and they've done well, but I wouldn't leave them in any longer.

I would be interested to know what the natural hibernation group recommend, as they obviously have experience of the advantages and risks of that method.

Nina

[BeeL]

Thanks for the link - really interesting

[BeeL]

Good news! Having joined the Facebook group suggested by lin - I found that most tortoises hibernating ‘naturally’ were coming out of hibernation now. So, I decided to leave my spur thigh to rouse herself with no interference from me. A couple of days ago I noticed the soil above her was raised in a tortoise shaped dome……today she surfaced! She’s bright eyed, has had a bath, eaten a bit of lettuce and only lost 3g - an amazing loss of less than 0.2%! It’s great to be part of this group - thank you

[Nina]

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