Hi, I'm new here and a new tortoise owner as we took in a rescue a couple of months ago.
Please would someone give me some advice about hibernation as I am really worried about it.
Margaret is apparently female and 30 years old, though how her age is known I don't know. She has been living in the garden for the summer, allowed to roam and graze freely..... extra food rations given....bathed regularly. I have read everything I could find about tortoise care.
We plan to hibernate her in the fridge, but don't want her to start hibernating until the last minute really, European winters being so long and wet generally. However, she seems to be trying to start hibernation now.....not eating, not wanting to leave her bed although the temperature outside is about 15 degrees today and sunny.
We've been bringing her inside at night as local temperatures have dropped so drastically, and not putting her out until the temperature gets above 12, then just leaving her to decide whether or not to get up and out. I'm concerned that she's not eating....surely she should still be trying to put on weight for the winter whilst the temperature and warmth is there? I understand that she is supposed to stop eating to make sure the alimentary canal is empty, but it still seems a bit early to stop.
She has lost about 20g in weight since the last time we weighed her about a month ago, which again, seems quite a lot to me. The weight/length ratio table puts her just over borderline ok to hibernate.
Is it right to keep bringing her in and out of the house, or should we be letting nature take care of things a bit more? At what point should I give her her last bath? Questions questions.....and I always used to think that having a tortoise would be easy! Please help with any advice. Thank you
Hibernating Hermanns for first time
Re: Hibernating Hermanns for first time
Hello there
You make an interesting point there about letting nature take its course. One of the best pieces of advice I’ve read on hibernation is that it’s far easier to replicate the conditions to bring a tortoise out of hibernation than to replicate the climactic changes which trigger it.
I leave my tortoises (Hermanns) outside at this time of the year. They have access to a cold frame which extends the season. This way they get to make all the decisions for you. Mine are still eating and drinking at the moment (south east England) once they quit coming out and staying dug in in their hide, I move them to hibernation quarters in a temperature controlled shed and use heaters to bring them out of hibernation early spring.
As you are using a fridge, I’d leave your tortoise out full time ( bringing in at night may disrupt the wind down ) and once the tortoise has really stopped being active and temperatures are close to your fridge temps, then hibernate and be prepared to keep them warm once you feel they’ve been down long enough. This means heat and good light levels until they can go outside again.
Hibernation is daunting, I really feel it’s best to let the tortoise make the decisions.
You make an interesting point there about letting nature take its course. One of the best pieces of advice I’ve read on hibernation is that it’s far easier to replicate the conditions to bring a tortoise out of hibernation than to replicate the climactic changes which trigger it.
I leave my tortoises (Hermanns) outside at this time of the year. They have access to a cold frame which extends the season. This way they get to make all the decisions for you. Mine are still eating and drinking at the moment (south east England) once they quit coming out and staying dug in in their hide, I move them to hibernation quarters in a temperature controlled shed and use heaters to bring them out of hibernation early spring.
As you are using a fridge, I’d leave your tortoise out full time ( bringing in at night may disrupt the wind down ) and once the tortoise has really stopped being active and temperatures are close to your fridge temps, then hibernate and be prepared to keep them warm once you feel they’ve been down long enough. This means heat and good light levels until they can go outside again.
Hibernation is daunting, I really feel it’s best to let the tortoise make the decisions.
Re: Hibernating Hermanns for first time
Hi
Thanks so much for replying - I agree with what you said about the best piece of advice you've read....makes sense.
We're in Northern Brittany, so similar weather conditions to yours.
Temperature outside today is around 19C and sunny. Yesterday was similar but I found her buried under the pampas grass instead of sunning herself. Haven't checked today yet to see whether she's out of her bed, which I put out in the sun.
I'm not offering her extra rations (she stopped being interested in her favourite things about a week ago), but I see that she is nibbling half-heartedly at the odd bit of grass or herb now and again.
Is their 'hide' something that your tortoises dug out for themselves? I would like to leave Margaret outside as yours are, but am concerned that she doesn't cover herself properly in the event of sudden rain or the temperature hitting 5C after being 19C most of the day.
Am I worrying unnecessarily about not knowing when she's eaten her last meal, evacuated fully, had her final bath/hydration etc? Can I literally just bring her inside if she's not emerged outside for 48 hours and pop her in the fridge at the correct temperature? Can you tell me approximately how many weeks you would hibernate your healthy Hermanns? I was trying to keep her awake until end of Oct at least, and then wake her at end of Jan, weight/health permitting....does that sound about right?
Thank you again for taking the time to respond to my question in the first place. Any further advice would be gratefully received, though you have put my mind at rest to a certain extent and I shall do as you suggested by leaving her out. I suppose the answer for me at the moment is to find her at night, and cover the area she's chosen to bed down in.
Thanks so much for replying - I agree with what you said about the best piece of advice you've read....makes sense.
We're in Northern Brittany, so similar weather conditions to yours.
Temperature outside today is around 19C and sunny. Yesterday was similar but I found her buried under the pampas grass instead of sunning herself. Haven't checked today yet to see whether she's out of her bed, which I put out in the sun.
I'm not offering her extra rations (she stopped being interested in her favourite things about a week ago), but I see that she is nibbling half-heartedly at the odd bit of grass or herb now and again.
Is their 'hide' something that your tortoises dug out for themselves? I would like to leave Margaret outside as yours are, but am concerned that she doesn't cover herself properly in the event of sudden rain or the temperature hitting 5C after being 19C most of the day.
Am I worrying unnecessarily about not knowing when she's eaten her last meal, evacuated fully, had her final bath/hydration etc? Can I literally just bring her inside if she's not emerged outside for 48 hours and pop her in the fridge at the correct temperature? Can you tell me approximately how many weeks you would hibernate your healthy Hermanns? I was trying to keep her awake until end of Oct at least, and then wake her at end of Jan, weight/health permitting....does that sound about right?
Thank you again for taking the time to respond to my question in the first place. Any further advice would be gratefully received, though you have put my mind at rest to a certain extent and I shall do as you suggested by leaving her out. I suppose the answer for me at the moment is to find her at night, and cover the area she's chosen to bed down in.
Re: Hibernating Hermanns for first time
Hello,
My Hermanns have a large wooden hide, open bottomed so they can dig down into loose soil as they wish. They quickly learn to adopt any covered shelter overnight. It can be something as simple as a home made wooden box with an access hole or something custom made. It may be pertinent to cover the tortoise outside, whilst I’m sure they’d be fine in most weather conditions by biggest concern, here at least, is predators like foxes and other mammals like rats and mice. This is also why I move them into a shed to hibernate. When they’re basically inactive all day, I move them into large soil filled, secure boxes in the shed. The shed gives me that little extra but of control over temperatures too.
Regarding when to put them into the fridge, ideally I’d do it when temperatures outside are close to your fridge temperature. Either that or use a thermometer to get the 5c you need in the fridge, mark that spot on the fridge dial and perhaps then dial it up to around 10c, put the tortoise in and then gradually over a week or two, dial the fridge down to 5c using the mark you made.
With a natural wind down, I tend not to worry about last feeds or even soaking them. Theyve sorted that out for themselves but there no harm in offering them water or bathing them in this period. They may or may not bother.
I cant overstate here how important I’ve found using deep soil in their hibernation boxes. Mine bury down into it and their weight loss is minimal. My thinking is this prevents any dehydration as the substrate is a humid environment.
End of October until end of Jan sounds fine to me. If I can keep mine up until end of October Ill probably leave mine down til mid to late February. We have about another week of high teens temperatures here and the cold frame helps, they were all out basking today.
My Hermanns have a large wooden hide, open bottomed so they can dig down into loose soil as they wish. They quickly learn to adopt any covered shelter overnight. It can be something as simple as a home made wooden box with an access hole or something custom made. It may be pertinent to cover the tortoise outside, whilst I’m sure they’d be fine in most weather conditions by biggest concern, here at least, is predators like foxes and other mammals like rats and mice. This is also why I move them into a shed to hibernate. When they’re basically inactive all day, I move them into large soil filled, secure boxes in the shed. The shed gives me that little extra but of control over temperatures too.
Regarding when to put them into the fridge, ideally I’d do it when temperatures outside are close to your fridge temperature. Either that or use a thermometer to get the 5c you need in the fridge, mark that spot on the fridge dial and perhaps then dial it up to around 10c, put the tortoise in and then gradually over a week or two, dial the fridge down to 5c using the mark you made.
With a natural wind down, I tend not to worry about last feeds or even soaking them. Theyve sorted that out for themselves but there no harm in offering them water or bathing them in this period. They may or may not bother.
I cant overstate here how important I’ve found using deep soil in their hibernation boxes. Mine bury down into it and their weight loss is minimal. My thinking is this prevents any dehydration as the substrate is a humid environment.
End of October until end of Jan sounds fine to me. If I can keep mine up until end of October Ill probably leave mine down til mid to late February. We have about another week of high teens temperatures here and the cold frame helps, they were all out basking today.
Re: Hibernating Hermanns for first time
One thing I forgot to mention. I moved my tortoises out of their main pen into a smaller area which gets the most hours of sunlight through the day. If your tortoise has free range this might not be necessary as it can find basking spots for itself but for mine it offers them longer periods of sun, when its out, than their usual home. All their really doing is basking, eating, drinking and sleeping at the moment, its an area about 8ft by 8ft with a coldframe and their wooden hide.
Re: Hibernating Hermanns for first time
Thank you very much Kirkie, that's very helpful. I feel a little more optimistic about bringing Margaret through hibernation now
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 77 guests