[GemJam]

Hi,

I've only hibernated twice and find there is a good guide on the tortoise trust website called new hibernation.

I stop feeding my tort, but ensure she still has clean water daily to let her wind down. I also start to reduce the number of hours the lamp is on, however my tort reduces the hours she is awake without me doing this.

I then keep an eye on poo to make sure that before she goes in to hibernation she hasn't done any in a while, making sure there is nothing left in her system, which could rot and cause issues.

I have a spare fridge, which I fill (except for one shelf) with with bottles of water and turn on for a week before my tort goes in to hibernation to ensure the temperature is stabilised. As previously recommended keep the fridge indoors (not in a garage where the external temperature fluctuates), without an freezer compartment and I have a thermometer on a wire with an display which magnetizes to my fridge door.

I put my tort in to a Celebrations tub, with shredded paper and holes that are drilled in to the lid, so she can breathe. But the container you use will depend on your torts size, mine is 5 years old, so fits in one nicely.

Then in she goes, I monitor the temperature to be around 5 degrees and open the door for a short time daily to let fresh air circulate. I check her once weekly to ensure there is no excretion.

Again, I have only done this twice, the first time I only hibernated for 8 weeks and the second time I did it for 12 weeks, starting in October/November. This was initiated by my tort, as I could tell she wanted to wind down, due to lower activity levels. Both were successful, thankfully.

Do your research and choose a method that suits you and most importantly your tort.

I can't comment if hibernation is different for Horsefields, as I don't keep them, but there will be guidance on this somewhere.

Good luck. xx