[Suze65]

Originally Posted by baldocktort

When is my tortoise empty?

I have been following the "fridge hibernation plan" and I am in my third week. My poor little tortoise has not had anything to eat for nearly 3 weeks - the pleading looks are killing me - and he has been having a warm bath every other day since I started the programme.

He seemed to stop passing anything about a week ago but has now started again. Its not much and its pretty wet, mainly wet with a bit of colour really, just after his bath. Does this mean he is not empty? HELP!

If you are into week 3 of a controlled wind down , he should be nearly there, another week or two, and you should be reducing the light and heat, in a cool room, and reduce the temp of the bath to tepid and then cool. So by now he should be slowing down and coming out less each day and not really wanting any food. If he's wanting food still , then he's too warm. Remember you are gradually cooling him down over the weeks. So if he's in a modern warm house, it might be too warm. I live in an old house and my kitchen is quite cold now, so perfect for the last stage of wind down. If you are following a controlled wind down correctly, he will be empty enough.