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Old 23-09-2013, 11:58 AM   #1
Daryn
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Default Newbies to torte keeping/hibernation tips

I've read on a few sites lately, people bringing in their tortes and winding them down for the winter/hibernation. My advice is don't, not yet.

Last year I rehomed my first torte and about October I started winding her down, she hibernated and all was going well but came out of this early this year and to my horror I found it hard finding food etc, obviously I had to use the basking lamp and background heating for months.

This year I'm going to try and keep them awake until December, the weather here in the North East England is far too warm to waste on a hibernation, yes we are getting cold days when I have to use the basking lamps etc but like today its lovely in the garden and they are sitting basking in the natural warmth.

If you don't want to wait until December then at least wait until weeds are hard to find. Better to keep them under a basking lamp now and use available weeds than have them under a lamp early January/February and not be able to find any weeds at all.

Im no expert and wont pretend to be one but this is from experience.

So lets recap .............

1 don't waste these natural warm days on hibernating your torte, enjoy them in the garden when you can.

2 Why struggle at the beginning of the year finding food when their is lots about now.
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Old 23-09-2013, 01:28 PM   #2
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Agreed, it's far too early to start winding down yet, I would leave it until late October / November and then they will be ready to hibernate by December, over the coldest months.
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Old 23-09-2013, 01:31 PM   #3
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I also agree!
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Old 23-09-2013, 02:03 PM   #4
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I agree too!
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Old 23-09-2013, 02:05 PM   #5
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i turn lamps down 1st dec and stop feeding.
14th dec lamps are turned off.
they do have a regular bath to help "move things along".
if all is well on 23/24th dec they are put away for hibernation.
all weights/length recorded so i can keep an eye on things during winter.
sometime around the end of march it all starts again!!
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Old 23-09-2013, 04:22 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wigwamman View Post
i turn lamps down 1st dec and stop feeding.
14th dec lamps are turned off.
they do have a regular bath to help "move things along".
if all is well on 23/24th dec they are put away for hibernation.
all weights/length recorded so i can keep an eye on things during winter.
sometime around the end of march it all starts again!!
That's exactly what Im aiming for, as late as possible to Christmas.
It was a nightmare this year finding food, I had to buy a lot of supermarket stuff, it wasn't the expense it was just the fact I like to give them as natural a food source as possible.
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Old 23-09-2013, 07:23 PM   #7
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Round my area I was still collecting weeds up to January, so I was lucky, but aim for hibernation around beginning of December x
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Old 23-09-2013, 08:58 PM   #8
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I agree, Daryn. The longer you can keep them going the easier it is 14 weeks later when you wake them up. But sometimes it is really hard to stop them hibernating with their instinct in October or November. Mine might be sleepy now but I get them up when I get home from work, put them in the kitchen on newspaper and under a good UVB lamp. Warm them up, they will eat Florette, put them in a cat litter tray for a bath, then put them to bed. That's how I keep them going.

Mark Rowlands the lovely vet from Trinity Vet Maidstone, has a good point. He says, quite rightly in my view, that their instinct to hibernate right now is sooo strong, it's hard to fight that at this time of year. So if you are struggling/failing to fight that instinct, don't try. Let them hibernate, but get them up after the 14 weeks or so. The weather may be bad/cold, but it's easier to get them going in that season that's it was to keep them going in the autumn. Of course it will need keeping them indoors, or outdoors with heating.

All I can say is that it gets easier as the years pass!

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