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Old 30-11-2016, 12:25 PM   #1
Kighill
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Default Hibernation and damp substrate

This is my first year hibernating my tortoises (Hermanni Hermanni) they have all gone down and are buried into the substrate which is Coco Coir.
My initial plan was to leave them in their mini greenhouse for a short hibernation of six weeks. Then bring them indoors onto an indoor tortoise table until spring. (They are all around 15 months old)
I have now changed this plan and brought them into an outbuilding for the initial hibernation the temp is usually between 3/5 centigrade 38/40 Fahrenheit.
My concern is the the coir is still rather damp/humid although not soaking wet, are they at risk of shell rot if the substrate is too damp? If so what should I change it to?
How long a period would be usually recommended for the first hibernation in the U.K?
Thank you

Last edited by Kighill; 30-11-2016 at 12:29 PM.
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Old 30-11-2016, 01:10 PM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kighill View Post
This is my first year hibernating my tortoises (Hermanni Hermanni) they have all gone down and are buried into the substrate which is Coco Coir.
My initial plan was to leave them in their mini greenhouse for a short hibernation of six weeks. Then bring them indoors onto an indoor tortoise table until spring. (They are all around 15 months old)
I have now changed this plan and brought them into an outbuilding for the initial hibernation the temp is usually between 3/5 centigrade 38/40 Fahrenheit.
My concern is the the coir is still rather damp/humid although not soaking wet, are they at risk of shell rot if the substrate is too damp? If so what should I change it to?
How long a period would be usually recommended for the first hibernation in the U.K?
Thank you

There does need to be some humidity.
Do you have a humidity meter in with them to see how high it is?
Humidity alone wont cause shell rot, as its generally causes through being on wet surfaces all the time. If there is any shell damage then humidity can cause bacteria to form in damages shell, then rot sets in. Shell rot can take a while to happen, so provided you check regularly through out the year it should be fine.
Eight weeks should be a minimum hibernation for small tortoises.
This is more of a scary time for you rather than them:0)
When I used to box up my hatchlings and smaller tortoises, I used our garage, with a heater to come on if temps dropped below 5c. The occassional
drop in temps below 5c is generally ok. But continual drops can cause blindness in tortoises. Dont let this panic you, its just to let you know. Again if you are watching temps and monitoring its fine. If your weather forecast says temps will drop really low, I used to just bring them into a cold room (radiators turned off) then put them back out the next morning to the garage.
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Old 30-11-2016, 03:45 PM   #3
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Hi Sandy
This is the advice I was looking for so thank you.
I do have an Exo Terra humidity gauge in with them unfortunately I am playing find a humidity gauge, so far I have found two temperature gauges which were both buried, no joy with the humidity gauge yet though.
When I just checked two of the tortoises had moved a little so I will check again on Thursday.
I will also leave them in hibernation for a little longer than planned.

Last edited by Kighill; 30-11-2016 at 03:48 PM.
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Old 30-11-2016, 07:39 PM   #4
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Our temperatures dropped to -5 two nights running. It had dropped to -2 in the outbuilding. In the hibernation box it remained a steady 4-5 degrees, but that is because I had a heat source just alongside. It is forecast to be very cold tonight too.
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Old 30-11-2016, 08:10 PM   #5
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Our temperatures dropped to -5 two nights running. It had dropped to -2 in the outbuilding. In the hibernation box it remained a steady 4-5 degrees, but that is because I had a heat source just alongside. It is forecast to be very cold tonight too.
Those temps should be fine in the box, you could also put an old carpet/blanket over the top of the box, for extra insurance:0)
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Old 01-12-2016, 10:09 AM   #6
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geeeez its cold but lovely and bright here ! The damp air in right conditions provides humidity and therefore doesn't allow the tortoise to dry out completely. Some of mine actually put on weight which is the moisture being absorbed. Paper or straw can feel a little damp as can soil (naturally). just make sure straw doesn't actually get damp as it can harbour harmful spores and fungus. A friend on mine hibernates her tortoise in polystyrene bobble things, always has done and they feel completely dry but not sure that's good idea though her tortoise is 60 odd and hibernates every year. CB
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Old 01-12-2016, 02:11 PM   #7
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Those temps should be fine in the box, you could also put an old carpet/blanket over the top of the box, for extra insurance:0)
Thanks Sandy
I have indeed put a blanket over the top and roof insulation on top of that, I have put ecotherm round the sides too.
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Old 20-01-2017, 06:31 PM   #8
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Latest on my hibernating tortoise. I had a peek today, again finding they have moved around a little but appear OK. However one of the tortoise was found on its back (no sign of it urinating) I last checked them 10/14 days ago so it would be a guess when she went onto her back.
I righted the tort and placed her/him back onto the substrate. Most of them are on top of the substrate with a couple buried down.
I have taken the advice of Sandy and will be giving them two months or so I am thinking of getting them up at the beginning of February. Or a couple of weeks later if this is the advice I am given.
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Old 20-01-2017, 10:22 PM   #9
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A disadvantage of hibernating tortoises in outbuildings is that the temperature can vary a lot.

The tortoise which went upside down has obviously been active and moving about a lot. This also means that some energy stores were used.

My suggestion is to monitor the temperature in the outbuilding. Because of the small mass, little tortoises can warm up quickly when temps rise.
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Old 20-01-2017, 10:59 PM   #10
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Upside down! Mmmm. I am going to check my 2 a bit more regularly. Bertie doesn't appear to move very far, but Beatrice does this year.

I'm assuming that if their metabolism is so low , going on their backs is not such an issue? Bit of an educated guess. I would be interested to hear a bit more about this.
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