16-06-2014, 09:53 AM | #11 | |
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I'm going to throw a spanner in the works now I think hibernation is part of their natural feeding cycle, ok if know that's going to open a huge can of worms. Yes I know hibernation is a survival strategy, but over thousands of years their natural growth has evolved to fit in with that down time. Hope that makes sense. That's just my theory, I don't mind if people disagree
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16-06-2014, 10:15 AM | #12 | |
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16-06-2014, 10:23 AM | #13 | |
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I'm also of the thought though, that hibernation is to survive, I can provide year round sun and UV, is it necessary to hibernate them then? So to sum up, I really don't know!!
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16-06-2014, 01:25 PM | #14 |
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The mediterranean species in the wild experience periods in the summer where it is too hot a lot of the time for them to be out and about. There is also not much food at that time due to the low rainfall and high temperatures. So they just hang out in shady areas avoiding the heat. For those of us keeping these species in the UK, there is no point in the year when we are copying these conditions. Our hottest summer conditions are more or less like spring in the Med.
For this and other reasons I don't think we can talk too much of tortoises experiencing anything like natural conditions in the UK. Although I am saying this from the point of view of having just about the worst tortoise keeping weather in the UK and the situation is maybe very different on the south coast!
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16-06-2014, 01:33 PM | #15 | |
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But I do think we can try a replicate natural feeding patterns to a point. It will never be exactly the same. And I feel hibernation has evolved to become part of that natural feeding pattern, even though it is a survival strategy. I know many won't agree with that and that's fine, I happy with what I think
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16-06-2014, 01:45 PM | #16 | |
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Hibernation is a survival strategy, but I believe that over thousands of years it's become part of their natural life cycle, it is definitely part of their breeding cycle. You don't have to force a tortoise to hibernate, but you do have to force it to stay awake all winter , and that can be difficult with old tors who have hibernated all their lives. And some torts how ever hard you try to keep them going all winter will still slow down for a while. I know some of my hatchlings last winter were sleeping longer during the day by January, and they were plenty warm, and lights on for 12 hours a day.
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16-06-2014, 03:11 PM | #17 |
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Mine slept a lot more too x
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16-06-2014, 04:33 PM | #18 | |
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I would never feed pellet foods, as it goes against my way of keeping tortoises. I also rarely feed salad foods either, as I have enough weeds and flowers not too:0) I try to feed with the seasons, so in August tortoises rarely get fed anything other than what they can find:0) They have had more rain in the south of france than we have:0)
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16-06-2014, 05:04 PM | #19 | |
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