Hello from me and hibernation questions
 

Hello to you all,
I've been using this forum for over a year now and only realised this morning that I'd not registered so sorry for that.
I've had a little Horsfield for almost 2 years now, I thought she was 3 years old but my local reptile centre inform me she's about 10.
I didn't hibernate her last year as I felt having read the posts here that she was too small (100mm long weighing 250g) although she was less than lively over the winter.
This year however she is 125mm long weighing 373g so I think I may give it a go although I am a tad worried.
I've read the step by step guide and its great and I'm reasonably happy with the putting to bed bit, what I'm unsure of and I've had trouble finding the answer to is,

It seems the fridge is best for hibernation, Do I need a special fridge or can I put her in the bottom of my home fridge? I have a large American style fridge with no ice box.

When is best to put her into hibernation? She is slowing down now so is now the right time to start reducing food light heat etc?

Do I need to get her up during the hibernation to weigh? I'm worried I'll wake her

And lastly how will I know its time to wake her up?

Sorry its a bit war and peace but I,ve searched about and read loads of great posts buy I cant seem to find exactly the answers I want.

Thanks Clay

Hello,

Nobody able to help?

Hi Clay,

I'll try to answer your questions, bear in mind that others have different views and opinions on hibernation and everyone's conditions, tortoises and fridges will be slightly different.

If you're happy that she is fit, healthy and a good weight for her size etc I would recommend getting a basic 'normal' (kitchen type) fridge (not a thermoelectric mini fridge), preferably brand new or newish and very thoroughly cleaned first.
You DON'T want to use your kitchen food fridge to hibernate a tortoise as it may well be full of harmful bacteria etc etc etc (there are other reasons too)

Most Fridges and their thermostats are designed to work best at normal room temperatures, so a bedroom would be a better place to keep it than a cold garage.

Generally it is better if the end of hibernation coincides with the start of spring, but if you want to (or have to) start the hibernation earlier that's fine too.

Length is up to you, the tort and how well the hibernation goes. You can quickly check and weigh her every week, she won't wake up. Personally I think 4-5% max weight loss is quite enough if you're using the fridge method. They tend to lose a little more in the first week or two and then they should settle down.
They normally like to hold on to their fluids throughout the hibernation so if she urinates it might be best to get her up.
Possibly a minimum of 8 and a maximum of 12 weeks, weightloss permitting !

Tort Temperature should be around 5°C, I place mine in a thick box with some substrate and then cover her with an old quilted jacket so she is well insulated and protected.
Open the door once a day to let some fresh air in.

Use a few thermometers to keep an eye on the tortoise temperature and the fridge temp and test the fridge for a couple of weeks first to make sure you are completely happy with it.

Waking up.

When you feel it is time to end the hibernation let her warm up gradually on her own to room temp and then supply radiant heat to gently get her going again. Also give her lots of baths so she can have a good drink.

I box/shed hibernated for many years before I found out I could use a fridge and I have to say for me the fridge method is far superior. :D

Hi there

if you get your tortoise out for a few minutes to weigh him/her the animal will not 'wake up' during hibernation. Due to the low temp the tortoise is kind of drowsy and will stay like that unless it warms up.

I agree it's best not to use the same fridge that you keep your human foods in but some people have done that.

She may need to be little heavier as that puts her on the low line :!:

McIntyre ratio.

http://postimage.org/image/id9pldefd/

My Lilly is 11.5 cms and 374 gms and that is just below the average weight for size, so your tortoise is underweight according to the horsfield ratio. I would feed her up a lot first before attempting to hibernate. X

Are you planning to breed the animal?... If not than why go through the worry?

If you insist on putting the animal through hibernation... the more natural the better.

"The more natural the better", that is a rather ambiguous statement, it could mean leave little Horsfield in an Uzbekistan landscaped garden and hope for average day/night temperatures of −20 °C with lows of about -35°C !
I suppose a good covering of snow would be useful too.

Personally I don't see the problem with 'any' method of hibernation as long as it is safe and the end result is a healthy active tortoise.
Now I've switched to a very controlled method of hibernation, I have a healthier happier tortoise in the spring and I don't have to constantly worry about what the bloody weather is doing either. :grin:

I agree with Levi, I'm not sure that the fridge method means a happier tortoise but it certainly makes me happier as you know that you have a fully controlled situation.

You probably could put your tort in an insulated box in an unused salad box or on it's own level but i'd recommend giving the fridge a good scrub straight before and after putting your tort in. The fridge will be more stable as it is full of solids/liquids that retains its temperature and helps to get the fridge back down to temp following the door opening, you will also be changing the air regularly without even thinking about it.
Make sure that the tort is on the bottom level though - we found that our spur thigh had attempted to escape a couple of times last year!

That said we bring a dedicated fridge out of the shed just in case - we are confident that there isn't a salmonella risk but the nagging in the back of my head just doesn't allow me to do it.

Thanks guys for all of the useful comments.
I think having read all of them that I may give the hibernation a miss this year due to her weight.
I'd hate for anything bad to happen to her and its hard to fatten her up now as she's starting to slow down and is less than enthusiastic about feeding her face.
She's grown alot over the last 12 months up from 250g to 373g but maybe still a bit weedy.
At least with another 12 months in hand I have time to prep fully.

Thankyou all

Clay