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A couple of questions on hibernation
I thought I had done lots of reading up on hibernation as this will be the first time we have done it, and I believe the first time our 2 would have been hibernated, but I am still unsure about a couple of things;
How long should I hibernate them for? One will be 2 years next month and the other will be 2 next Feb. I have read somewhere that at that age they should only be hibernated for around 6 weeks but then somewhere else I read that 'young' tortoises should be hibernated 8 - 12 weeks??? As this is the first time I don't want to do anything that would harm them or be detrimental to their health. We are expecting a baby mid January so my plan was to start hibernating them at the start of November (I will be off work for 2 weeks so will be around to keep a close eye on them at the start) and then was going to wake them around mid to late January when I'm at home on paternity leave for 3 weeks (again so I can keep a close eye on things). What are the implications of hibernating for too long? Obviously I will be regularly weighing them throughout hibernation and they will both be of a healthy weight when they start (at present one is 0.20 and the other 0.21 using Jackson Ratio calculation). I will be using the fridge method to hibernate them (so temp will be a constant 5 degrees) and will place the fridge inside the house possibly in a corner of the dining room or upstairs in an old airing cupboard (no longer an airing cupboard due to new boiler being fitted). Any help or advice will be gratefully appreciated! :-o Thanks |
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Eight weeks is the minimum hibernation for a first time, if you are scared:0) Provided you monitor correctly, its a doddle. Weight loss is the biggest worry for most keepers. I don't weigh my adults, but I do watch them during the year to make sure they are healthy, and are eating well. Mine bury down in the greenhouse when they are ready (with me reducing light/heat and food). They are slowing down now. My smaller tortoises, I don't usually think about hibernating them until late November, so they are asleep when weeds are scarce. From 30grms onwards they are hibernated for at least eight weeks. If their weight loss is minimum then they get another two weeks. Once they get over 150grms then they get the full 12weeks. Provided they don't have a big weight loss. I weigh them when they go into hibernation, I don't weigh again for at least two weeks. As the first week they will lose more, as they are still settling down (I use the box method for my small torts). Then I weigh them weekly after that. What species are your torts? |
Thank you Sandy.
My two are Hermanns.At present one is 254g and the other is 286g so I should be ok to hibernate for 12 weeks provided everything is ok and they don't have a big weight loss? They have already started to slow down now, eating less, moving about less and going in earlier in the evening even without me reducing heat and light until 7pm. Currently heat and light comes on at 8am and goes off at 7pm so I'm assuming I will need to shorten this further over coming weeks? Not long now until the clocks change and it will start getting dark at 5pm! Quote:
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I personally leave my smaller ones until at least the end of October. So they are asleep for the coldest months. Especially as weeds are harder to come by during this time. |
Agree with everything sandy has said, I would wait to start winding them down at the beginning of November so they are ready to hibernate at start of December. Good luck
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Thank you all for your advice, it is very reassuring. I will start to wind them down towards end of October then and aim to have them hibernating by the end of November.
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In the wild tortoises hibernate for as long as the cold season forces them to. It all depends what climate zone the tortoises come from. It can be as short as one month... or as long as nine months.
These tortoises are not in the wild... think long and hard if this is what you want to do. There is absolutely no health benefit to the tortoise and it is totally not necessary. Hibernation in tortoises is and adaptation to survive unfavorable environmental conditions for survival... nothing more. In captivity the risk dramatically increases with very young and very old tortoises. |
I agree with you Ed, and its totally the choice of the keeper to hibernate or not, I would be reluctant to hibernate a very small or very old tortoise x
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take a look at the sticky i did a few yrs ago called step by step.
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To the OP... be very careful of 'canned' instructions on how to hibernate. There are so many variables. Even in a country as small as the UK(relatively speaking) there are many climates which influence how you would hibernate your animal... there are so many things that could go wrong. I say every year how so many experienced keepers encourage a new keeper to hibernate their single pet without understanding that this is, most likely a precious pet, that could easily be lost. Focus on the posts that occur from now until about March... December to March is when the Death posts usually show up. This is a note I post every year. I'm noticing an increase in posts supporting not hibernating... for some reason.
If you are interested in breeding your animals in the future... hibernation is a major cue for breeding... not a necessity. What I encourage is that you observe your animals behavior and let them 'teach' you what they need and what you can get away with. One last caution... If a conversation goes PM without your initiation... that should throw up a red flag to you in that the person is not confident in their advice. These animals are totally temperature dependent and that temperature governs their behavior. |
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