[jamestaylor18]

I think 8 is the minimum you should do for your first time. My horsefields did their first time last year! They woke up like different tortoises! It is very stressful winding down & hibernating them! Just wait until you stop feeding them, they will give you the "please feed me I'm starving" looks! But gradually they become more lazy and by the time the wind down is up, they are almost asleep anyway! I keep everything the same for 4 weeks then drop the daylight hours by a couple of hours for week 5, and again by a couple of hours for week six. Depending on what my temps are like by weeks 7&8 I usually just nudge the thermostat down a tad too to 25-30c. Throughout the whole process they get a daily bath too, apart from the last week when it's every other day!

What hibernation method are you going to use?

I personally being the control freak that I am, use the fridge method!