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Old 29-06-2012, 02:25 PM   #1
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Default Brumation?

Do tortoises brumate? What is the difference between brumation and aestivation?
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Old 29-06-2012, 02:42 PM   #2
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Yes tortoises do brumate but they do that in the winter (they don't technically hibernate, only a few mammals do that). Aestivation is what they do in the summer if it gets to hot.

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Old 29-06-2012, 02:48 PM   #3
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So what is it they do in the winter, when you over winter them but they still slow down and don't want to wake up for days on end? The temps are still as they were in the summer but they just hide away. Is that aestivation, or just pure bloody mindedness?
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Old 29-06-2012, 02:59 PM   #4
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Pure bloody mindedness Kind of like the nuns

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Old 29-06-2012, 03:53 PM   #5
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Originally Posted by egyptiandan64 View Post
Pure bloody mindedness Kind of like the nuns

Danny
Yes, those nun, they have their habits.
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Old 29-06-2012, 06:18 PM   #6
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From the little experience I'm gathering I think that tortoises aestivate mostly due to lack of water/food not because of the heat. Mine is living in an ambient temp of 30C and when the sun is shining at its peak she spends a good 45min-1hr roasting in it, then darts to her drinking spot to drink/bath and all the while she seems to be on nitro

Sometimes she takes short naps while basking in the sun...i sweat just watching her!
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Old 29-06-2012, 08:09 PM   #7
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I think there's more to it. I think they have a kind of 16-18 month cycle where they can go about up to 18 months but then have a period of slow down. Just from what I've noticed with my own ones and it isn't because it's winter because one is slowed down now having gone about 16-18 months at full steam. The one that's doing handstands now had been slowed down all winter but had been going full blast the previous winter while the other one wasn't
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Old 29-06-2012, 08:43 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by caledonia View Post
I think there's more to it. I think they have a kind of 16-18 month cycle where they can go about up to 18 months but then have a period of slow down. Just from what I've noticed with my own ones and it isn't because it's winter because one is slowed down now having gone about 16-18 months at full steam. The one that's doing handstands now had been slowed down all winter but had been going full blast the previous winter while the other one wasn't
There could be something in that Alan. My baby spent her first winter stomping around like it was mid July but the winter just gone she slowed right down. I put it down to her age the first year but this winter I will be able to see if she is lively or sleepy.

On the other hand my adult has spent 2 winters since I got him back, just sleeping. But that could be because he spent 7 years in the wild and is just used to it. Plus I suspect he was wild caught so most of his life he has brumated through winter.
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Old 30-06-2012, 08:55 AM   #9
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.. or maybe there is no actual time scale, maybe it just happens when they feel like it. Both my torts have the same conditions so it's not lack of heat or light that does it
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Old 30-06-2012, 12:19 PM   #10
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mmmm this is very interesting as all my 4 have slowed right down and not eating much (3 in one table & 1 in the other table). My youngest is what I can only describe as having a summer hibernation but its very scary.
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