My plan for NOT hibernating

[yuna1971]

No I meant lower the temperature for the heating.. Wolflore said he kept his on all day and then you said you did. But there is a thermostat isnt there where you can set the temperature for your house heating. Its this i was talking about, Lolly xx

[pagan queen]

I have also decided I wont be hibernating Herbie. I wouldn't this year anyway due to his long stint in the wilds of my garden and not being able to guarantee he is in tip top condition. But I wont hibernate him in the foreseeable future either. I am not confident enough to do it and it would worry me to death, I wouldn't sleep for 3 months.

My plan is to move him from the conservatory into the living room. The guinea pigs live in the conservatory in the winter (in cages) but it's too cold for Herbie unless I have the 2 heaters on full blast day and night which would cost an absolute fortune. Since the weather here has cooled and I've kept Herbie inside during the day, I have found he warms in his table for a couple of hours then he looks for food, has a wee and poo and then wants to have a stomp about. He likes to wander around the living room so he has full run up and down for about an hour. He then settles for a nap under our parrots cage. He will stay there for an hour or 2 then comes out again so I bath him and feed him in his table and he basks for the rest of the day until he retires to his flower pot for the night.
So as he spends little time moving around in his table I figure I will make him a smaller home in the living room, move his lights so he can bask as normal and basically carry on as we are now. We keep the central heating on all night at a lower temp for the parrots so it will be warm enough. I already have a good lot of weeds growing so I will move them into the conservatory.

Why are people leaving lights on longer? don't they need the same amount of light no matter what time of year it is if they are not hibernating we are simulating summer so the light hours should remain the same I thought.

[Lolly8]

Originally Posted by yuna1971

No I meant lower the temperature for the heating.. Wolflore said he kept his on all day and then you said you did. But there is a thermostat isnt there where you can set the temperature for your house heating. Its this i was talking about, Lolly xx

Oh,now I get it! The house heating! Yes,there is thermostat but that clicks when house temp goes below from setted temp,if that makes sense.So...let say you set your house temp on +20 (like I do.),the point of thermostat is to keep house temp stable.If heating is on 24 hrs,that does not mean that it really heats the house 24 hrs,it only heats when thermostat cliks which means that temperature has gone below +20 and it starts heating again.Is that makes sense? (You see I'm not english but I hope I'm not very bad at it.)

[pagan queen]

Originally Posted by yuna1971

No I meant lower the temperature for the heating.. Wolflore said he kept his on all day and then you said you did. But there is a thermostat isnt there where you can set the temperature for your house heating. Its this i was talking about, Lolly xx

Rach, if you have a dial on your wall for heating that you can turn to adjust the temp in the house then whatever temp you set it to the heating will click on when the room temps drop below the level you have set it to. So if you set it to say 19 and it doesn't click on it means the room temp is higher than 19 so it wont come on unless the temp drops below that. (I hope this is what you mean) So in winter we have ours set at around 21 during the day and turn it down to 17 at night. You have to change the settings on your boiler controls and remember to turn it down at night via the thermostat. The reason for not switching the whole system off is that the whole house stays at a comfortable heat for sleeping but when you get up and turn the dial back up the heating hasn't got to work for very long to bring the temps back to daytime levels so the gas burnt is less than it would be to heat it from cold. That way you save money and the house stays warmer. It costs more money to heat a stone cold house every day than to keep it at a lower level and just warm it from there. I hope that all make sence .

[Beverley]

I kept a couple up from hibernation last year due to bring underweight. I just treated them the same as I do all year, lights on 12 hours a day, fed and bathed. Sometimes they ate and sometimes not as they can sense the change outside. It is fine for Med species temps to drop to around 10C or 12c at night they do not need high temps at night, even in the winter. As long as they can heat up well during the day.

[yuna1971]

Thing is with night time temps...its a worry for me. Lily didnt emerge today...was in his hide. He was cold to the touch...
I just worry that he is TOO cold at night. But in terms of additional heat, its a built in hide with a lid, so not sure how to get any additional heat to him, just to keep him at a comfortable temperature. Obviously I dont want him too hot either but with him not emerging (2nd time now in 2 days) I just am concerned that he is perhaps too cold at night....Although saying this, I wasnt aware that the room dropped below the 16/15 degree mark. (But I havent been in to check at 2/3am...either), this is going by temps during the cold winter last year. Any one have any practical suggestions. I can raise the Gas CH if needed, but I feel that Lily needs something for his own space, to take the edge off him being too cold. Unless I shouldnt worry at all....but I dont want to go off to work with him not coming out, and find I come home and he hasnt come out at all....unless this also is ok??

[TortBabe]

If you are worried Rach you could get a ceramic heater and thermostat for Lily, you hang it like a normal light, set the temp you want on the thermostat and it will keep Lily nice and warm overnight. I'm using one of these at the minute for Clover who has RNS

[Marly]

Rach, I havn't got any answers for you, just my experience of Marly.
I have been worried in the past with Marly not wanting to come out, staying in her readigrass bed, sleeping the day away. And this was in our so called summer, so even more worrying. She did come out briefly, I bathed her, she pooed etc, ate, then wanted to back to bed. I was worried, but was also happy she was eating and pooing, she just didn't want to be out and about. Why????? I dunno.
She has been out and active much more since then.
But to confuse me even more, now when it is getting colder, and people are reporting their torts slowing down, Marly is being the most active she has been since I got her She is up within minutes of her lamps going on, eating, chewing cuttlefish, basking, walking, enjoying herself. In fact twice this week she has escaped her enclosure to go walkabouts which she loved stomping up and down the landing.
Know this doesn't help you at the moment, but just wanted to say I think they do what they want, when they want. I have no explaination for Marly's behavior, perhaps they know best

[EJ]

For a heat source you can also look into underside heat mats. If used properly they are a fantastic and efficient source of heat.

[Wolflore]

Just a thought Glynis, but what were Marley's temps? Maybe it was just a bit too warm and he/she was estivating? Now the temp has dropped a bit they feel more inclined to move above and feed. Just a thought mind.