My 2 10 yr old Hermanss have buried themselves

[TommyLeo]

Originally Posted by burnt toast

I don't know the full history, but I do know torts need some heat at the beginning of wind down to digest what food is in their gut, you then gradually reduce both heat & hours of daylight.

Were they just outside, without housing/heat & light prior to them digging down?

They were outside with a cold frame that would get any sun till sun down. I only recently started using the basking lamp outside but they had burried down by then. They would bury down in the corner of the garden, not inside the cold frame.

[TommyLeo]

Originally Posted by burnt toast

And have they had just the one bath prior to being put down?

This is their 3rd bath in about 5 weeks.

They're in the fridge know and after 10 mins of scraping around they seemed to have settled.

This is only our 2nd year with them.

[burnt toast]

I think they will be ok then. Speak to dan to be on the safe side, as I think im overcautious. One of my adult Marginated males wouldn't sit under his basking lamp last year which worried me to death, would come straight out of his kennel & hide under a shrub! But he hibernated ok

[TommyLeo]

Originally Posted by burnt toast

I think they will be ok then. Speak to dan to be on the safe side, as I think im overcautious. One of my adult Marginated males wouldn't sit under his basking lamp last year which worried me to death, would come straight out of his kennel & hide under a shrub! But he hibernated ok

Thanks burnt toast, and will do.

[Shelled Lady]

If your tortoises have not eaten for four weeks they should be alright to hibernate. The only thing I would be worried about is, if they were outside dug down, what was the temperature like, depending on where you live? If it was cold, then those four weeks they would not have had time to empty their gut. When I have left adult male tortoises out they don't usually hibernate till November, coming out on warm days but not eating. You do need to keep a record of when they stop eating if you leave them out. I bring mine in to a shed with heat lamps till end of October, then fast them for about three to four weeks. They will still be feeding until I stop and lower the heat. Your tortoises could be hibernating for 3-4 months quite easily if they have fed well over the summer.

[TommyLeo]

Originally Posted by Shelled Lady

If your tortoises have not eaten for four weeks they should be alright to hibernate. The only thing I would be worried about is, if they were outside dug down, what was the temperature like, depending on where you live? If it was cold, then those four weeks they would not have had time to empty their gut. When I have left adult male tortoises out they don't usually hibernate till November, coming out on warm days but not eating. You do need to keep a record of when they stop eating if you leave them out. I bring mine in to a shed with heat lamps till end of October, then fast them for about three to four weeks. They will still be feeding until I stop and lower the heat. Your tortoises could be hibernating for 3-4 months quite easily if they have fed well over the summer.

Sorry never replied to your post.

The exact same is happening again this year, pretty much around the same time ). So i plan to do what I done last year.

Bath them twice per week for the next 2-3 weeks and popping em in the cold frame. After this, if they've buried down again, I'll dig em up one morning, pop em in the fridge and monitor throughout the day.

This seemed to to the trick last year, they both came out of hibernation after
14 & 15 weeks and were perfectly healthy.

ps.
I live in South East Wales so the summers are ok, the cold frame certainly heats up on bright days.

[CherryBrandy]

sounds like a good plan. I place greenhouse liners in the GH to stop it heating up when they are hibernating...otherwise odd days it warms up and they could stir, CB

[sandy]

Originally Posted by CherryBrandy

sounds like a good plan. I place greenhouse liners in the GH to stop it heating up when they are hibernating...otherwise odd days it warms up and they could stir, CB

Mine have never stirred in over 20yrs, no matter how hot it gets in the greenhouse with the sun:0)

[CherryBrandy]

Originally Posted by sandy

Mine have never stirred in over 20yrs, no matter how hot it gets in the greenhouse with the sun:0)

that's interesting Sandy, mine do bury down quite far but found one year in a warm December two popped up and what I like to do is control a little bit when they appear the next spring. ie if weather looks bleak for February I find it prolongs it. But the Met is no longer the BBC weather persons choice so goodness knows what will happen. CB

[Stellanne]

Mine never seem to stir either until the days get a little longer. Occasional warm days that heat the greenhouse is no issue, so far fingers crossed. X x x. Hugs x x