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Old 09-10-2014, 11:50 AM   #1
Maddy
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Default Horsfield hibernation question

hi everyone
I'd like advice and opinions on my following dilemma.
Last year my smallest horsfield disappeared in September, I honestly thought she'd escaped, been taken by a bird or stolen, we searched and dug very extensively. However on a sunny day in April she appeared as a ball of mud in the garden!
This year she has done the same, I know (roughly) where she is. So, do I dig her up when I put my others in the fridge in a few weeks or leave her? I live in Derbyshire and it was a mild winter here last year. She's under a huge piece of thick Cornish slate, but has no other protection.
My instinct is to dig her up and pop her straight in the fridge, but do I do it now or wait until the others go in. It's currently very wet here.
Many thanks
Maddy
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Old 09-10-2014, 12:01 PM   #2
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I suppose you have a 50/50 chance of her reappearing next year or dying over the winter if you leave the tort where it is. To be honest most bring them into the house in september so they can do a proper wind down when the time comes and a controlled hibernation which I must admit is what I always did. However its your tort and no one can tell you what to do apart from yourself and you have obvious doubts about leaving the tort where it is so do as your instincts are telling you which I think is to find the tort if poss and bring it into the house for a few more weeks then fridge/box it. If its a small tort then from now untill next spring is, as far as I'm concerned, far to long for the hibernation, my adult Ibera were allowed 20 weeks and many thought that the max for an adult to be safe.
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Old 09-10-2014, 12:06 PM   #3
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She's 6 and has always been fridge hibernated with proper wind down, 14 weeks asleep the previous year. My worry if I dug her up now and put her inside with the others would be if I messed up her internal clock, would she go down again safely this year?
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Old 09-10-2014, 12:18 PM   #4
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I have the same issue with my group they went down 6 weeks ago
all i have done is dug them up and washed them as they were mud balls dried them and put them in a wooden box on the concrete floor in my tort room which is cold so far they have not stirred and if they dont they will go in the fridge at the end of the month but i will probably wake them earlier next year
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Old 09-10-2014, 12:27 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Maddy View Post
She's 6 and has always been fridge hibernated with proper wind down, 14 weeks asleep the previous year. My worry if I dug her up now and put her inside with the others would be if I messed up her internal clock, would she go down again safely this year?
I have had tortoises go down in the garden quite a few times when I least expected it, and I keep iberas who don't go down as easily as horsfields.
If you know where he/she is, I would suggest you cover the area with leaves, sacking or an old carpet. These will protect against the frosts, which are the killers. Once a tortoise goes down a certain distance, the temperatures are stable and don't freeze.
The only thing you cant protect from is wet, if you know your soil has good drainage then it shouldnt be a problem. Tortoises do this in the wild without blinking. We are well and truly over protective (which is not wrong) but we need to let our heads rule not our hearts.
I would not recommend everyone let their tortoises dig down, but if a tortoise has chosen to, they know better than we do.
Mine dig down in my greenhouse soil, and only have a heater to come on if the temps drop to 5c, if the heater broke down, I would just cover the area with the above.
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Old 09-10-2014, 12:52 PM   #6
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I would be worried about rats finding them.
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Old 09-10-2014, 01:32 PM   #7
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I would probably leave mine if i lived elsewhere but as im prone to flooding they have to come up
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Old 09-10-2014, 02:09 PM   #8
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I don't know anything about the climate where Horsfields can be found in the wild but assume that they dig down below the frost line and also where its not likely to flood. In our country we have a lot of rain and the average garden will be water logged and nothing like the natural terrain where these torts are, Sandy's are protected by the gh but unless you have a well drained old fashioned garden with bushes that have been there for years the normal modern garden just wouldn't be suitable. The tort garden at our old house would have been ok, if I wanted to risk it, as the ground under many of the old bushes hadn't been disturbed for years and was always protected by the heavy foliage but I'd have still worried about the length they would have been down for. My old female would have dug down during september given the chance and if she didn't come out untill the following april that would have been around 7 months not something I'd have wanted to risk.
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Old 09-10-2014, 04:36 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pussygalore View Post
I don't know anything about the climate where Horsfields can be found in the wild but assume that they dig down below the frost line and also where its not likely to flood. In our country we have a lot of rain and the average garden will be water logged and nothing like the natural terrain where these torts are, Sandy's are protected by the gh but unless you have a well drained old fashioned garden with bushes that have been there for years the normal modern garden just wouldn't be suitable. The tort garden at our old house would have been ok, if I wanted to risk it, as the ground under many of the old bushes hadn't been disturbed for years and was always protected by the heavy foliage but I'd have still worried about the length they would have been down for. My old female would have dug down during september given the chance and if she didn't come out untill the following april that would have been around 7 months not something I'd have wanted to risk.
A greenhouse is good a protection as old carpets or sacking.
I have done both.
And have hibernated in the GH straight into garden soil (GH on a footing of bricks and normal garden soil) for the last 15yrs with no problems. And a couple of mine have been down for four months (not every year) I know they know best:0)
The biggest risk is the water table and how high it is in your area.
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Old 12-10-2014, 02:53 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Maddy View Post
She's 6 and has always been fridge hibernated with proper wind down, 14 weeks asleep the previous year. My worry if I dug her up now and put her inside with the others would be if I messed up her internal clock, would she go down again safely this year?
I would guess that if she's kept cold enough and transferred to the fridge then she will not be disturbed, that way you can give her a quick check over. if it was mine I would dig them up and bring them in to transfer into the fridge. I wouldn't be happy to leave them outside all winter, but again that's just my choice, as I can monitor them throughout x
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