# Russian hibernating issue.



## Jodie (Nov 27, 2016)

We had a cold early fall that put my Russians into early hibernation. Then my fridge for them had malfunctioning issues. I moved them out to the night box, to stabilize temps. When I moved them, I checked on each of them. My largest female, Thelma, had her mouth open. I thought I had lost her. Then she closed it and opened it again. I assumed she was having breathing problems, so woke her up, and set her up inside. She is fine now. No weight loss, no signs of illness, and eating good. Winter has just begun. She slept for 4 weeks. If I feed her for a month, can I then put her back into hibernation until everyone gets up?


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## Yvonne G (Nov 27, 2016)

In my opinion, you should just keep her set up in an indoor habitat until the weather is good enough for her to go back outside. They have to go for 2 or 3 weeks without eating in order to clean out the digestive tract. If you feed her for a month, that would be the end of December, then you'd have to withhold food until either the middle or end of January. That leaves only a month or so to hibernate.


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