# Worried about Desert Tortoise not hibernating yet



## JohnnyB65

I’ve had my tortoise for 8 or 9 years now and he has never been out so long in the season. He’s always in at the beginning of October and it’s pretty close to November now. The mornings have been in the mid 40’s F and warms up to around 80 in the afternoon but he’s still coming out in the afternoon although only long enough to warmup in the sun before going back in.

The thing that’s really bothering me is that he’s not eating at all unless he’s eating bugs inside his burrow. I don’t know that they do, but I saw a YouTube video of one eating a mouse and I’m not sure if it was actually a desert tortoise that I saw.

I really don’t want to bring him in for the winter because he’s too big and I don’t know what to do.


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## Yvonne G

It will be fine. They know what to do and when to stop eating.


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## JohnnyB65

Thanks Yvonne


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## Arnold_rules

Yvonne is correct, they definitely know when they need to go underground for their long winter slumber. Mine, granted I am in sunny AZ, has not even stopped his normal foraging. He is still eating really healthy. He is actually coming out more, taking advantage of the cooler weather, compared to our summer.

As far as eatting bugs and mice, then video you probably saw was some type of box turtle. Box turtles, and other water turtles eat protein. True tortoises are herbivores.


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## kathyth

I agree with the others. He will be fine.


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## JohnnyB65

Thanks everybody and I kind of knew that but he hasn't really eaten anything for two weeks and I hope he will have enough nutrition to last through the winter. My wife said he has nibbled on some rose petals, but she said it wasn't like eating and more like tasting.


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## ascott

Have two men folk down here and two still up...the two still up are not receiving any supplemental food from me--tomorrow we will drop into the 30's so they will likely be coming in around night fall when it is cold....then all will go from there....I would not worry about the no eating, that is part of their process....just keep water out in the event he wants to flush and he will continue to do what he finds necessary to do....


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## JohnnyB65

I happened to be home today and caught him out for a stroll so I brushed him up a little to give him a good look over and he looks healthy to me or at least as he has for years.


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## bouaboua

Sure is a Nice looking fellow...


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## Arnold_rules

JohnnyB65 said:


> I happened to be home today and caught him out for a stroll so I brushed him up a little to give him a good look over and he looks healthy to me or at least as he has for years.


 He definitely looks good and healthy to me with nice chubby front legs.


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## Ida

Thank you for bringing up this topic, nice-looking tortoise. I'm in Phoenix too mine is still out and about will see after today it was 40 this morning.


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## JohnnyB65

I’ve been in San Diego over the weekend and it rained here dropping the temps. I don’t know what the low was but it’s been pretty cold since we got home.

I don’t know if he came out at all this weekend with the rain, but I was checking my security cameras through the cell phone and I never saw him, but I would have really been surprised if he came out. I’ll be home all day today and will keep my eye open him. I really hope he goes into hibernation soon so I don’t have to worry about it.

The one thing that I forgot to include when I built his new burrow this year was an infrared camera and a remote temperature probe inside his burrow. Oh well maybe I can add it after he is out for the winter without waking him.


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## JohnnyB65

Well it’s Nov 3 and he’s still out catching some rays with temp around 64F in the sun. I don’t have food out for him, but I guess he can eat grass if he wants. This is just so weird for him and I don’t know what to think. I wonder if it’s an age thing or maybe a temperature thing. His new burrow is a lot deeper than before and it might not be cold enough inside.


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## dmmj

way to warm for him to think about bruminating. gonna get warmer this week, whats a tortoise to do?
he should know when it is time to take a nap.


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## Grandpa Turtle 144

Please don't forget torts don't have to hibernate it don't do anything good or bad for the tort . But it can be done wrong and can hurt the tort . But I do hibernate mine . Have a great tort day .


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## Ciri

I would be concerned too. It's not his normal behavior, and that's one of the hallmarks of a sick tortoise. It's possible he's well, but as time marches on, if he is sick and not treated he could die in hibernation. If he does need treatment, earlier intervention often means easier, less expensive treatments. If it were me I'd be taking him to a reptile specialist veterinarian to make sure he's okay.

If you need to find a veterinarian I don't know if this might be helpful – it's the veterinarian info on the San Diego turtle and tortoise Society website:

http://www.sdturtle.org/public_documents/sdtts_goodandbadgardenplants.pdf#!local-vets/c377

For info on foods for desert tortoises:

http://www.desertmuseum.org/programs/tap_tortcare.php

 [url]http://www.azgfd.gov/w_c/tortoise/documents/NativePlantsforDesertTortoises_2008.pdf[/URL]


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## Grandpa Turtle 144

If the tort is sick hibernation this year should be out of the question ! Wait til next year . But you do what you think is best good luck


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## Ida

My girl is out right now sunning her self. Ours look a lot alike.


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## JohnnyB65

I'm pretty sure he’s not sick, because he’s moving around and looks good. If anything it must because he doesn't like his new burrow that I built late in the fall although I have heard him inside digging against the plastic walls so I know he's working at it.

It was 39F this morning when I went to work and my wife said he has not been out all day.

Wow Ida your girl looks like she could be my tortoises sister.


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## Ida

Good to hear.....not sick. That's a good sign eating and moving around, and even working in her inclosure. Hopefully all okay.


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## Kenno

This thread is very helpful! 
Two of my three desert torts are still stomping around. The old guy went down two weeks ago - he's the smart one! One was very lethargic, but Southern California warmed to 88 degrees and he started eating grass again. The teenager is also lethargic but has stopped eating and pooping. I'll continue to put them in shallow water every other day and I won 't panic for at least another week ...


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## Kenno

Hmm, two of three of my desert torts are still up. Now they're eating grass again! Yesterday my climber mustered enough energy to get up the two steps to our back patio and knock over more potted plants. He likes the mess and spreads out the dirt and top rock to make his own 'substrate' to sleep on! It only takes a minute to clean it up so I let him get away with it!


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## JohnnyB65

Mine is still out too. It warmed up quite a bit this week and although he’s not as active as he was in the summer, he is slowly moveing around to where the sun is. I tried to give some supplemental food yesterday, but he wasn’t interested and the dang beagle ate it. I don’t know if he is eating at all but he does have access to the lawn so he will have to make that choice.

My pond waterfall started leaking last week nearby his burrow entrance while we were gone and there is plenty of new vegetation popping up around it. He could be munching on it, but I kind of doubt it.

My wife reminded me that we had this problem the second year we got him.

The first year He was small enough that I was able to keep him in a large Rubbermaid storage container inside.







The second year I kept building him burrows all around the yard but he wouldn’t accept any of them until I noticed that he loved to squeeze into a small wastebasket. So I buried the wastebasket under my above-ground pond with a concrete block wall entrance and he loved it. Plus the pond above him kept it from freezing.






I had to build him a larger one after the third year because he got stuck inside after the winter and I had to chisel his way out.


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## majxmom

I'm in Northern California and have had very similar weather to yours for the last week, nights in the 40s with daytime temps up yo 80 for a short time in the late afternoon. I've had some anxiety about Barstow's brumation schedule this year since he is in a new place for the first time in 30 years. He has always fairly self-feeding before but in his new habitat he must rely on me to bring him food until I can plant for next spring. I never knew before this year that they stop eating before brumating, and we've had him for 50 years! So I have been obsessing about his eating and basking since Oct 1st. You might be glad to know Barstow is behaving exactly as your tortoise is: Just started eating less maybe since Nov 1, comes out late in the afternoon only for a short while and is pretty inert, barely interested in things that usually thrill him. After reading your thread, I'm convinced this is just pre-brumation behavior. I will bet that both our tortoises will go into hibernation within a few days of each other.


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## JohnnyB65

I guess it’s just a weather thing. My job takes me out into remote parts of the desert where I almost always see tortoises in the wild so I’ve been watching for any activity without seeing anything.

I know where there are a couple of wild burrows and took a little walk out a couple of days ago to see if could spot any tortoises, but still nothing. I’m usually on the job so I can’t spend much time looking and it is possible that they just got by me.

The wild tortoises are out and about very early compared to mine by 3 to 5 hours earlier in the summer and I don’t know what time they come out when it’s cold in the mornings.


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## Kenno

Wow, 50 years! I'd enjoy seeing any pictures of Barstow. 
The old ones have amazing eyes! Duncan is about 65, and he took the first cool weather as an opportunity to start brumation back on 10/24. The warm days didn't disturb his rest.
The previous caretaker of these three told me, "Duncan really understands how to be a tortoise - he knows how to take care of himself." I thought that was a strange thing to say, but now it is making more sense!


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## dmmj

I seriously doubt it is sick, it is to warm in CA for them to think about nap time.


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## ascott

Two of the men here went down on their own---without much of an obvious weather trigger....the other two came in about a week ago when out temps dropped and the night temps dropped as well....the two inside are resting and the two that went down on their own are still no where to be seen--even with the warm temps the last few days...but we are going to drop in temps again in a day or two...there are so so so many reasons that this part of their life cycle takes place, there is just no way yet proven that it is solely weather triggers....very cool.

I also would not think your tort to be ill just because it is lingering at present...


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## Kenno

I took down the little fence guarding the back porch, thinking that Alex and Hercules were acting too lethargic to climb the stairs ...


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## Ciri

LOL! "What makes these silly humans think that plants need to grow upright? With soil in their pots?" Well, you did name one Hercules – maybe he's just trying to live up to his name.


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## JohnnyB65

That’s really funny, LOL. 

I have to say that I love some of the names I’ve seen here and I wish I would have put more thought into naming my tortoise instead of letting the kids pick it. I can’t remember what his original owners called him, but then they thought he was a she.


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## Kenno

Duncan, Hercules, and Alex came to me with these names. My wife said we could change the names, but I didn't want to confuse them!


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## Ciri

You're right – it could confuse them to change their names. I changed my desert tortoise's name because the one he came with was just way too long. But I noticed that even a couple of years later he still responded to the old name. But he did make the adjustment all right to his new name. He didn't protest – as long as I gave him prickly pear fruit he would be fine! Otherwise I'm in big trouble!


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## Kenno

Ciri, i was just kidding about the name change. I liked their names just fine, and the previous caretakers like to visit them. 
Hercules was clearly named correctly! He loves to move heavy things, like lawn chairs and really big pots.


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## Kenno

Hercules at noon today. It won't be long before he calls it a year and goes down!


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## Kenno

I'll deal with his underbite next year.


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## JohnnyB65

Wow! He's big. I can't wait till mine is that big, but I may not be around by then. I've been trying to get him to grow faster with supplements and as much of other stuff that he'll eat, but I may try some of the other things that I've seen here to feed him next year. He just has never had a big appetite.


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## Kenno

Johnny, he's about twelve inches long. He is the smallest of the three, but not by much. I believe he's less than 20 years old, based on the previous caregiver's estimate.
He's on the porch today because we had tree trimmers working:


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## JohnnyB65

Kenno said:


> View attachment 104515
> Johnny, he's about twelve inches long. He is the smallest of the three, but not by much. I believe he's less than 20 years old, based on the previous caregiver's estimate.
> He's on the porch today because we had tree trimmers working:


Oh he looks so much bigger. I haven't measured mine recently, but here is a photo from April of this year. I tried to weigh him so I can compare him when he comes out next spring, but I can't get a weight from my bath room scale.






He was out for a little while today and perhaps maybe if I can figure out how I might be able to get a weight tomorrow.


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## Kenno

Hercules was very active this morning, gobbling grass. I guess he'll be up for at least another week or two!


He also took a deep drink from a water dish.


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## JohnnyB65

Mine has not come out yet, but it’s a little cloudy today plus we don’t get much sun in the yard at this time of year. My house blocks almost the whole yard from sun except for a couple of spots in the afternoon and my tortoise knows exactly when and where. LOL


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## ascott

> I've been trying to get him to grow faster



LOL...they are meant to live the slow and steady my friend...slow and steady....


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## JohnnyB65

ascott said:


> LOL...they are meant to live the slow and steady my friend...slow and steady....


LOL well when you put it that way it does sound a little silly. I have to say my tortoise has never chowed down like other tortoises I’ve seen here eat or at least from what I’ve read here and I’ve always felt that he doesn’t eat enough. And then when I see how big others are compared to mine, then I’m almost sure of it.

Every year I try giving him a lot of extra food during the summer so I don’t have to worry about him through the winter, but it is either eaten by other creatures like birds or my dang beagle although I never knew that lawn grass was good for him and he may be eating that.

Right now he has not eaten anything for a month that I know of and I’ve tried everything from pumpkin to apples and an assortment of vegetables. So if he does start hibernation (I only heard of "brumation" for the first time this month and don’t know how it used so I’m sticking to hibernation), that means he will have not eaten for a month awake and 3 to 4 months asleep.

Is that a problem?

Anyway yesterday he walked to the far north end of the yard to where the sun was and immediately turned around to go back in so maybe that a sign that’s he’s ready, I don’t know.


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## Kenno

Alex might be ready here's what he did yesterday:


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## Kenno

This morning:





The bale of hay was going to be spread to keep weeds down. 
Alex has found a better use for it!


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## JohnnyB65

WOW Kenno, that photo with the bale of hay and Alex is really interesting. It kind of reminds me of when mine was little and used to dig under my outside work bench.
Actually that bale of hay give me an idea. I haven't had time before the cold started setting in to plant any ground cover over the top of the new burrow and I think the bale of hay would be perfect. I think I'm going out to buy some. Thanks!


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## Kenno




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## JohnnyB65

Well its only 7pm and already 47°F plus there is an "Active Weather Advisory: Hard Freeze Warning, Hard Freeze Watch Active Notice: Public Information Statement".

It was cold all day with strong winds and I never saw him so I’m thinking of going out to throw and old coat over the entrance just to be safe. I usually cover his entrance with dirt and he just digs his way out in the spring, but this year I don’t have any dirt. I’m going to have to go out in the desert and get a bucket of dirt tomorrow. I wanted to buy a bale of hay today and got busy doing other things and never left the house.


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## Kenno

JohnnyB65 said:


> Well its only 7pm and already 47°F plus there is an "Active Weather Advisory: Hard Freeze Warning, Hard Freeze Watch Active Notice: Public Information Statement".
> 
> It was cold all day with strong winds and I never saw him so I’m thinking of going out to throw and old coat over the entrance just to be safe. I usually cover his entrance with dirt and he just digs his way out in the spring, but this year I don’t have any dirt. I’m going to have to go out in the desert and get a bucket of dirt tomorrow. I wanted to buy a bale of hay today and got busy doing other things and never left the house.



Johnny,

Is he in that burrow under your pond?


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## JohnnyB65

No, he got too big for that. I built him a new place and blocked the old entrance.
I don't have any photos of the new burrow completed, but this is it during construction.


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## Kenno

That looks great! A joint human-reptilian engineering project! 
My guy Alex was down for about four days in an enclosure kind of like a dog house half buried, but he backed out, then tried it one more time before abandoning it. I had heard he brumated in there in past years. I'm going to let him keep digging under the hay bale, but is likely to fall in on him if he digs much more.


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## JohnnyB65

I see photos of tortoises living in boxes and dog houses, but it gets too cold here in the winter at night and gets down to 12 to 15°F at times, but usually warms up to the 40s in the afternoon unless we get snow. My pond has frozen over many times and I even have a photo someplace of my dog standing on the ice barking at the fish below when she was a pup. I have neighbors that also have tortoises and although I’ve never seen their habits, I doubt that they have gone as far as I have to keep them from freezing.

Someday I would like to move out of CA and will have to find a new home for my tortoise. If and when that ever happens, I expect I will have to build a burrow or move mine to its new home.


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## ascott

JohnnyB65 said:


> LOL well when you put it that way it does sound a little silly. I have to say my tortoise has never chowed down like other tortoises I’ve seen here eat or at least from what I’ve read here and I’ve always felt that he doesn’t eat enough. And then when I see how big others are compared to mine, then I’m almost sure of it.
> 
> Every year I try giving him a lot of extra food during the summer so I don’t have to worry about him through the winter, but it is either eaten by other creatures like birds or my dang beagle although I never knew that lawn grass was good for him and he may be eating that.
> 
> Right now he has not eaten anything for a month that I know of and I’ve tried everything from pumpkin to apples and an assortment of vegetables. So if he does start hibernation (I only heard of "brumation" for the first time this month and don’t know how it used so I’m sticking to hibernation), that means he will have not eaten for a month awake and 3 to 4 months asleep.
> 
> Is that a problem?
> 
> Anyway yesterday he walked to the far north end of the yard to where the sun was and immediately turned around to go back in so maybe that a sign that’s he’s ready, I don’t know.




Nope...not a problem....the tortoise does what it is designed to do....empty the gut and load up on water for their beauty rest.....all good stuff...


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## Kenno

Alex has dug under this hay bale, and hasn 't knocked down the Q tips so he is probably down. 



Hercules was eating grass again today, ripping it out by the roots! Old Duncan has been down for 4 weeks.


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## JohnnyB65

Well I'm pretty sure mine is finally down because the mornings have been from 26 to 29F all this week. I've been trying to get to get things done outside and its been a little too cold for me in the afternoons. 
Friday was the last anybody has seen him and there is talk of rain tomorrow, but if he shows up outside again this weekend. I might have to move him in to the garage.


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## puffy137

Its now 25*c here in the Middle East, days are cool , & the paddock for my Greeks gets some sun around 11 am.All the babies are awake & active feeding well, & so are the adult males although I noticed they do miss a day of food every so often . I usually find a group of them sunning themselves each morning when I go to feed them. We might get a day or two each year of cold hovering around freezing ,but nothing like the stuff you in America are getting this year.
BTW , I could not find the word Brumate in the Oxford English Dictionary either. Brum is the nick name for Birmingham in UK. People from there are known as ' Brummies ' . Couldn't get my head around Brumating either, so I'm only being pretentious when I use the word brumation .


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## Kenno

Darn. All three are out again today. Old Duncan (about 65 years) was down from October 24th to December 2nd, Alex was down in his straw burrow for a week but I brought him up and put him into his usual winter hibernatorium, a kind of a doghouse sized plywood house, and young Hercules never did start to hibernate. I was going to put him in with Duncan for the winter. 
We're having light rain and they are all wandering in the yard but not eating. The temperature has been in the sixties and down to mid fifties at night. I really hope they will go down again because i want to take a 3 week trip in January. 
I'd appreciate any advice. Is it normal for DT's come out for a while? Do you think the rain woke Duncan? Nothing else is different.


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## Ciri

do you soak regularly them during hibernation? If so, how often? Maybe they got up for water.


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## JohnnyB65

Wow Kenno, I sure hope mine don’t come back out again. I haven’t seen him since I last posted and we have had quite a few mornings with below freezing temps. We had our first real rain here this week in a very long time long time and even thought it feels cold and damp, the lows have only been down to 50F.

I know rain water has gone down his borrow entrance, but I don’t believe it was enough to cause trouble because I have a hole filled with rocks at the bottom of the tunnel to prevent flooding. I also have enough dirt in the bottom of the borrow itself that it would have to be a really lot water to flood.

I have a concrete block in front of the entrance to keep raccoons out so my tortoise would not be able to come out anyway, but now I shudder to think he might be scratching to get out.


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## Kenno

Ciri said:


> do you soak regularly them during hibernation? If so, how often? Maybe they got up for water.



I'm hoping Duncan just got up for a drink. No, I don't wake them to soak but I have been soaking the one that hasn't hibernated yet. This morning he was drinking from his dish, which was filled with rain water. They all prefer to drink from puddles if they have the option. Plenty of puddles now!


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## Ciri

Kenno said:


> I'm hoping Duncan just got up for a drink. No, I don't wake them to soak but I have been soaking the one that hasn't hibernated yet. This morning he was drinking from his dish, which was filled with rain water. They all prefer to drink from puddles if they have the option. Plenty of puddles now!


Puddles I'm sure must be more tasty! Mine always like puddles better than water dishes also. 

My reptile vet has always told me to soak desert tortoises once a month, even ones hibernated outside in burrows. The two who were hibernating may have just gotten up for water. Research has shown that desert tortoises in the wild get up in the winter to drink water and then go back and hibernation. In the wild it's usually once or twice during winter, but their burrows are very deep – as much as 20 feet so they hold in the humidity better than anything we can build for them. 

Hercules is still up, though. Has he been eating? It is pretty late to still be awake.


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## Kenno

Ciri, thank you for this information! 

I'll make sure the old one has had a drink, then I'll try to put him back to bed. 
Young Hercules has finally stopped eating (I think) and has probably cleared his gut. He can stay dry in the greenhouse, with the door open. Unfortunately that one always pees in his sleep after he has taken a big drink! I'll have to hose out the greenhouse. 

That middle shellchild, Alex, has returned to the burrow he dug and I've tipped up a sheet of plywood as a shelter half to keep him dry. 
Our rain is very light and about 60 degrees. I'll watch them closely for respiratory symptoms but they all seem healthy so far. I wish they would stay out of the rain!


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## puffy137

Hmm I know its a hanging offence, but my tortoises have never been soaked, never even had standing water available. I read they would get all the moisture they need from their food. The ground (substrate ) sniff sniff was watered for the plants that were growing in their enclosure. Thats all. Looking back over the years I remember going on holidays during the summer for 3 months & they were left in the 'tender care' or rather at the mercy of members of staff who were house sitting. Since 1993 only one unexplained death. & one accident when workmen left the enclosure open & one fell & was killed. From a beginning with 4 hatchlings now there are 25. So something must be going right. 
As far as hibernation; the babies are not going to sleep. they never do. The males are mostly out & about every morning. The females turn up every few days. Its 19*c so fairly cool here.
I'm often reminded of the fact that sailors liked to load up their ships with giant tortoises so that they could have fresh meat during their long voyages, & that the tortoises didn't need to be fed


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## Kenno

Puff, we had tortoises in this same yard in the 1960's and we didn't soak or water them either. They slept every night in the same burrow and they stayed in there all winter. A field biologist was our local expert and he recommended letting them eat grass with occasional lettuce and watermelon treats. 
They were re- homed by my parents when I moved to Boston.


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## puffy137

Kenno said:


> Puff, we had tortoises in this same yard in the 1960's and we didn't soak or water them either. They slept every night in the same burrow and they stayed in there all winter. A field biologist was our local expert and he recommended letting them eat grass with occasional lettuce and watermelon treats.
> They were re- homed by my parents when I moved to Boston.


Exactly , well said. These creatures must think we are darned fools making such a fuss, they have survived for millions of years without us, I only hope they can survive our 'care'


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## Kenno

Ciri said:


> The two who were hibernating may have just gotten up for water. Research has shown that desert tortoises in the wild get up in the winter to drink water and then go back and hibernation. In the wild it's usually once or twice during winter ...
> 
> Hercules is still up, though. Has he been eating? It is pretty late to still be awake.



This seems to be exactly what happened. Old Duncan must have heard or sensed the rain. He got his drink, left four tiny pellets, and picked a new place to sleep. 

Young Hercules is a different story. He sleeps in the burrow that Alex dug but he comes out during the day to eat grass. He's moving at about a quarter of his normal speed, travels only a few feet, and naps in the sun all day.


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## Arnold_rules

Kenno said:


> This seems to be exactly what happened. Old Duncan must have heard or sensed the rain. He got his drink, left four tiny pellets, and picked a new place to sleep.
> 
> Young Hercules is a different story. He sleeps in the burrow that Alex dug but he comes out during the day to eat grass. He's moving at about a quarter of his normal speed, travels only a few feet, and naps in the sun all day.
> View attachment 108490


 Darn it. Didn't these guys read their instruction manual? They are supposed to be sleeping. Mine has been up and about right up until about one week ago. Sunning, eating and generally having fun.


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## Kenno

December 17th! 

Yesterday I learned that the former keeper said Hercules wouldn't hibernate, so he used to close him up in a brumation box in the yard. 

That's not going to happen this year! It's 63 degrees and sunny here, so I'm letting him do whatever he wants.


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## Kenno

Update: Hercules isn't hibernating, but he sleeps in his burrow for about 22 hours a day. His two companions are deep in hibernation. He comes out and suns, eats a little grass, and sometimes drinks water. I find very small poop pellets pretty far from his burrow, so he must be walking around. We had a cold snap last week with two nights that fell into the high 30's, and he didn't come out. I thought he was finally down! Hey, it's 83 degrees here today, so if he wants to enjoy it, I guess that's fine. 

My wife is feeling cheated because she expected a long period with no tortoise activity this winter!


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## Ciri

I know that if I were in your situation with Hercules, my reptile veterinarian would tell me to bring him in for a checkup. A good reptile vet might be able to get to the bottom of what's causing this problem. In any case, my vet has always told me to either let them hibernate, or keep them awake, warm, and eating. I know there's normally a transition time, and you've given him plenty of opportunity to hibernate, but that doesn't look like it's going to happen. The problem with allowing him to eat when the temperatures are much cooler than the 80s, is that the food can end up rotting in his gut. And since something's going on to prevent him from hibernating, it would be best to bring him indoors. (And sorry to your wife – I know she wanted down time from the tortoises.) I would suggest keeping him indoors at night, and during the day when the temperature is below 75°F to 78°F. 

I hope things can get sorted out with Hercules. I've had a challenge here myself, with a desert box turtle who hibernates for several days, and then is up for no apparent reason. He's only up for a short time, and doesn't eat, then goes back in hibernation. I see the evidence in his water dish. It's been hard to figure out what has gotten him up.


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## Kenno

Ciri said:


> I know that if I were in your situation with Hercules, my reptile veterinarian would tell me to bring him in for a checkup. A good reptile vet might be able to get to the bottom of what's causing this problem. In any case, my vet has always told me to either let them hibernate, or keep them awake, warm, and eating. I know there's normally a transition time, and you've given him plenty of opportunity to hibernate, but that doesn't look like it's going to happen. The problem with allowing him to eat when the temperatures are much cooler than the 80s, is that the food can end up rotting in his gut. And since something's going on to prevent him from hibernating, it would be best to bring him indoors. (And sorry to your wife – I know she wanted down time from the tortoises.) I would suggest keeping him indoors at night, and during the day when the temperature is below 75°F to 78°F.
> 
> I hope things can get sorted out with Hercules. I've had a challenge here myself, with a desert box turtle who hibernates for several days, and then is up for no apparent reason. He's only up for a short time, and doesn't eat, then goes back in hibernation. I see the evidence in his water dish. It's been hard to figure out what has gotten him up.



Thanks, Ciri. 

To clarify, he's eating grass, pooping, drinking plenty of water, sunning, and looking good. I see that he has been "hunting" for dandelion flowers with good success. The weather forecast here is for warm sunny days for the next week. Now I've learned that this is his normal pattern and he has never been a good hibernator, as opposed to old Duncan who is going into his third month. 

I agree that he won't go into hibernation at this point, but I think I'll maintain watchful waiting at this point. He just seems too healthy to need a vet! 

I was an Emergency Room nurse for years, and I'd seek attention immediately if he needed it. 

Best wishes with your desert box turtle!


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