# Do sulcatas hibernate or not?



## Donnette Keys (Mar 29, 2016)

I have read a few articles on hibernation. I have read at leaat two that contradict on hibernation of African Sulcatas? Do they or not?


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## Taylor T. (Mar 29, 2016)

They do not hibernate, but do experience a winter slow down.


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## dmmj (Mar 29, 2016)

the three African species do not hibernate sulcata, leopard and pancake.


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## Kapidolo Farms (Mar 29, 2016)

This is sorta a tricky question. The term *hibernate* must be strictly defined to answer your question. They do not, if we use Russians and Cal Desert tortoises as examples of species, hibernate over much if not all of their range. 

In the wild sulcatas use a self constructed burrow to mediate season temperature and humidity extremes that are not optimal for being out and about, but they do not hibernate in the sense of changing their base metabolism for months at a time. Sulcata's range is between the equator and the Tropic of Cancer, so they are indeed "tropical tortoises". 

In captivity they do seem to have the sense to be in a warm hide, walk out into snow, eat and return to the warm hide before they loose enough warmth to be able to function and get back to the hide. I wouldn't count on that unsupervised, but they can do it.


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## Tom (Mar 29, 2016)

According to my African friend Tomas Diagne, founder of the African Chelonian Institute, there are but two seasons in the parts of Africa where sulcatas occur. "Hot and hotter".

No. They do not hibernate. Some of them are able to survive unnaturally low temps in foreign countries, but many of them die because people think they can "hibernate" when they can't. I personally know many people who killed their tortoises because they didn't think they needed to be kept warm in our North American winter.


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## turdle yerdle (Mar 29, 2016)

They don't hibernate period. Correct me if I'm wrong but only Mediterranean species (testudo) hibernate.


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## Tom (Mar 29, 2016)

turdle yerdle said:


> They don't hibernate period. Correct me if I'm wrong but only Mediterranean species (testudo) hibernate.



Gopherus species too. And some South African species.


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