# One of the men folk up today....how about at your place?



## ascott (Mar 30, 2016)

Well, today was the day the first man down was the first man up....at about the end of Sept to first week of Oct 2015 Haus snuck down into his natural dug burrow before I could get him and box him up for winter....this is the second year in a row that he has done this....and today I was out doing stuff in the yard next to his, I look over and see he is looking over at me....so I think, "nice, he made it through", morbid I know, but I really don't like when they do their own thing in their hole during winter...too many variables can happen...but, hey, this is not his first go round....

I go and squat next to him and peel away the curtain of black widow webs from his face, eyes, legs and shell, which is the normal when they sleep out in their own hole and are not going in and out for 4 or 5 months....he looked up with his groggy just waking up eyes....I slowly lift him to get a feel for how he feels, SOLID, good, his weight is just like the last time I had him in my hands....I lifted him up, his face to my ear and he is smooth breathing....I lift him up a bit more to look him over and see the normal packed mud in the concave part of his plastron and a little on the sides of his shell....so I set him down again...go and clean out his soaking dish...fill it up...fetch groggy tort...place into the soaking dish, slowly, give tortoise a moment to realize what he is in...and gently drizzle water on the back of the shell and slowly drip onto top of head...and yep, in the head goes....let drinking commence for the next 10 minutes....charged up and slowly climbs out of dish ....I pull away all mud clogs from all spots on tort...place him back down in the sun....drop a few dandelions in front of tortoise....dandies disappear...tortoise disappears, strolling off into the sun filled yard....sun, food, exercise...ahh spring....

So, I pulled the other three men folk out of their cool dark closet and will let them gradually acclimate to room temp and light and will get them out to the rest of their wake up process tomorrow morning....

How about anyone else?


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## bryson white (Mar 30, 2016)

My tortoise is doing the same thing.


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## Razan (Mar 30, 2016)

Our CDT has been up and at em since about March 5th. He went down mid October. I covered over his burrow area with a brown tarp to prevent rain from soaking in. His entrance was always available if he wanted out. He backfilled the entrance with dirt himself. In early March I had seen someone in Santa Clarita say their tort was out and I remembered our CDT came out last year very early March. I opened his backfilled entrance. He was sleepy looking and barely opened his eyes at me. It was just exciting to see him alive and doing ok. He came out the next day.





The humming bird babies were leaving their nest this day too.


Yes, this is the baby. You can see the beak is still very short.


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## ascott (Mar 30, 2016)

Razan said:


> Our CDT has been up and at em since about March 5th. He went down mid October. I covered over his burrow area with a brown tarp to prevent rain from soaking in. His entrance was always available if he wanted out. He backfilled the entrance with dirt himself. In early March I had seen someone in Santa Clarita say their tort was out and I remembered our CDT came out last year very early March. I opened his backfilled entrance. He was sleepy looking and barely opened his eyes at me. It was just exciting to see him alive and doing ok. He came out the next day.
> 
> View attachment 168961
> 
> ...



Beautiful tortoise and lovely little hummingbird.....I do have to inquire...while reading your post something stood out to me...you say "He backfilled the entrance with dirt himself." which made me recall one year one of the other torts here had insisted on brumating outdoors...so for some reason I was compelled to get down on the ground and look into his hide (he had not yet completed the excavation on his own burrow yet)because it looked different, could not see in the entrance, when I did that I found it full, packed in with dirt, backfilled....at that time we had a huge amount of gophers on the property...I mean so many that when ever I would plant anything it would literally be pulled into the ground by the gopher, I know because one day I watched it happen....so when I noticed the solid backfill, I immediately grabbed the hand shovel and began to dig out the backfill....located the tortoise who had been displaced in the hide and was literally buried, when I pulled him out I moved the dirt around a bit and discovered that the backfill was done by the gophers as they popped up into his hide and moved on....do you see where it was the tortoise that backfilled? because this species does not back fill...they dig down a pathway into a turn about at the end and do not go back and fill themselves in....they don't close off their way in and out....so I just thought I would share that with you....just sharing and not saying your tort did not backfill, I just would find it out of character for the species you have to do so....


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## Yvonne G (Mar 31, 2016)

All of mine have been up for about 3 weeks. They're just starting to eat now.


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## ascott (Mar 31, 2016)

Yvonne G said:


> All of mine have been up for about 3 weeks. They're just starting to eat now.



What are have your average night temps been Yvonne? Like for the last couple of weeks?


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## Yvonne G (Mar 31, 2016)

It still hasn't made it up into the 50's. Average around 45F, sometimes cooler, sometimes warmer. I have a couple of desert tortoises that I've had to keep up over the winter and I'm watching the night time temps to know when I can put them back outside with the others.


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## Kenno (Mar 31, 2016)

Two of my three are up and eating, but they are still sluggish. I checked number three's rear foot reflex a week ago and he's fine. I should be glad he's still down, he's the climber and troublemaker!


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## dmmj (Mar 31, 2016)

I'm always........ nevermind


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## ascott (Mar 31, 2016)

Yvonne G said:


> It still hasn't made it up into the 50's. Average around 45F, sometimes cooler, sometimes warmer. I have a couple of desert tortoises that I've had to keep up over the winter and I'm watching the night time temps to know when I can put them back outside with the others.



Was the same prob here. The guy outside in his own burrow is completely acclimated to the outdoor temps...the three men folk that were inside were use to a bid more constant and a bit more on the higher end....so tonight was the first of a series of nights that the temps are in the low to mid 40's....and will continue to move up a bit...so that was why I voted out with them....I mean, they have been down for just about 5 months...so I had to weigh the pros and cons....three of them have natural dug burrows and the other guy has a good above ground house that is covered in a good amount of earth and then topped with pavers....so?? 

Are the ones you kept up the adults you had previously kept up?


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## ascott (Mar 31, 2016)

Kenno said:


> Two of my three are up and eating, but they are still sluggish. I checked number three's rear foot reflex a week ago and he's fine. I should be glad he's still down, he's the climber and troublemaker!



Love the troublemakers....such a tenacious bunch...


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## ascott (Mar 31, 2016)

dmmj said:


> I'm always........ nevermind




I agree...." never mind" what fun would it be Captain if you did???


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## Razan (Mar 31, 2016)

ascott said:


> Beautiful tortoise and lovely little hummingbird.....I do have to inquire...while reading your post something stood out to me...you say "He backfilled the entrance with dirt himself." which made me recall one year one of the other torts here had insisted on brumating outdoors...so for some reason I was compelled to get down on the ground and look into his hide (he had not yet completed the excavation on his own burrow yet)because it looked different, could not see in the entrance, when I did that I found it full, packed in with dirt, backfilled....at that time we had a huge amount of gophers on the property...I mean so many that when ever I would plant anything it would literally be pulled into the ground by the gopher, I know because one day I watched it happen....so when I noticed the solid backfill, I immediately grabbed the hand shovel and began to dig out the backfill....located the tortoise who had been displaced in the hide and was literally buried, when I pulled him out I moved the dirt around a bit and discovered that the backfill was done by the gophers as they popped up into his hide and moved on....do you see where it was the tortoise that backfilled? because this species does not back fill...they dig down a pathway into a turn about at the end and do not go back and fill themselves in....they don't close off their way in and out....so I just thought I would share that with you....just sharing and not saying your tort did not backfill, I just would find it out of character for the species you have to do so....




You are correct in accusing the gophers. Even last year you called it right when I posted "Desert tortoise hiding-should I dig him out".




I didn't know his burrow should not look like this. You said we should rescue him so we dug him out.




We, meaning my husband who did all the heavy work. It wasn't easy. Thank you for telling us to get him out that time. 

Gophers can be quite a menace. It is kind of hilarious though to see a plant start to jiggle then just disappear into the ground.


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## N2TORTS (Apr 1, 2016)

"Wake N Bake" ......


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## Kenno (Apr 1, 2016)

Old Duncan prefers runoff water but Hercules will drink from a water dish. Yes, the grass is very green for a drought year.


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## Kenno (Apr 5, 2016)

number three is up now!


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## ascott (Apr 6, 2016)

Kenno said:


> View attachment 169592
> number three is up now!



I absolutely see " Mr. Trouble " written all over that side eye look...fantastic....he is one handsome dude....


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## Kenno (Apr 6, 2016)

It begins ...

he loves that coiled hose!


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## Kenno (Apr 6, 2016)

He gets in and out of the hose loops at will and drags it around the porch.


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## bryson white (Apr 6, 2016)

Kenno said:


> He gets in and out of the hose loops at will and drags it around the porch.
> View attachment 169623


hahah


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## Honuboy (Apr 7, 2016)

ascott said:


> Well, today was the day the first man down was the first man up....at about the end of Sept to first week of Oct 2015 Haus snuck down into his natural dug burrow before I could get him and box him up for winter....this is the second year in a row that he has done this....and today I was out doing stuff in the yard next to his, I look over and see he is looking over at me....so I think, "nice, he made it through", morbid I know, but I really don't like when they do their own thing in their hole during winter...too many variables can happen...but, hey, this is not his first go round....
> 
> I go and squat next to him and peel away the curtain of black widow webs from his face, eyes, legs and shell, which is the normal when they sleep out in their own hole and are not going in and out for 4 or 5 months....he looked up with his groggy just waking up eyes....I slowly lift him to get a feel for how he feels, SOLID, good, his weight is just like the last time I had him in my hands....I lifted him up, his face to my ear and he is smooth breathing....I lift him up a bit more to look him over and see the normal packed mud in the concave part of his plastron and a little on the sides of his shell....so I set him down again...go and clean out his soaking dish...fill it up...fetch groggy tort...place into the soaking dish, slowly, give tortoise a moment to realize what he is in...and gently drizzle water on the back of the shell and slowly drip onto top of head...and yep, in the head goes....let drinking commence for the next 10 minutes....charged up and slowly climbs out of dish ....I pull away all mud clogs from all spots on tort...place him back down in the sun....drop a few dandelions in front of tortoise....dandies disappear...tortoise disappears, strolling off into the sun filled yard....sun, food, exercise...ahh spring....
> 
> ...



Cool post.

Haven't experienced the hibernation thing yet.

Just inherited my tortoise and he is doing his spring routine as well.

Cheers.


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## Kenno (Apr 16, 2016)

Alex managed to climb onto this pot but he had some trouble getting off again. He flailed all of his legs for a few minutes before he could catch an edge with a toenail and get down.


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## Honuboy (Apr 16, 2016)

That's a good looking beast! The situations they get themselves in sometimes is hilarious.


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## ascott (Apr 16, 2016)

Kenno said:


> View attachment 170496
> 
> Alex managed to climb onto this pot but he had some trouble getting off again. He flailed all of his legs for a few minutes before he could catch an edge with a toenail and get down.




That is fricken awesome.....hahahaha....smarty pants....


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