# 2 Year old California Desert Tortoise should I wait a year to hibernate?



## [email protected] (Oct 30, 2020)

Hi if someone could direct me in the right direction . I’ve read to wait til they are a year and have read to wait at least until they’re 3 before allowing them to hibernate. I’m concerned because it sounds scary with the food rotting In their belies And dehydration. It’s been in the upper 50s and 60s here and I’m wondering if I should wait year. Harrison is still Actively eating and drinking I feel horrible not feeding him for a few weeks any advice? Appreciate it?


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## Calaveras (Oct 30, 2020)

In SoCal you should have no issues keeping the tort outside all year.
In NorCal my turtles have stopped eating on their own. It may not feel like it yet, but winter will send signals to the tort to stop eating and slow down. I would stop offering any food except Bermuda grass and the like it finds in the yard.
Has it dug a burrow? When I had a desert tortoise it dig a deep burrow each year and it came out ok in the spring.
If you are bringing it indoors at night then it will not get the signs to slow down and that is dangerous.


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## Happytort27 (Oct 30, 2020)

You can hibernate him if you do it correctly. It’s NOT safe to let your tortoise hibernate in his self dug burrow. Scroll down to post #19 where Tom explains the process of hibernating:

https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/looking-for-an-rt-hibernation-mentor.128790/ 

If you have anymore questions, feel free to ask.


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## KarenSoCal (Oct 30, 2020)

Hi!

It sounds to me like you don't want him to brumate (the correct term for what torts do in winter) this year, and that's fine. You can keep him up.

To do that, he needs to be brought inside, preferably into a closed chamber. At 2 years old, he still would benefit from warm humid conditions. 

In his enclosure, he needs daytime ambient temps of 80°-90°. At night, he doesn't need any heat as long as your house stays above about 65°.

His lights need to be bright, and stay on for 14 hours/day. Remember, you are trying to convince him that it's summer, not winter. He still may slow down, not eat as much, but shouldn't go into brumation.


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## Tom (Oct 30, 2020)

[email protected] said:


> Hi if someone could direct me in the right direction . I’ve read to wait til they are a year and have read to wait at least until they’re 3 before allowing them to hibernate. I’m concerned because it sounds scary with the food rotting In their belies And dehydration. It’s been in the upper 50s and 60s here and I’m wondering if I should wait year. Harrison is still Actively eating and drinking I feel horrible not feeding him for a few weeks any advice? Appreciate it?


In addition to what Happytort linked, here is all the current and correct care info for your species, and more mention of hibernation:





The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise


I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...




tortoiseforum.org





When to hibernate is a matter of opinion. Some people like to wait. I don't. If a species hibernates in the wild, I hibernate them their first year and every year. Read that thread for how.

I can tell you that leaving the tortoise outside in the yard in our climate frequently leads to the death of the tortoise. In our yards the burrows are too shallow and the temperatures too variable. Hibernation is safe and easy if you do it right. Disastrous if done wrong.


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## [email protected] (Oct 30, 2020)

KarenSoCal said:


> Hi!
> 
> It sounds to me like you don't want him to brumate (the correct term for what torts do in winter) this year, and that's fine. You can keep him up.
> 
> ...


Oh great I’m a bit intimidated by it. I’m reading the above post and I haven’t kept him outside he’s in the wooded table enclosures I was told he was too young to be outside and to wait til he ages another year or so. His light are on on 14 hours the temp are about 85-90 humid 40-50% nights about 60-70. My plan was to make him a vegetable , grass , etc enclosure off the ground so he gets sunshine and shade until he gets bigger. He is about the size of a salad plate and seems like he’s thriving. Is this a bad environment? I love him and don’t want to lose him so I’d love to hear what could improve his life


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## [email protected] (Oct 30, 2020)

Happytort27 said:


> You can hibernate him if you do it correctly. It’s NOT safe to let your tortoise hibernate in his self dug burrow. Scroll down to post #19 where Tom explains the process of hibernating:
> 
> https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/looking-for-an-rt-hibernation-mentor.128790/
> 
> If you have anymore questions, feel free to ask.


Thank you o appreciate your comment I guess I sway in the side of safety and maybe that’s hurting him as I mentioned below he’s been kept in a wooded table top enclosure and has all the heat and light and water, calcium etc. he has a huge saucer he does into to drink and soak and he’s hoes into the closed area to sleep each night. I was planning on moving him outside
When he’s a bit bigger.


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## [email protected] (Oct 30, 2020)

Tom said:


> In addition to what Happytort linked, here is all the current and correct care info for your species, and more mention of hibernation:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I read your # 19 post with the link below and it’s fantastic very organized and simple to understand. I appreciate that and your advice I believe I’ll keep him up this winter and follow your recommendations for next. Thanks so much appreciate it.


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## KarenSoCal (Oct 31, 2020)

[email protected] said:


> Oh great I’m a bit intimidated by it. I’m reading the above post and I haven’t kept him outside he’s in the wooded table enclosures I was told he was too young to be outside and to wait til he ages another year or so. His light are on on 14 hours the temp are about 85-90 humid 40-50% nights about 60-70. My plan was to make him a vegetable , grass , etc enclosure off the ground so he gets sunshine and shade until he gets bigger. He is about the size of a salad plate and seems like he’s thriving. Is this a bad environment? I love him and don’t want to lose him so I’d love to hear what could improve his life



He should do OK in a tort table. How big is the table? We recommend at least 8ft x 4ft.

85-90° during the day is good. His basking area should be 95-100°. At night if you could keep it slightly warmer it would help. 60-70° is normally great at night, but any lower than 60° is going to encourage brumating, which is what you are trying to avoid. If you can raise it to 65-75 I think it would be better.

He's only 2, so he has a long time to grow. As long as he is growing, you want to prevent pyramiding, and to do that you need humidity. Do you dampen his substrate? If not, you should.

To raise humidity in an open top enclosure is much more difficult than in an enclosed chamber, but there are things you can do to help. Dampening substrate is one. Making his nighttime sleeping area damp is another (don't use sphagnum moss). Put plants in the enclosure...pothos, spider plants, boston fern, and prayer plant all work well. The more the better. You do need to get plants that have not had bug spray or weed killer on them. I bought plants from Lowe's, took a small cutting, and started a new plant in new soil. You want soil that has no additives, especially no perlite or vermiculite. You may be able to just use some dirt from your own backyard.

Have you been using a UVB bulb? If so, what kind? Have you been taking him outside during the summer for sun?

Please read the care sheet that was linked for you in post # 5. All of this is explained in there. Then come back and ask questions. We're happy to explain why we recommend what we do.

Also, please post some pictures of your DT, and his enclosure, lights, "furniture", etc. We might have more suggestions for you.


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## [email protected] (Oct 31, 2020)

KarenSoCal said:


> He should do OK in a tort table. How big is the table? We recommend at least 8ft x 4ft.
> 
> 85-90° during the day is good. His basking area should be 95-100°. At night if you could keep it slightly warmer it would help. 60-70° is normally great at night, but any lower than 60° is going to encourage brumating, which is what you are trying to avoid. If you can raise it to 65-75 I think it would be better.
> 
> ...


Oh perfect I really appreciate all this info I definitely spray day and night for junky’s but I do r ha s
Live plants so I’ll be doing that today. I do use UVB it’s the long ones a s it’s been about a year so I plan on replacing that this month as well. The enclosure is a 6x4 so I’ll have to work on that and yea he gets to go outside but I believe I need to have him go out more I’m on the process of a table top w live edible plants and a net over it. Ok well I have a bit of work to do and I thank you for all The 
tips he is definitely worth it I just love him and I plan on having him for a very very long time. Have a great day and thanks again.


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## Terrykeeper (Nov 1, 2020)

Happytort27 said:


> You can hibernate him if you do it correctly. It’s NOT safe to let your tortoise hibernate in his self dug burrow. Scroll down to post #19 where Tom explains the process of hibernating:
> 
> https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/looking-for-an-rt-hibernation-mentor.128790/
> 
> If you have anymore questions, feel free to ask.


My Mediterranean spur thigh has been asleep in England since October 11th. He’s 70 years old. He stops eating by choice. His enclosure is full of his favourite weeds growing naturally all around him in a 25ft x 12ft area. We always try to get him to drink a lot prior to hibernation. He’s in the fridge now until March.


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## [email protected] (Nov 2, 2020)

Hi thank you ALL for your awesome inputs they’re all very helpful I will send a pic of Harrison I have a few things ha in mind from your tips to implement his life. Thanks so much it’s been a great help !!!!!


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## [email protected] (Nov 2, 2020)

Here’s Harrison outside enjoying the morning ! I’ll have to build him a bigger tabletop enclosure I was told this size would be good for now but from some of the reply’s I have read he needs a bigger one. Any other ideas that will help would be appreciated! Thank you


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