# Hibernation for most Testudo species really necessary?



## Atlas Encyclopedias (Apr 19, 2022)

Hello and greetings from Germany,
this is gonna be my first post on this forum and maybe this has been debated to death already but I'm still curious what the anglo-saxon and english speaking international tortoise community thinks about it.
I'll soon be a first time owner of a marginated tortoise (Testudo marginata) and I really wonder if I absolutely have to hibernate the little guy or girl. 
Every piece of german tortoise info I have read says that all Testudo species except for Testudo kleinmanni need to hibernate or they'll get very sick and die. Is this true? Anyone got long term experience with this?

On the Internet you hear a lot about Testudo tortoises that died during or shortly after hibernation but there seem to be zero cases of tortoises that died because they didn't hibernate.
The only thing you hear about is that their sex drive and fertility goes down if you don't hibernate. So I get that for breeding hibernation seems to be necessary. Well I have no interest in breeding and just wanna keep a single tortoise as a pet so it has no relevance to me.

Are there any owners of a mediterranean Testudo species here that never hibernated theirs and still got a healthy old tortoise? I'm really curious. 
I get that in the wild these species hibernate and we should do our best to replicate their habitat but honestly people keeping tortoises as pets in places where they don't really belong isn't really natural in the first place. So why not just keep them awake all year to make sure no deadly hibernation accidents can ever happen?
Are there any scientific papers or experiments where different Testudo species where kept without hibernation over years?

I didn't even bother opening a thread like this in a german tortoise forum because I'd just get spammed and insulted to death and apparently there are some crazy german tortoise owners that would literally kill you if they found out you didn't hibernate your Testudo tortoise.

Hoping for a few answers!


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## jsheffield (Apr 19, 2022)

I live with a Russian Tortoise whose previous landlord didn't hibernate him for the 20+ years the tort lived with them. I have not hibernated Chili in the 3 years he's lived with me, and he's fine.


Jamie


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## Tom (Apr 19, 2022)

Atlas Encyclopedias said:


> Hello and greetings from Germany,
> this is gonna be my first post on this forum and maybe this has been debated to death already but I'm still curious what the anglo-saxon and english speaking international tortoise community thinks about it.
> I'll soon be a first time owner of a marginated tortoise (Testudo marginata) and I really wonder if I absolutely have to hibernate the little guy or girl.
> Every piece of german tortoise info I have read says that all Testudo species except for Testudo kleinmanni need to hibernate or they'll get very sick and die. Is this true? Anyone got long term experience with this?
> ...


This HAS been debated to death here. We will not kill you or spam you, and we are all here to talk tortoises, so the conversation is welcome.

Here is the short version of the recap:
1. Not brumating them does not kill them, it does not stop reproduction, and they can be healthy and live for decades without ever brumating. We've had several members here over the years that do not brumate and their tortoises are fine. Jamie's example would be another one.
2. It is my opinion that species that brumate in the wild SHOULD also be brumated safely and correctly in our captive enclosures. This does not mean leave them outside under the snow and rain. This preference does not mean that harm will come to them if it isn't done. I've done it both ways with many species over many years, and never had any trouble with any of them.
3. Some tortoises will try to brumate anyway even if conditions and lighting in their indoor enclosures are summer like. They just "know".

I love your way of looking at this issue, and you make some good points and ask some good questions. As another point of discussion, I can remember hearing that marginata doesn't always brumate in some parts of the range, so if anything, you are getting the right species to do this with.

Another point of discussion that you did not ask about, but its relevant given the rigidity of the German tortoise keeping community, is the correct care. There is a lot of old wrong information that has been passed down from generation to generation, and innovators and experimenters are shouted down and shunned in your culture. Not so here on the tortoise forum. Well... many years ago the were some attempts to shout me down, but they failed. They failed and left the forum because I was right and they just could not accept it despite overwhelming irrefutable evidence proving my assertions. In any case, here is the current and correct care info for your review. This care info is likely to be different than what you get over there, and your questions are welcome.

We had another German member here a while back name Sabine. Bee62 was her username if you want to look up old threads of hers. She too sought to not follow the German herd, and in doing so she became an innovator. She was a wonderful human being and was loved by all who knew her here. Sadly, she passed away, but she had the healthiest and best looking sulcatas in all of Germany. She is missed.

Welcome to the forum.


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