# Aestivation



## jaizei (Feb 17, 2012)

Does anyone here aestivate their tortoises? I was wondering about the possible long term benefits.


----------



## ALDABRAMAN (Feb 17, 2012)




----------



## wellington (Feb 17, 2012)

What would the benefits/purpose be? Most or all of us have times of cold winter weather that the torts hibernate or slow down during. We all have the artificial means of making them cooler or hotter as the weather dictates. I would think the winter slow down, a summer aestivation would be unnecessary and maybe harmful. Thats just my opinion. Mainly, I wouldn't do it because I can't have mine outside during the winter months, so I wouldn't want him to miss a second of being outside in the good old sunshine. BTW I had to look up the meaning. First found the definition to be flower arranging


----------



## Yvonne G (Feb 17, 2012)

Estivation is what tortoises do during the hot summer months. I don't think a person would be the one to estivate the tortoise. It happens outside. My Russians (outside) sometimes estivate during the hottest part of summer, but none of my other tortoises do.

During the winter cold months, what they do is brumate.


----------



## wellington (Feb 17, 2012)

Okay, like I said, I had to look up the meaning. But doesn't it mean the same thing as brumate, basically, to slow down. I am still learning this stuff. I have a leopard. He doesn't do any of this.





emysemys said:


> Estivation is what tortoises do during the hot summer months. I don't think a person would be the one to estivate the tortoise. It happens outside. My Russians (outside) sometimes estivate during the hottest part of summer, but none of my other tortoises to.
> 
> During the winter cold months, what they do is brumate.


----------



## jaizei (Feb 17, 2012)

emysemys said:


> Estivation is what tortoises do during the hot summer months. I don't think a person would be the one to estivate the tortoise. It happens outside. My Russians (outside) sometimes estivate during the hottest part of summer, but none of my other tortoises to.
> 
> During the winter cold months, what they do is brumate.



I was thinking that there are quite a few that brumate their tortoises and was curious if anyone purposefully (forced) aestivated their tortoises. Not exactly sure how one could do so safely (or even if it would be possible).


----------



## Laura (Feb 18, 2012)

i dont understand what you are asking... 
Why do you want to do this? 
what kind of tort do you have? 
There are no benefits..no reason to do it.


----------



## Yvonne G (Feb 18, 2012)

When a tortoise, living in the wild, suffers weather that is too hot to go out and forage for food, they stay in their burrow. Sometimes for weeks at a time. This is called "estivation."


----------



## Yvonne G (Feb 18, 2012)

Maybe in Arizona or someplace with desert-like weather.


----------



## GeoTerraTestudo (Feb 18, 2012)

A temperate tortoise or box turtle kept outside in a suitable environment will brumate (hibernate) during the cold winter months, and may aestivate (become dormant) during the hottest months of the summer. Temperate tortoises kept indoors might overwinter comfortably, but if they try to brumate at room temperature, it becomes necessary to let them do so in a refrigerator.

However, I have never heard of an indoor tortoise trying to aestivate, probably because it doesn't get hot enough inside a normal home. Moreover, I have never heard of anyone trying to artificially create hot conditions to prompt their tortoise to aestivate indoors. There appears to be no reason to do this, because although brumation provide a beneficial resting period (depending on who you ask), aestivation is probably just a stressor that turtles have evolved to deal with. It's probably just something they are adapted to do, but don't actually need to do. Kind of like fasting during the growing season. Tortoises can fast if they have to, but they don't need to fast to stay healthy. In addition, artificially inducing aestivation could be dangerous, because the temperature could get too hot and kill the turtle. It would also be very expensive to keep an enclosed space hot for several weeks or months at a time.

So, in short, outdoor tortoises may brumate or aestivate as the weather dictates. However, indoor tortoises may benefit from brumation, but they would not benefit from forced aestivation, and might even be endangered by it.


----------



## Az tortoise compound (Feb 18, 2012)

Yes, here in Arizona alot of our different groups of tortoises estivate in the summer months. They simply dig down about three to four inches and let the dirt settle ontop of them. Most do this as protection from the extreme heat. Its not like hibernation, they are active, eat and run around during the cooler morning hours and the late evening hours.


----------



## JoesMum (Feb 18, 2012)

Even in England, on the very hottest sunny days Joe will spend the day in the shade rather and be active late in the evening (way beyond his normal bed time - I've seen him out at 9pm)

It doesn't happen often


----------



## Madkins007 (Feb 18, 2012)

Terminology:

Dormancy- generic term for slowing down, due to heat, cold, etc. Also applies to long sleep periods and so forth. Lots of plants and animals go dormant in cold or hot/dry weather.

Hibernation- metabolic changes that occur to animals that reduce their need for food when food is scarce- usually in the winter. 

Brumation- variant of hibernation that applies to reptiles in cold weather.

Aestivation- a form of dormancy triggered by hot or dry conditions. The animals often go into dormancy until seasonal rains or other changes occur. It is not as deep of a state of dormancy as hibernation or brumation.

Diapause- a form of dormancy that affects the development of eggs, etc. when conditions are not optimal for hatching. Some eggs NEED to go through diapause, others just have the ability to do it when needed.


----------



## jaizei (Feb 18, 2012)

To be clear, I have no plans to do this. I am more or less of the persuasion that the only benefit brumation or aestivation provides is allowing a tortoise to survive extreme conditions in the wild and isn't necessary in captivity. However, I read something somewhere - don't have link - and it got me thinking about aestivation vs. brumation. If some keepers believe that a period of dormancy (brumation) is beneficial, would there be any that believe that aestivation is also beneficial?


----------



## Madkins007 (Feb 19, 2012)

Most of the time, dormancy is triggered by environmental or climatic events that affect a local population. Only very rarely will every member of a given species go into any form of dormancy at the same time. Animals on the side of a mountain may be aestivating, while those in the lower, more humid valley a half-mile away are not. 

So... how would you trigger the metabolic changes needed to put it artificially into any form of dormancy.


----------

