An outside Hermann

[Easio-Herman]

E have just taken on a female 5 year old hermann from someone who is going abroad. For the last 2 winters , with previous owner, she has refused to come indoors on autumn. She hides in the garden all winter and is not seen again till march. With temperatures at -10! Now we have a very smart outdoor jouse for her which she looks everso glum in and we have let her out. She sleeps with her head under leaves and back sticking out. What on earth are we going to do?! Jonathon

 

[CactusVinnie]

Where are you located? I don't get if -10 in F or C ... they can live in areas with winters down to -10*F, but having proper diggable ground and garden features to choose.
Usually, if she was an outdoor tortoise, she should continue with outdoor hibernation. Have you rodents or other predators there, that could digg your tortoise during sleep? You could consider fridge hibernation, after letting her burrow by herself.

 

[Easio-Herman]

Where are you located? I don't get if -10 in F or C ... they can live in areas with winters down to -10*F, but having proper diggable ground and garden features to choose.
Usually, if she was an outdoor tortoise, she should continue with outdoor hibernation. Have you rodents or other predators there, that could digg your tortoise during sleep? You could consider fridge hibernation, after letting her burrow by herself.

Thank you Cactus. Its -10c. So much conflicting infiormation we thought she d die before the temp got anywhere near that. She has settled down and , at last , uses a tortoise house with subtrate which she buries in. She can go in garage if it gets bad enough. Our fridge door is opened too much to be safe and , to be honest, we didnt want to! Thanks.

 

[CactusVinnie]

It seems that she will be just fine, Easio. Don't worry about the cold, but better have prepared some covering materials in case a big cold snap announces.
You could wonder how can our Romanian natives Boettgeri and Ibera live here, where -15 to -25*C are not at all uncommon (Ibera habitat being drier with colder winters). They just manage. Your place seems much better.

Good luck!

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

You could make an indoor enclosure for her and let her remain awake all winter...brumation (tortoises don't actually hibernate) is absolutely optional, and dangerous to the tortoise, if done incorrectly. Which is why many of us do not inflict this on our pets just to pretend we're "doing it just like Mother Nature does it"...

While wild tortoises do brumate, they also sometimes suffer from frostbite and/or get eaten by carnivores and rats while they're helpless, due to not having the optimal spot to dig into for winter.

Give this some real thought, if you wish for this tortoise to be your long-term pet/buddy.

 

[Tom]

It sounds like you are trying to sort of keep your tortoise indoors, but sort of still cool. It really needs to be one way or the other. Either you leave the tortoise outside completely and let nature take its course, or you need to bring the tortoise inside, into the warm heated house, into a proper large enclosure, with heat lamps and the correct temps to stay up. Letting it get sort of cold, but not really cold enough, can be a death sentence. There is a whole procedure to follow to let them hibernate and get their system all ready for it. It does not sound like you have taken the necessary steps, so I would recommend you not hibernate your tortoise this year and give yourself the time to research and learn ALL the "ins and outs" of hibernating a tortoise in YOUR climate for next year.