Brumating Without Fridge

[Mortimus]

I was hoping to use the fridge method for the first time this year, but I can't get the fridge to maintain a stable temperature (lurching between 4c and 0.5c on its warmest setting (I think in part due to it being outside in the shed), so I'm going to have to brumate without it this winter and rethink for next year.

For those of you who don't use the fridge method, what do you do to maintain a temperature as close to 5c as possible? I have a heater for when it's colder, but any other tips? How about when it's mild (I believe my tort is now brumating by herself after having been prepped for several weeks), but it's 12c currently here in the UK, and with climate change winters are becoming more and more unpredictable.

All advice welcomed! Mine is a Greek tortoise, should that make a difference.

 

[Mortimus]

I was just looking for friendly tortoise advice, so I'm rather taken aback by the rant about climate change.

Anyway. It's a large undercounter fridge, and I have it as packed as possible with bottles. There's no room for anything else in there.

Nights are getting down to around 6c at the moment, but will go down below that as the winter goes on. It's less difficult keeping her warm enough than it is keeping her cool when it's unseasonably mild.

You mention a thread but I can't see a link?

 

[Yvonne G]

I have cinderblock "houses" on my carport, which means, they're in the shade. I'll explain how they're built after I tell you my winter temperatures. Nights during winter here are down in the 30sF, sometimes dipping below freezing, and only occasionally getting down into the 20sF. My cinderblock houses are on a piece of plywood over the cement carport floor. Then lining the cinderblocks is rigid foam, which is protected by more plywood. The roof is more plywood lined with rigid foam. I fill the "house" with Autumn leaves that have fallen off the trees and I put the tortoises under the leaves. It doesn't freeze, even on the coldest nights. Because the houses are insulated with rigid foam, once the temperature inside stabilizes, it pretty much stays the same all winter, with only very slight variation.

 

[Tom]

..so I'm rather taken aback by the rant about climate change.

As was I when you cited a media lie as the reason for your warmer temperatures. If we don't call attention to and refute lies, they carry on and gain momentum, which is not good for any of us. Being quiet about these things has led us all to a bad state. When I see it, I have to call it out. That's how we make things better.

I was just looking for friendly tortoise advice, so I'm rather taken aback by the rant about climate change.

Anyway. It's a large undercounter fridge, and I have it as packed as possible with bottles. There's no room for anything else in there.

Nights are getting down to around 6c at the moment, but will go down below that as the winter goes on. It's less difficult keeping her warm enough than it is keeping her cool when it's unseasonably mild.

You mention a thread but I can't see a link?

Here is a the thread that I mentioned but then forgot to link. With days at 12C and nights only dropping to 6C, this method won't work very well yet. You'll have an average temp of around 9C which is a little too warm. This might work when nights get a little cooler. I will sometimes prop the lid open a bit with a brick or something and let the cold night air in, and then close it back up first thing in the morning to keep the warmer day time air out. It can work, but it takes constant monitoring and adjustment depending on the weather. During a few winter warm spells, I had to put frozen ice bottles in the box to keep it cold enough. It never gets too cold here, but it does where you are, so you might need some slight warming to keep temps above freezing when needed. This might be accomplished with hot water bottles, or with a CHE or RHP if you can find a thermostat that goes low enough. Most of the commonly seen thermostats only go down to 65F/18C. I've not used that method, so I can't comment from experience on it.

Indoors with a fridge, solves all these problems, but it has to be a fridge that will hold a consistent temperature. I've had trouble with mini fridges like the one you are trying to use in the past, and I've seen other people have trouble with it too. Full size fridges seem to be more consistent and reliable. Maybe you can find a cheap used one and keep it in the garage? That's what I did.

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

I think you've already seen this one too, but just in case:

Tom's Brumation Thread

Every fall we get bombarded here on the forum with all sorts of questions and problems regarding hibernation and tortoises "slowing down" for winter. The purpose of this thread is to talk about all aspects of this subject, to dispel some of the myths and mysteries, and give a "how to" list of...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[Mortimus]

As was I when you cited a media lie as the reason for your warmer temperatures. If we don't call attention to and refute lies, they carry on and gain momentum, which is not good for any of us. Being quiet about these things has led us all to a bad state. When I see it, I have to call it out. That's how we make things better.


Here is a the thread that I mentioned but then forgot to link. With days at 12C and nights only dropping to 6C, this method won't work very well yet. You'll have an average temp of around 9C which is a little too warm. This might work when nights get a little cooler. I will sometimes prop the lid open a bit with a brick or something and let the cold night air in, and then close it back up first thing in the morning to keep the warmer day time air out. It can work, but it takes constant monitoring and adjustment depending on the weather. During a few winter warm spells, I had to put frozen ice bottles in the box to keep it cold enough. It never gets too cold here, but it does where you are, so you might need some slight warming to keep temps above freezing when needed. This might be accomplished with hot water bottles, or with a CHE or RHP if you can find a thermostat that goes low enough. Most of the commonly seen thermostats only go down to 65F/18C. I've not used that method, so I can't comment from experience on it.

Indoors with a fridge, solves all these problems, but it has to be a fridge that will hold a consistent temperature. I've had trouble with mini fridges like the one you are trying to use in the past, and I've seen other people have trouble with it too. Full size fridges seem to be more consistent and reliable. Maybe you can find a cheap used one and keep it in the garage? That's what I did.

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

I think you've already seen this one too, but just in case:

Tom's Brumation Thread

Every fall we get bombarded here on the forum with all sorts of questions and problems regarding hibernation and tortoises "slowing down" for winter. The purpose of this thread is to talk about all aspects of this subject, to dispel some of the myths and mysteries, and give a "how to" list of...

tortoiseforum.org

I trust the science behind climate change, you don't, but neither of us will change the other's mind, and I didn't come here to argue about it, so we'll agree to disagree.

In the UK we don't consider these undercounter fridges to be mini as they're the standard size. I think you must be referring to the tall ones that we call American fridges, which wouldn't fit in my shed, unfortunately. For next year I'll try to source a larger 'chest' fridge. Mort has hibernated well without a fridge for decades, so she'll be ok for one more winter, but I will use the frozen bottles trick to keep her cool when needed. She'll also have some heat for when it's too cold.

 

[Tom]

I trust the science behind climate change, you don't...

Not true at all. I totally trust the science. I trust the real science of the scientists that are actually measuring the temperatures worldwide. You know, the ones who have been silenced, fired, censored and cancelled.

It would appear that you trust the hypothetical computer models that are set up to make things look far worse than they really are. Time to wake up. Time to look at what's really happening, vs. what "they" keep telling us.