Each September I start doing advance planning for the upcoming brumation of my 6 yr old DT which measures L 9.5" W 6.25" H 4". This winter will be our 4th brumation, all in a fridge. The question for this year is, how big should the hibernaculum (brumation chamber) be for this size tortoise? He may have outgrown the one from last year which measured L 14" W 11.5" H 9.75". That seems pretty tight to me for like if he wanted to turn around inside, especially the W being only 11.5". I usually custom make his hibernaculum (wood or mdf) because then I can make it exactly how I want it. So how small is too small, how big is too big? I was thinking for a 9.5" tort, the box needs to be larger than what I already have, like maybe 14" L and W, but what say you experts? I welcome your input.
Incidentally, I've already decided to get a larger fridge for this year, I've used a 4.3 cu ft beverage cooler until now, which worked pretty good except this past yr the hibernaculum he was in seemed to be too tight a fit which caused some issues with air flow/temp ranges until I sorted it out by placing the box just exactly right inside. I got it all dialed in so it all turned out well, but no more, time to go larger. I'm going to get a 8.8 cu ft chest fridge that hopefully will hold him through full grown, I'll only need to swap out the hibernaculum as he grows.
Which leads back to my questions, how large does the hibernaculum need to in relation to the tort's shell size? I know they like to feel snug but not too tight a fit in case they want to move around a little.
Incidentally, I've already decided to get a larger fridge for this year, I've used a 4.3 cu ft beverage cooler until now, which worked pretty good except this past yr the hibernaculum he was in seemed to be too tight a fit which caused some issues with air flow/temp ranges until I sorted it out by placing the box just exactly right inside. I got it all dialed in so it all turned out well, but no more, time to go larger. I'm going to get a 8.8 cu ft chest fridge that hopefully will hold him through full grown, I'll only need to swap out the hibernaculum as he grows.
Which leads back to my questions, how large does the hibernaculum need to in relation to the tort's shell size? I know they like to feel snug but not too tight a fit in case they want to move around a little.
