Coming out of hibernation too early?

jlee0710

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Mar 11, 2019
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Battle Ground, WA
I live in the PNW, near Portland, OR. We created an outdoor enclosure for our Russian. In August he went missing and we thought he had escaped, but yesterday he emerged from a deep hole in the enclosure- evidently he was hibernating this entire time!

My question is this: Is he done hibernating? He is very sleepy and not interested in food. It’s February, so the weather doesn’t seem ideal for coming out of hibernation (though we are having a very mild winter). I will put a heat lamp out there for him, but will that ruin his hibernation if he wants to get back to it?
 

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mark1

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if he has been missing since august , along with your questions , personally i'd advise bringing him in and giving him warm summer temps , 14hrs a day bright full spectrum light , high humidity , lots of water , and long warm soaks , get him eating , wait till the weather breaks and put him back outside …….. a heat lamp outside or food in February i'd say a definite no , when they hibernate , they are active all winter , they will come out on nice days to raise their body temp , and will , if healthy , go back down with colder temps ….. when mine come out it gives me a chance to check out how they look , they should appear healthy ….. if he looks healthy and goes back down , assuming everything is in order , you should be able to leave him alone ……… august is pretty early to go down ……….. if your not familiar with hibernating him , i'd go with my first thought and bring him in ……. if he doesn't eat in a week inside with warmth light humidity and water , a herp vet would probably be a thought …….
 

RosemaryDW

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August is pretty early to go down so you might do as mark1 suggests and bring him in. I’d probably offer a soak or two (he might not be interested) and see if he goes down again before bringing him inside.

We’re actually getting ready to bring ours out of (fridge) hibernation here in coastal Southern California; we’ll be having a sunny spell and she’s been down close to four months. She’s been monitored though, and will head into her heated night box for a few days. We’re not first time hibernators, which mark1 also rightly points out as a possible concern for you.
 

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