Desert Tortoise Hibernatorium

Yvonne G

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This is where my desert tortoises brumate for the winter:

desert tortoise hibernatorium 12-01-13.jpg

It's a cinderblock shelter set on cement with a plywood lid then covered with all the leaves that fall from those two trees.

This past summer I noticed the plywood roof was starting to rot and give way, so I decided to pull it all apart and give it an upgrade.

desert tortoise hibernatorium a.jpg

I cut a piece of rigid foam and a piece of plywood to put in front of the fence at the end, then I filled it full of leaves:

desert tortoise hibernatorium b.jpg

Then I cut two pieces of rigid foam and one piece of plywood to fit over as the roof, and I cut a piece of plywood to fit in as the door:

desert tortoise hibernatorium c.jpg

The tortoises are not ready to brumate yet, so the door won't be put in place just yet. And as the leaves fall off the trees, I'll start piling them up on top and eventually all around the sides. This is the first morning they walked right by the food and went to sit in the sun:

desert tortoise food.jpg desert tortoise.jpg

Won't be too much longer they'll go down for the winter.
 

wellington

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Because some might ask. What size is the hide and it fits just the two torts in the pic right?
How low of temps do you get day and night?
Do you know at what daily temps they usually go in and stay for winter?
Nice work and I like that the trees are right there to drop the leaves close by.
 

Yvonne G

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The insulating leaves keep it from freezing inside. The winter temps here average 45/30F, with some nights dipping down around 20F. When they all get ready to brumate, it's wall to wall tortoises in there. As long as there are sunny days, the tortoises will continue to come out and sit in the sun. But once it's overcast or rainy, they'll stay in and I'll block the door.

Just so you know, I actually only have two CDTs. The others are rescues that are up for adoption. But they're females. It's hard to find just the right home for a female (where I can be sure the people understand they can't breed her)
 
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