HELP! fridge was plugged out during hibernation... what do I do?

[PluneyBin]

Hello, I hope somebody with experience will be able to help me.



We put our 4yr old male hermann's down to brumate in the fridge in the middle of December, and left home for a few days over the New Year to see family. Today on returning, I noticed the fridge had been PLUGGED OUT by my housemate and she can't remember exactly when she did so. I checked our tort and he's still alive (leg twitched) but I have no idea what to do now. Should we wake him up, or switch the fridge back on and hope he settles in again? The fridge could have been off for up to 5 days....



Please help!

 

[TammyJ]

@Tom

 

[zovick]

Hello, I hope somebody with experience will be able to help me.



We put our 4yr old male hermann's down to brumate in the fridge in the middle of December, and left home for a few days over the New Year to see family. Today on returning, I noticed the fridge had been PLUGGED OUT by my housemate and she can't remember exactly when she did so. I checked our tort and he's still alive (leg twitched) but I have no idea what to do now. Should we wake him up, or switch the fridge back on and hope he settles in again? The fridge could have been off for up to 5 days....



Please help!

Refrigerators are pretty well insulated. The temp inside probably didn't get overly warm if the door wasn't opened repeatedly during the time the plug was out. If you had a temp gun, you could read the tortoise's temperature and/or that of the inside of the refrigerator.

If you don't have one, I would just plug the refrigerator back in and leave the tortoise in it until such time as you normally take it out for spring.

 

[TammyJ]

If it was really four or five days left plugged out and the door left open....???!

 

[zovick]

If it was really four or five days left plugged out and the door left open....???!

Then I would have expected the tortoise to be more "awake" when its leg was touched and even trying to get out of its container. Neither of those things were mentioned by the OP, so I think the tortoise is quite likely still in its brumation stupor.

 

[Tom]

Hello, I hope somebody with experience will be able to help me.



We put our 4yr old male hermann's down to brumate in the fridge in the middle of December, and left home for a few days over the New Year to see family. Today on returning, I noticed the fridge had been PLUGGED OUT by my housemate and she can't remember exactly when she did so. I checked our tort and he's still alive (leg twitched) but I have no idea what to do now. Should we wake him up, or switch the fridge back on and hope he settles in again? The fridge could have been off for up to 5 days....



Please help!

What is/was the temperature in the fridge? If it is still cold and didn't get too warm, and as long as the tortoise didn't eat anything, I'd plug it back it and carry on with brumation. There is temperature fluctuation in the wild too.