Help with hibernation

[guffie83]

Hi everyone, I've recently moved my tortoise shelly from a glass tank to a new 4' x 2' tortoise table. Although since then Shelly has not been so active she is burrowing down and not eating. I have a 125 watt UVA UVB heat bulb that has been fine for her so far. I thought the table was struggling a bit to keep up the right temp so I added a 7 watt heat mat under the substrate to help but it hasn't changed her behaviour. I feel resigned to let her do what comes natural and let her hibernate but I'm worried I won't do it right can someone give me some points to follow.

 

[GBtortoises]

What is the temperature under the basking light and what is the temperatures within the enclosure during the daytime and night time? How long is the light on during the day, what time does it come on and go off? A single MVB lamp hung at one end of a 2' x 4' enclosure does not provide enough overall light that is required for normal activity on a daily basis. Unless your temperatures are below 65 during the daytime and well below 55 at night your tortoise is not attempting to brumate (hibernate). They simply do not do so under warm, well lit conditions. It is the steady decrease in light and temperatures that trigger them to begin preparing for brumation. Indoors this is controlled by what takes place within their enclosure. Not what the conditions are outdoors. Keep in mind that Russian tortoises are a burrowing species, it is what they do naturally. In nature they are often below ground for months at a time. They are reported to be active in the wild only about 4-5 months out of the year. In captivity we typically "trick" them into being more active by altering their temperatures, light intensity and light duration.

 

[guffie83]

It's 32*c / 88f at the basking spot cooling to around 20*c / 68f at the other end which has a covered section. The light is on from when we get up around 7am till around 10pm when I switch everything off. The table is in my kitchen so gets a little extra heat from day to day living and won't get excessively cold during the night. She seems disinterested in her food and won't sit in the basking spot for more than around 10 mins before going back into the hide.

 

[GBtortoises]

The basking temperature could be a bit higher, in the 90-100 degree range. But 68 degrees isn't really cool. Many northern species are active at that temperature. The ambient temperature within the enclosure for normal activity during the daytime should be in about the 72-82 degree range. Overall temperatures above that begin to cause most northern species, especially Russians, to seek shelter. The day light duration is fine. 14-16 hours is good, 15 hours is even better. If any light enters the room from the outdoors through a window it would be better to coordinate the enclosure lights to come on when that light comes through the window. For example if the sun comes up at 6 am right now in your area then it would be better if the tortoises light comes on around the same time. If there is no outside light coming in then it really doesn't matter. I think more than anything the enclosure is not lit well enough. The main elements of a tortoise's activity (or lack of) is based on temperatures, light duration and light intensity. There are other minor elements too such as food and water availability. Even if the temperatures are suitable, if the light duration or intensity is not, it affects a tortoises activity level. This is especially true of northern species who are adapted to recognize seasonal changes. I do not believe that your tortoise's enclosure is lit well enough based on the photo you posted. MVB lamps do a good job of providing very localized UV, heat and light but do a terrible job of providing those elements outside of the beam that they cast. You may want to add a tube style fluorescent to increase the overall lighting within the enclosure.

 

[guffie83]

Ok I've been on the net and ordered a exo terra light cycle unit and a 15" desert tube hopefully that will help.