Herman’s outdoor

[ColinS]

hi. My hermans has another week of hibernation yet. So I know it’s a bit off yet but I have and outdoor enclosure. I have a cold frame ready and waiting which will have a basking lamp in as I have electricity outside. Just wondering as to when would be the ideal dates roughly to put him/her outdoors. So ideally I would love for my hermans to be able to stay outdoors constantly except when it’s extreme weather cases.

 

[ColinS]

Anybody any ideas? I’m in Manchester England by the way so I should imagine will be a bit later than many!!

 

[JoesMum]

I would say you are at least a month early!

I’m in Kent ... down South ... and Joe would not be up, let alone out, for some time yet. Even with his heated dog kennel and cold frame, I am looking for temperatures consistently above 10C before Joe goes out for short periods.

How big/old is your Hermann’s?

My thread on coping with the UK
climate and coming out of hibernation is here
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/outdoor-accommodation-in-a-colder-uk-climate.140866/

 

[ColinS]

Yes sorry, my tortoise has another 2 weeks left. Gonna wake it up on the 28th January. It has then been 8 weeks. Alls has gone well I think. Hardly any weight loss no poo or wee. Constant temps between 4 and 7 degrees. So I’m getting the outdoor enclosure ready that’s all!! So was just wondering when would I be looking at the weather being ok?? I was thinking March ish ?? Thank you for your reply. Going to read the thread now.

 

[JoesMum]

Looking back through earlier threads this Hermann’s is very small - under 200g. Personally, I don’t like to hibernate them under 500g, but being so small means a short hibernation is best. Please note the Jackson Ratio doesn’t apply to torts weighing less than 500g either.

There is no way a tortoise of this weight will cope outside, especially in the Northern climate, until late spring. This tort needs to be kept in a properly warm and humid, enclosed indoor environment until late April... possibly May or June. Even then it should really only be out on warm days.

You cannot compare this tort with a 3kg monster like Joe.

 

[ColinS]

Haha yeah ur right it was just short of 200g if I remember correctly I got it all written down and recorded ! Ok no worries I won’t be taking any chances with it outdoors as weather in Manchester is very very unpredictable so I know it has to be done correctly. As for the hibernation everything I read was of different opinions and my tortoise had seemed to have made it mind up even with the extra light I put over the table and the heating turned up on the house !! It seems to have gone well anyway as I think it had lost 4grams and i haven’t noticed any wee or anything else. When I touch its feet the legs react slowly so fingers crossed all’s good