Hermann in winter: plan in NC?

turtlesteve

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I am in South Carolina and have some eastern hermanns as well. i have allowed mine to brumate outside. This species is probably the best fit for this area being as our climate is very similar to their native range in Eastern Europe. However if you’re going to attempt it, you want to be confident he’s in excellent health first.

I have a place that is protected from rain / wetness where they can dig in good. In my case it’s underneath a bay window on our house so that area stays slightly warmer and dry. Usually they will go under cover and bury themselves about 6-8” down. They’ll wake up if we have warm spells during winter.

Out of caution I brought them in for one week last winter when we got down to lows of about 12-15F at night. However, I am pretty sure they would have been fine - they were dug in very well.
 

ErinInCA

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Hermann's definitely have the ability to brumate. The question is whether or not your outside temperatures will be consistently above the 40 F. If you can be sure that your tortoise will be above 40 F, you're probably good to leave it outside. NC can get the random snowstorm, depending where you live. The Hermann's expert, @HermanniChris often brumates his outdoors in NJ under cold frames, which should be more severe compared to NC.

He wrote briefly about it here:

A more recent Youtube video, he talks about it more in-depth:


What kind do you have? Eastern or Western? I believe Eastern is more resilient.
I am in South Carolina and have some eastern hermanns as well. i have allowed mine to brumate outside. This species is probably the best fit for this area being as our climate is very similar to their native range in Eastern Europe. However if you’re going to attempt it, you want to be confident he’s in excellent health first.

I have a place that is protected from rain / wetness where they can dig in good. In my case it’s underneath a bay window on our house so that area stays slightly warmer and dry. Usually they will go under cover and bury themselves about 6-8” down. They’ll wake up if we have warm spells during winter.

Out of caution I brought them in for one week last winter when we got down to lows of about 12-15F at night. However, I am pretty sure they would have been fine - they were dug in very well.
Thank you, so helpful! Yes, I took him to the reptile vet in Raleigh and she said he was healthy to brumate, good point!

Last winter when he did brumate and it got cold like that I was so worried about him. I didn’t know if it would hurt him to bring him in. I guess when you did that you woke them up for the year?
 

Tom

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Thank you, so helpful! Yes, I took him to the reptile vet in Raleigh and she said he was healthy to brumate, good point!

Last winter when he did brumate and it got cold like that I was so worried about him. I didn’t know if it would hurt him to bring him in. I guess when you did that you woke them up for the year?
I made a new thread since the time you started this thread that may offer some insight:
 

ErinInCA

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I made a new thread since the time you started this thread that may offer some insight:
Amazing, thank you!
 

turtlesteve

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Thank you, so helpful! Yes, I took him to the reptile vet in Raleigh and she said he was healthy to brumate, good point!

Last winter when he did brumate and it got cold like that I was so worried about him. I didn’t know if it would hurt him to bring him in. I guess when you did that you woke them up for the year?
No, they were moved back outside when the weather warmed. When it cooled again they dug back down on their own. I only fed them a small amount and only on the first day or two after bringing them inside, so they didn’t go back to sleep with a full stomach.

We are prone to having warm snaps during winter, and they may emerge on their own during these times, drink water, and sometimes even eat a little bit. I am also doubtful that mine ever got as cold as some folks recommend - our ground temps here are 55F ish, nowhere near as cold as the refrigerator temps that some folks use.
 

ErinInCA

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No, they were moved back outside when the weather warmed. When it cooled again they dug back down on their own. I only fed them a small amount and only on the first day or two after bringing them inside, so they didn’t go back to sleep with a full stomach.

We are prone to having warm snaps during winter, and they may emerge on their own during these times, drink water, and sometimes even eat a little bit. I am also doubtful that mine ever got as cold as some folks recommend - our ground temps here are 55F ish, nowhere near as cold as the refrigerator temps that some folks use.
It’s so helpful to hear your insights since you are local to me, thank you!!!
 

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