Hermanns Tortoise in NZ keeps trying to hibernate

[alocin7]

Hi, I have a 3.5 year old Hermanns Tortoise. For the last 2 years I have bought her inside over winter into an enclosure with UV and heat lamps and have not hibernated her. This year she is just (JUST!) big enough to hibernate, but I didn't really plan on doing that. Her indoor enclosure is now too small for her, so this year I bought her outdoor enclosure under cover. Its still outside, technically, but in an outdoor room with clear blinds and a clear roof. So, it is bright as day out there, and under her heat/UV lamp its around 30degrees, so she has a basking spot. the rest of the enclosure is colder however.

My "issue" is this. Despite having a nice basking spot, plenty of fresh food and water, all she wants to do is bury herself in the coldest corner and not come out. As she was eating before she buried herself, I thought this might not be wise (given they are supposed to be not fed before hibernation), so I dug her out, she ate a little bit, drank a little bit, then dug herself into the coldest corner again. Is this normal? Should I just leave her? I don't think she will come out if I don't dig her out!

 

[JoesMum]

Torts sense it’s winter no matter what you do. And you are heading for the darkest months in NZ. It affects light levels and the ambient temperature in your home.

You have to convince your tort it’s summer. Get the temperatures up. Make sure the lighting is very bright (you may need additional lighting) and on for 14 hours.

Have we looked over your enclosure to see if there’s anything we can suggest to help?

 

[alocin7]

Thanks. I have had all the lights and heat on all day - though maybe not for 14 hours. I can increase that, but could she even tell it was light outside if she was buried 3 inches under substrate?

 

[JoesMum]

She is buried under the substrate because she has already sensed the shorter days.

Don’t give her a choice. Haul her out in the morning, soak her fort least 20 minutes in warm water and then feed her immediately.

You may need another light, perhaps just a standard fluorescent tube on top of your usual UVB and basking lamps to compensate for the lack of natural daylight now getting into the enclosure.

Use a temperature gun type thermometer to thoroughly test temperatures around the enclosure. You will probably find they have dipped below the desirable 27C ambient/ 30-35C basking by day.

Watch out too for temperatures dropping at night. If your tort gets too cold then it will take too long to warm up next morning. Use a Ceramic Heat Emitter with a thermostat to ensure the overnight ambient never drops below 18C.

All this can only be achieved in a closed chamber. Without a lid, you will not keep things warm enough.

 

[alocin7]

Right. Ok. Youre right I will never be able to maintain those temperatures in her current enclosure. Will get started on sorting something out to raise the temperatures. Initially the breeder I bought her from suggested a "mini hibernation" for 6 weeks over the worst of winter. That is, she said UV and heat off and no food for 6 weeks, but leave them in their usual enclosure. Any thoughts on that? I can find no information on that method.

 

[JoesMum]

I have heard people doing it. Never tried it myself. We always hibernated Joe.

If they go inactive and it is too warm then they are still burning calories and can dehydrate. You must monitor weight loss carefully.

When hibernating properly at below 10C, even for 4 months, almost no weight is lost as the tort shuts down almost completely.

 

[johnco]

Hi, I have a 3.5 year old Hermanns Tortoise. For the last 2 years I have bought her inside over winter into an enclosure with UV and heat lamps and have not hibernated her. This year she is just (JUST!) big enough to hibernate, but I didn't really plan on doing that. Her indoor enclosure is now too small for her, so this year I bought her outdoor enclosure under cover. Its still outside, technically, but in an outdoor room with clear blinds and a clear roof. So, it is bright as day out there, and under her heat/UV lamp its around 30degrees, so she has a basking spot. the rest of the enclosure is colder however.

My "issue" is this. Despite having a nice basking spot, plenty of fresh food and water, all she wants to do is bury herself in the coldest corner and not come out. As she was eating before she buried herself, I thought this might not be wise (given they are supposed to be not fed before hibernation), so I dug her out, she ate a little bit, drank a little bit, then dug herself into the coldest corner again. Is this normal? Should I just leave her? I don't think she will come out if I don't dig her out!

I also have a 3.5 year old Eastern and this year I am going to fridge hibernate it for the first time, for about 4 weeks. I live in Napier NZ and found the winter daytime temperatures to be too high (almost always above 10 deg C) so have opted for fridge method - will be a steady 5 deg C there (am using 2 digital thermometer s to monitor temp)