Hibernating, kind of

Tjbemis

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Hi everyone! I just wanted to see if Sam's "hibernating" is normal. She turned 2 in September. Starting in October she started coming out for breakfast and then going back to bed all day, but when it warmed up outside (which it did a lot here this fall), even though she's inside, she'd resume her normal routine. At this point, she's pretty much coming out to eat every OTHER day, and on alternate days she stays in her hut (which is on the *warmer* side, so I think that's weird). Yesterday (should have been her eating dsy) she never showed for breakfast at all, but the temperature dropped drastically outside. We give her a 20-30 minute bath once a week, she's beautiful and in good condition.

Is this a safe routine for her as a 2 year old? She actually did it when we first got her too, when she was a month old, and last year at 1 as well. I just need something to worry about I suppose.

Oh... Her hot end is 95, the rest is room temp roughly. At night our house goes down to 65 and her lamp is off. We're keeping her misted, and are planning a soil fluffing soon, or when she's up and about. Right now it's pretty packed down.

Thanks and Happy New Year!
 

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lismar79

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My russian started to do this as well in the fall. Every day I dug her up, soaked her under her uv basking bulb, and then hand fed her her favorite food (i hide the good for her foods in a rolled up pc of romaine.) I did this for a month & she snapped out of it. I also increased her night temps to about 72.
 

Moozillion

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I'm so glad someone brought this up. My Hermanns's, Elsa, is trying to brumate although she didn't do it last year or the year before.
We tried increasing her lights and temp, so that her cool end was 78 and her warm end was 88. I even left the temps there all night. But all she did was AVOID her warm end, and burrow deeply in her cool end, and sleep. Since that didn't work, we dropped her temps back to the usual 75 and 85. She still stays dug in her cool end.

We drag her out every 2-3 days, give her a soak and put her in front of some food. We're not feeding her as much as usual, but we're making sure to give her several big chunks of cucumber PURELY for their water content. She doesn't pee or poop as much as usual, but her urates are staying very soft, so we figure it must be more or less OK.
We're calling it "brumation lite," but she would CLEARLY rather be sleeping.

I've pretty much decided to go ahead and let her brumate next winter. That way I've got all year to research and talk to people. I think my fear is the biggest obstacle.
 

Tjbemis

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Wow... I'm so happy to know I'm not the only paranoid tort owner! It seems we're all doing generally the same thing. We dragged Sam out this morning, gave her a good soak, abs plopped her in front of her food, which she ate readily.

@Moozillion...my husband and I question the cucumber, but I understand the reasoning. If you're keeping the humidity up along with bathing, Elsa should be staying pretty well hydrated. I just always hear of cukes being useless for most critters. But maybe a pro could add something... (please understand I'm not criticizing, just curious)

Thanks!
 

katfinlou

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ImageUploadedByTortoise Forum1420245206.259601.jpg
These are all listed somewhere on this forum for Hermanns, so presumably must be safe. When I was a little girl, I used to slice the tops off carrots, place them in a saucer with a little water and watch the the tops grow at an amazing rate. I thought it was amazing. Im thinking I will give it a try again and see if Belle likes them. It will be cheap and easy enough to do and if it's good for Belle then all the better! :)
 

katfinlou

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Ive no idea what mustard and collared greens are, much to my embarrassment to admit lol :)
 

katfinlou

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It must just be mine that's showing no signs of wanting to hibernate. She's eating my body weight in leaves all day long, pooping and peeing in the bath at night then digging down into the soil at lights off, ready to do it all again in the morning lol. Im kind of relieved though, I think her trying to hibernate would just tip me over the edge after all we've been through the last few weeks with the eggs and the not eating etc!! I hope Sam and Elsa get through their little attempted sleepy period healthy and happy and ready for lots of sunshine in the summer :)
 

Tjbemis

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Lol, @katfinlou, thanks for the well wishes! If you have a decent grocery store around you (we're lucky enough to have Wegmans) you might be surprised at the yummy greens they have. Kale is another really good one for them. Sam isn't too into mustard greens, and I'm not sure about the collards. Sometimes we can get good dandelions at Wegmans too, and she loves those. They should not have tons of dandelion greens, but if you go through a bunch and then wait awhile before you offer again, that's fine. A nifty benefit of giving them healthy stuff like this, is that they're great for YOU too lol. We'll often help her out so they don't go to waste.
 

katfinlou

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I just have asda, or the fruit shop up the road where the most exotic they get is a pomegranate lol. Every time I hear collard greens my minds eye automatically thinks of a little turnip wearing a tuxedo, ive no idea why lol. Ive got lots of seeds to start growing too, although im not so hopeful with them as gardening isn't my strongest suit. I joke that the only reason my kids thrived is because they at least could yell for food. Plants on the other hand try to jump out their pots and get away from me before I even reach the checkout lol :p
 

ascott

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Hi everyone! I just wanted to see if Sam's "hibernating" is normal. She turned 2 in September. Starting in October she started coming out for breakfast and then going back to bed all day, but when it warmed up outside (which it did a lot here this fall), even though she's inside, she'd resume her normal routine. At this point, she's pretty much coming out to eat every OTHER day, and on alternate days she stays in her hut (which is on the *warmer* side, so I think that's weird). Yesterday (should have been her eating dsy) she never showed for breakfast at all, but the temperature dropped drastically outside. We give her a 20-30 minute bath once a week, she's beautiful and in good condition.

Is this a safe routine for her as a 2 year old? She actually did it when we first got her too, when she was a month old, and last year at 1 as well. I just need something to worry about I suppose.

Oh... Her hot end is 95, the rest is room temp roughly. At night our house goes down to 65 and her lamp is off. We're keeping her misted, and are planning a soil fluffing soon, or when she's up and about. Right now it's pretty packed down.

Thanks and Happy New Year!

This mix can lead to an ailing tortoise....please keep in mind that if you are keeping the humidity up in the entire enclosure--you will not want to let the temps (day AND night) fall below 80 degrees..
 

Tjbemis

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@ascott...I should clarify. We're not misting at night,and her enclosure is open and well ventilated.
 

Tjbemis

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My husband points out that wild youngsters would burry into the damp soil to sleep & hide?
 

katfinlou

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My husband points out that wild youngsters would burry into the damp soil to sleep & hide?
That's all my girl does now, as soon as lights go off she digs down and sleeps where she is and seems quite happy to do so :)
 

Tjbemis

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Funny thing... It's 55 today in good old Western NY, and Sam came out on her own for breakfast. Just sitting in the doorway of her hut looking as if "Uh... Hello? Why is there no food here?".

How in the world does she know that it's warm out? It's still the same balmy 90 in her enclosure for Petes sake.
 

ascott

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My husband points out that wild youngsters would burry into the damp soil to sleep & hide?


Tortoise generally will dig in for a variety of reasons, digging in to retain body warmth--when the lights are on the soil begins to absorb and store heat, when the lights go off--the heat begins to leave the soil layer by layer--hence digging in to try to retain some warmth.....they will also dig down to reach moisture, they will also dig down to hide, they will dig down to hunt for food....there are a a variety of reasons...this is why when we force a wild animal to be kept in an artificial forced captive environment--it is good to try to offer up as many "wild factors" as possible, earth substrate, warmth, lighting for visual aspects as well as proper uv rays, places to hide in/under...places to hydrate by mouth as well as places to retreat to for overall moisture when needed...as I was eluding to, cool and wet/moist is not a good formula....warm and humid continually is more desirable.....that was all....I meant nothing more and nothing less....:D
 

Tjbemis

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So I keep thinking about Sam's enclosure. My husband built it, its in our dining room (of course, but, so are the salamanders). Our last tortoise, Gus, died of a prolapsed intestine at about 3/4 years. My husband is pretty sure he was chronically dehydrated. We had him in an enclosed reptile lounge, on (if I remember correctly) newspaper. (Please... This was the information we had at the time; hot & dry). If that's what caused the problem, I'm not sure, but we suspect.
Obviously, we don't want to make the same mistake. Sam's table is mostly open, plexiglass sides, with chicken wire (cats!) and a small board on top (cats!). Should we try foil over part of the top to keep in more heat & humidity?
I'm attaching a pic of the top (with Katniss enjoying the warmth), and I'll try to get a good one of the inside later on.

Any and all input is welcome!
 

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