Hibernating Marginateds?

[Heliogabalus76]

Hi everyone. I recently got a little marginated tortoise; he'll be 2 in October. I'm wondering about hibernating him. How old/big should marginateds be before they hibernate? Is it a problem to not hibernate them?

I live in the Czech Republic (I'd probably compare the climate to upstate New York or southern Canada). Right now I keep him in an outdoor enclosure on our balcony during the day (it gets pretty hot, so he spends most of his time buried), and then at night and in the morning he's indoors. The temperature here gets much colder during fall and winter than Greece, so I won't be keeping him outside. Would it be best just to keep him awake inside all winter, or have him hibernate?

If you all have any tips on getting him through the winter safe and sound, I'd really appreciate it. Thank you all in advance.

 

[yillt]

You don't HAVE to hibernate him at such a young age but you can and I think you should. I hibernated my marginated when he was 1. I know it's young but it worked and I have hibernated him in the fridge ever since. Lets ask @HermanniChris.

 

[Heliogabalus76]

Thanks. I'm really curious about this--how did you go about hibernating yours?

 

[yillt]

I put him in a plastic container with substrate in and I poked loads of holes in the top(without him in it). But remember they can't eat for a couple of weeks before hibernation because otherwise the food will rot in their stomachs. On the last hibernation my tort kept walking around and pooing which meant I hadn't "starved" him enough. For more info type up hibernation on the search panel.

 

[KateC]

What's the best advice for hibernating margies in their natural environment? I live in Cyprus and no care sheets seem to talk much about natural hibernation. Do I keep my tort outside? Do I still have to starve him before hibernation or will he decide when to dig himself in? He's going to be 1 in September.

 

[yillt]

What's the best advice for hibernating margies in their natural environment? I live in Cyprus and no care sheets seem to talk much about natural hibernation. Do I keep my tort outside? Do I still have to starve him before hibernation or will he decide when to dig himself in? He's going to be 1 in September.

In order to hibernate him outside you need a REALLY safe wooden box or something of the sort. @HermanniChris is preparing a care sheet on marginated torts and it will be out this week. I think personally you should keep him inside the fridge. It's what I do. If he hibernates himself outside you should move him somewhere safe like the fridge, a box or a secure greenhouse.

 

[KateC]

Thank yillt. This is his house (not usually on the floor). He has plenty of shelter, as we can also pull him under a cover when it rains. In the winter the temperature rarely dips below 10 degrees here which is why I was wondering if it would be better to let him hibernate naturally. But if you think he would be better in the fridge we'll do that.

 

[yillt]

Thank yillt. This is his house (not usually on the floor). He has plenty of shelter, as we can also pull him under a cover when it rains. In the winter the temperature rarely dips below 10 degrees here which is why I was wondering if it would be better to let him hibernate naturally. But if you think he would be better in the fridge we'll do that.

His house looks great. If you think he can go outside then by all means hibernate him outside. I'm no one to stop you.But as long as he is in a safe environment he should be fine. I just find that I feel better knowing he is in the fridge where foxes,rats ETC can't get to him. I love the house.

 

[tglazie]

I agree with yillt. Brumation in a fridge is just safer. The number one fear I have for my torts' safety is rodents. I hate mice, rats, basically any mammal up to and including a raccoon. They eat tortoises, and I've seen too many flesh-less tortoise leg pictures to ever risk it. It's one of the reasons I keep a cat. Unfortunately, it also means that my garden remains lizard free during the summers as well, but life is a series of tradeoffs, and so long as Stinky kills the mice and ravens that dare to step foot onto my property, I won't begrudge her a little lizard killing. The plus about the fridge is that you can also control the temperature. Outdoors, if you get a warm spell, the tortoise will have no choice but to endure it. If it's warm enough and long enough, you may have to wake the tortoise and keep them indoors the remainder of the winter months. Indoors in a fridge removes these complicating factors entirely.

T.G.

 

[biochemnerd808]

There are some good articles about refrigerator hibernation that explain the advantages. Here is a blog post I wrote a while back, and at the bottom of the article, there are links to other resources. The article is about Russian torts, but I will do the same for the Margies this year.

http://tortaddiction.blogspot.com/2013/11/prepping-russian-tortoises-for.html

I hope this helps.

 

[KateC]

Great, thank you!