can anyone tell me wether a tortoise would go thro the motions of hibernating in a heated table top enclosure?
hibernating questions
- Thread starter nicky-mollie
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It depends of the temps of the enclosure, what are the temps in your enclosure?
Sometimes you'll come across a wild caught tortoise that just seems to KNOW when its time to hibernate. Its very hard to fool them into thinking its still summer. When that happens, I just let them sleep for a couple weeks in a cool, quiet place, then gradually wake them up, "Spring is here!! Wake Up!"
Yvonne
Yvonne
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- Dec 22, 2007
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Hi Nicky
Hermanns still have some awareness of light levels falling and daylength shortening even when we keep them inside and provide artificial heat and light. But if enough artificial heat and light are provided then usually the tortoise responds and remains active.
I agree with Yvonne that some individuals can be really quite determined to hibernate. If you are new to all this and don't want your tortoise to hibernate then the best way to keep it awake is to provide lots of heat and light. When the tortoise tries to avoid the heat and light by going to the cooler and darker area of your table you can gently bring them back to the warmth and light which can be left on longer, say to 14 hours a day. And daily baths slightly warm also stimulate the animal. Although we should never trap a tortoise under a lamp you might want to restrict their movement a bit on a temporary basis so that the tortoise is exposed to the light and kept warm enough.
If your tortoise has stopped eating and sleeps all day even though you are trying to stimulate it, then at some point you have to give up and let the animal have a rest. This can either be full hibernation for several months following a wind-down period or what Yvonne is suggesting which is a kind of cooling period. I don't have any experinece of the cooling method and its not really accepted in the UK as being a good idea but I have a very open mind to it. I've just never seen anything clear written down about how to do it and how it works.
If the tortoise remains partly awake but not feeding and rarely basking then there can be a danger of weight loss. If the tortoise gets into a situation of being neither hibernating nor resting but not fully active either this can be very risky.
As far as basking temperatures are concerned what is mostly recommended for Hermanns is about 32C. This is very modest compared to what basking temperatures in nature are like and as long as the tortoise can freely move away from the heat source then in my opinion there is no problem with us providing basking spots which are quite a lot warmer than that. This might help if you are trying to get your tortoise 'going'.
Hermanns still have some awareness of light levels falling and daylength shortening even when we keep them inside and provide artificial heat and light. But if enough artificial heat and light are provided then usually the tortoise responds and remains active.
I agree with Yvonne that some individuals can be really quite determined to hibernate. If you are new to all this and don't want your tortoise to hibernate then the best way to keep it awake is to provide lots of heat and light. When the tortoise tries to avoid the heat and light by going to the cooler and darker area of your table you can gently bring them back to the warmth and light which can be left on longer, say to 14 hours a day. And daily baths slightly warm also stimulate the animal. Although we should never trap a tortoise under a lamp you might want to restrict their movement a bit on a temporary basis so that the tortoise is exposed to the light and kept warm enough.
If your tortoise has stopped eating and sleeps all day even though you are trying to stimulate it, then at some point you have to give up and let the animal have a rest. This can either be full hibernation for several months following a wind-down period or what Yvonne is suggesting which is a kind of cooling period. I don't have any experinece of the cooling method and its not really accepted in the UK as being a good idea but I have a very open mind to it. I've just never seen anything clear written down about how to do it and how it works.
If the tortoise remains partly awake but not feeding and rarely basking then there can be a danger of weight loss. If the tortoise gets into a situation of being neither hibernating nor resting but not fully active either this can be very risky.
As far as basking temperatures are concerned what is mostly recommended for Hermanns is about 32C. This is very modest compared to what basking temperatures in nature are like and as long as the tortoise can freely move away from the heat source then in my opinion there is no problem with us providing basking spots which are quite a lot warmer than that. This might help if you are trying to get your tortoise 'going'.
Isa said:
hello isa, the temps are 30-35c in hot spot and 25-27 in cool spot. finally got hold of the breeder she hasnt ever hibernated,he says it sounds like shes trying to cool off to hibernate so i feel terible but i have to warm her up rite? shes under weight
emysemys said:
thanks yvonne sounds good wish i could switch off like that!
only mollie is under weight so must keep her warm and active yeahhello ozric,Ozric said:
thankyou for all your information, it just so happens i managed to get hold of the breeder tonite and he basicly said the same so you just confirmed it all keep fingers crossed for me im gona warm her up
What do you think are the "motions of hibernating"? If you mean not eating and spending time hiding in the cool area, that can be indicative of a tort just settling in (assuming this is a new tort). I would place the tort in a hide in the warm area, near food (placed in a moderate temperature area). If the tort is scared and does not have a warm hide, it will not venture to the warm side, and stay in the cool hide, and not eat. They need to warm up the 80s to eat, but you need an area in the 70s for them to retreat to as well. I had this happen with my little guy the first week I had him; he stayed in the only hide I had in the cool area, not wanting to bask or eat as he didn't feel safe without a hide there. Temperature sound good. I think more information about the behavior would be helpful, as well as enclosure pictures. Best wishes.
Is 30-35 the temp in the warm side or under the spot?
Isa said:
thats under the heat lamp. i have one of those powersun all in one bulbs 100 watts
hiya i have had mollie since the first week in september. she never ate much so i put it down to settling in, her weight has dropped and she started to go sleep earlier each day. she is indoors in a table top with powersun 100watt bulb, i offer her all the rite foods,bath every other day. i have photos on a link in my profile.tortoisenerd said:
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