Hibernation advice

[Blake1975]

Hi all

I am new to this site but I am hoping someone can help me.

We have two spur thighed tortoise, that are approximately 18 months old. One of them has been eating less over the last day and the other one has not eaten for two days. Do tortoises of this age hibernate? We are a bit concerned.

Any help or advice would be gratefully received

Thanks

 

[Gillian M]

Welcome to the forum @Blake1975

Don't worry: torts do not like change so it will take some time till they adjust.

Give your torts daily soaks in warm water read the "Beginners Mistakes" Thread.

Any pics of your tort? What's temperature like back there?

 

[Blake1975]

Not sure how to attach a picture!

We have had them for approx a year and they have been outside a lot. But now it has got cold they are roaming in their table. Temp outside is ranging from 16 yesterday to 10 at night, sometimes like that during the day.

They have always eaten so well...until now and they are asleep a lot too. Is this normal?

Thanks for your reply

 

[Blake1975]

 

[Gillian M]

Not sure how to attach a picture!

We have had them for approx a year and they have been outside a lot. But now it has got cold they are roaming in their table. Temp outside is ranging from 16 yesterday to 10 at night, sometimes like that during the day.

They have always eaten so well...until now and they are asleep a lot too. Is this normal?

Thanks for your reply

Most welcome.

Great! Thanks for posting. Please note that torts are not to be kept in pairs: they do not like/need
company.
@Yvonne
@Tom
@ZEROPILOT @Maro2Bear

please help! Thank you all.

 

[Blake1975]

Thank you so much for your time and for tagging other people in. I am new to this..but worked out how to attach the photo..so all good

 

[Gillian M]

Thank you so much for your time and for tagging other people in. I am new to this..but worked out how to attach the photo..so all good

Welcome. That is the least I could do.

You'll get the help yoou need here so do not worry.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

What type of tortoise are those exactly?
Spur thigh (Sulcata)?
They look like Greek or Herman's in the photo on my phone screen.
At any rate. Avoid feeding tomato asap.

 

[SweetGreekTorts]

What type of tortoise are those exactly?
Spur thigh (Sulcata)?
They look like Greek or Herman's in the photo on my phone screen.
At any rate. Avoid feeding tomato asap.

They are Testudo graeca ibera (Ibera Greeks).

 

[ZEROPILOT]

They are Testudo graeca ibera (Ibera Greeks).

Thanks
The OP reported "spur thigh".
So, no pairs and no tomato. Correct?

 

[JoesMum]

What type of tortoise are those exactly?
Spur thigh (Sulcata)?
They look like Greek or Herman's in the photo on my phone screen.
At any rate. Avoid feeding tomato asap.

African spurred is Sulcata

Spur thigh is Greek

 

[JoesMum]

Hello and welcome from Kent, UK.

Joe our Greek became part of the family in 1970 so we have lengthy experience with this species in the UK.

I personally don’t like to hibernate a Greek weighing 500g

Once they get to that weight you can use The Jackson Ratio to calculate whether your tort is a healthy weight for its size and therefore whether or not it can hibernate.

Due to falling light levels they do detect the change of season and become slower at this time of year. You MUST boost lighting, making it extra bright, and double check temperatures to keep a tort awake. At night, they must not get too cold - less than about 17C and they won’t stay awake. By day it must be 35-37C directly under the basking lamp. You may need a Ceramic Heat Emitter (CHE) used with a thermostat running 24/7 to keep ambient temperatures raised.

I recommend you get a digital temperature gun type thermometer to accurately measure spot temperatures in the enclosure... like this one
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Thermometer-Zanmax-Non-Contact-Temperature-Indication/dp/B07CJ1SJYX/

Greeks are not social creatures and don’t need or want company regardless of gender or relationship. In the wild they roam miles, meet up to mate and move on. They don’t do well kept as pairs and one will be dominant. Bullying is common and can be mental or physical. Cuddling up to sleep together isn’t cute, it’s actually one telling the other to leave. You will have to separate these two at some stage.

I recommend you read the TFO care guides and compare them with your setup.

They're written by species experts working hard to correct the outdated information widely available on the internet and from pet stores and, sadly, from some breeders and vets too.

Beginner Mistakes
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

Baby Testudo Tortoise Care (written about Russians but applies to Greeks)
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread...or-other-herbivorous-tortoise-species.107734/

 

[JoesMum]

Your torts should be eating weedy and leafy greens and getting soaks of at least 20 minutes in warm water every day.

They will benefit from a tiny sprinkle of calcium powder on food three times a week - no more as you can overdo it.

They can’t digest sugars properly - they cause digestive and kidney problems - so sweet foods like fruit, tomato, carrot and bell pepper should only be fed very sparingly and very occasionally if at all.

Cucumber and lettuce contain little fibre and and few nutrients so should also be fed sparingly.

Write a list of things that grow around you and those that you can buy and look them up on The Tortoise Table Plant Database for suitability to feed. If you can’t identify a plant, post a photo in our Plant ID section and someone will help.
http://thetortoisetable.org.uk/

In the winter months few of us manage without supplementing with a pellet food softened in water. I used Komodo. Mazuri which is much used in the USA can now be bought from the Shelled Warriors online shop
https://www.shelledwarriorsshop.co.uk/