I've looked everywhere for my russian and I CANT FIND HER!!! I have a secure backyard, so there is no way out. Do you guys think she went into early hibernation? or I need to look harder?
Hibernation already?
- Thread starter Tortuga_terrestre
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Ah Russian tort is such an escape artist. They can dig or climb easily. If you are really sure that your Russian is still inside your backyard, i.e. no one accidentally leave your gate open or there's no way your Russian can climb over your fence or go underneath it, then try to look for freshly-digged soil, or inside bushes, etc. With the current heatwave in most of California it's likely that your Russian is aestivating.
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My male decided to burry himself in the garden for a few weeks this summer while the female was out and about as normal. He popped up of the blue and was back to his busy self, nipping at her heals, climbing all over, and acting normal. I think his interal clock may be a bit messed up. I think he was probably WC and has never fully acclimated to here. Hopefully that doesn't stop him from hibernating for me this winter...
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My Russian tortoise not only spend all winter buried but much of the summer too. I saw them from early May to about mid June and then rarely again until just about week ago. Mine have been doing that here for about 15 years. They spend a lot of the summer buried. I don't think that's unusual behavior, even in captivity if being kept outdoors. The claim in most Russian tortoise literature is that in the wild they may only be active about 4 months out of the year.
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Yeah, you hear from some that your tort should be active and alert all the time if kept indoors or they may be sick. But my male will go inactive for long periods of time, then come out of it and make up for lost time by being extra active. My female has a different clock than him though and tends to be moderately actifve all the time, with some down time in the winter.
Ok, what is going on? I thought my tortoise went early into hibernation this year...She popped out of nowhere????? is it this crazy so cal weather? Is she going to be active in the winter?
One of my females *disappeared* for a few days and I was getting worried (looking all over), and we finally found a small bit of disturbed dirt near one of her favorite rock shelters. It certainly looked inconspicuous, but she had dug--laterally-- from that point a winding tunnel of about 3 ft. in length! Cleverly filling in the tunnel behind her, she was actually only 6" below the surface, but you couldn't tell by just looking at the area. We only found her by following the 'feel' of the soft/loose dirt trail of the disturbed earth--definitely a dirty excavation! She has been up and walking around since, but I'm definitely keeping my eye on her these days!
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