Hibernation temp question

[jaredpotts]

Hey everyone,

New to the Tortise forum here and have an important question. I have a California Desert Tortoise who the vet says is roughly 3 to 5 years old. I have had him since July and I live in the San Gabriel Mountains area (La Verne to be specific) I have put the tortoise down for Hibernation in the garage in side of a shoe box full of news paper. That box is inside of a larger box also with newspaper. When I put him in, It was below 60degrees consistently. Now here is the question: this whole week is supposed to be around 75 degrees outside, will that interfere with the hibernation and should I be concerned at this point? I've checked on him and he's still in the shell, no pee in the box (although a small #2 which i removed) THanks for any help, really don't want him to get hurt the first time i hibernate him.

 

[Tom]

You need to know the temp inside his box. You can put a wireless remote probe in there or a wired one. Its best to disturb him as little as possible. The ground in my garage stays 3-4 degrees cooler than the shelves in my garage too. You may need to move your whole set-up into one of those large drink coolers. This will keep the temp more stable. I like to keep temps in the 50's for this, but some people like to go as low as 45. Above the mid 50's for too long and they might use up their fat stores too quickly. You can put ice bottles in there to get you through our CA winter warm spells, if need be.

Weclome to the forum and keep asking questions.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi "Jaredpotts":

May we call you Jared? Welcome to the forum!!

If you don't feel comfortable allowing your tortoise to hibernate this winter, it would be perfectly ok to set him up in an indoor habitat. We usually recommend not hibernating the first year you have the tortoise. And since its a small tortoise (at 3 to 5 years of age its probably only about 5 to 7" in length, right?) it would be fairly easy to set up an indoor habitat for it. They make wonderful plastic tubs now-a-days that can be used as habitats. I really love the Christmas Tree storage bin by Iris. Its about $40 and huge.

If you want to go ahead with the hibernation, then place the box someplace quiet where the temperature will be below 50 degrees, but above 40 degrees. A closet in an unheated bedroom works good. If you don't think that you can keep him cool enough, then let him stay outside in his pen until the weather gets colder or wetter. Just watch the weather reports and if its going to freeze, bring him in.