so my tortoise has been burrowed sleeping for a decent few weeks now maybe close to a month ish and he suddenly just woke up and started walking around his habitat what do I do ( he is a baby Tortoise and he is a hermann tortoise)
I don’t know what to do
- Thread starter Cblast
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I'm not qualified to talk about Hermann tortoises living in the UK, but if it were my tortoise, and those conditions, I would make an indoor habitat for it and bring it inside.
His habitat is indoor it’s a gated off area that is suitable for him and he was hibernating in a colder part of it buried under but today he just got out and started walking around
Like I said, make him an enclosure out of a big tub or something, hang lights and heat until Spring.
Alright
PollyAda
Active Member
How long have you had your tortoise?
If you post a photo of the current enclosure you have + tortoise, people will be able to advise with regards to your set up, to make sure conditions are optimal for your tortoise. In the morning, make sure you put some food out for your tort to graze on, and it should have access to a very shallow water dish for drinking (I know these are basics, just making sure we're covering all ground here if your tort has been brumating!). It may be dehydrated, so a soak in warm shallow water (just enough to cover tail) is advisable also.
Have a read of this care sheet if not done so already https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/the-best-way-to-raise-any-temperate-species-of-tortoise.183131/
If you post a photo of the current enclosure you have + tortoise, people will be able to advise with regards to your set up, to make sure conditions are optimal for your tortoise. In the morning, make sure you put some food out for your tort to graze on, and it should have access to a very shallow water dish for drinking (I know these are basics, just making sure we're covering all ground here if your tort has been brumating!). It may be dehydrated, so a soak in warm shallow water (just enough to cover tail) is advisable also.
Have a read of this care sheet if not done so already https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/the-best-way-to-raise-any-temperate-species-of-tortoise.183131/
Sounds like your tortoise brumated early and now has woken. You need to set him up like its summer time with all the correct temps, uvb, humidity, diet and water/soaks. Make sure the lighting is bright and on for 12 hours a day. Do not let his temps drop below 70F at night and 80F during the day with basking of 95-100F. You need to keep him up now. If he tries to hide away, pull him out daily, give him a warm soak and place by food.
He went back to bed shortly after I noticed he was awake do I start all the heating process and light etc in the morning?
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Did he eat anything at all while up? If he ate, you will have to keep him up for the 2 week fasting period to empty his gut.
If he did not eat, then just let him go back to his brumation. If he gets up again and stays up, then you will need the lights and heat. What is the temp where he is sleeping? Measure it down where his shell would be if he was standing there. Maybe it's too warm for him to properly brumate.
He didn’t eat anything while up because I didn’t know he was up so there wasn’t any food, and it’s pretty somewhat cold where he is at the moment around due to it being winter and no heating in the house
You need to know the temperature where the tortoise is. Most people do not keep their house cold enough for proper brumation and its dangerous if it is too warm.
Your tortoise is in a limbo in between brumation and not. This is bad. You need to decide if you want to let him brumate, or not, and then take the correct steps.
This is explained more here:
Tom's Brumation Thread
Every fall we get bombarded here on the forum with all sorts of questions and problems regarding hibernation and tortoises "slowing down" for winter. The purpose of this thread is to talk about all aspects of this subject, to dispel some of the myths and mysteries, and give a "how to" list of...
tortoiseforum.org
Okay, seeing he really wasn't up long, you didn't say that in your first post, and he didn't eat, then you do need to follow Tom's post and decide whether to keep him up or brumate him properly.
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