Is my tort hibernating or is it too cold for him?

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udontnojakki

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Hello all!

My Russian tortoise has been acting weird lately. We recently moved to San Diego and because the climate is awesome here I have been keeping him in a large tortoise box out on the patio. His appetite has gone way up since we got here and he seemed to be very happy up until about the past week. Now it has gotten a little chillier at night (about a low of 55 degrees) and I am wondering if this is too cold for him and he is going into some sort of hibernation. I have noticed that now he is less active and is not eating as much or at all some days. I've tried changing up his diet and giving him some of his favorite foods but even then he's hardly interested. Also I've noticed some little ants in his enclosure, although I doubt they could hurt him. Should I start taking him inside at night? Thanks,

:tort::tort::tort:Jakki:tort::tort::tort:
 

wellington

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It does sound like that is what he is preparing to do. That Low of temps at night would probably send him into it. I would bring him in at night if he were mine.
 

Tom

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The shorter days and cooler temps are telling him that its close to the time to hibernate. You need to either start getting him ready to hibernate, or move him indoors with a heat lamp, longer days, and warmer temps, if you don't want him to hibernate.

I have a bunch of young russians right now and since I don't want them to hibernate this year, I just adjusted their light timers to give them 14 hour days.
 
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