Is Tippy trying to hibernate?

[friedeggontop]

Hi there forum members. I'm in a slight state of panic...I haven't seen Tippy, our Testudo Graeca hatched 2012, for about 2 1/2 weeks now and don't know what to do. He is currently in his hut in his tortoise table underneath his substrate and bedding. The conditions of his enclosure haven't changed at all, yet he seems to be having a very long sleep! Being indoors in a house with central heating it never gets cold enough for him to know it's winter I'm guessing so is this worrying behaviour, should I just leave him and assume he's having a long break or should I dig him out? I don't want to do the wrong thing so any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'm assuming it's far too hot for him to hibernate indoors, our house temp never gets below 18'c and his heat/light lamp is still on its usual timer.
Many thanks for any help...

 

[Tom]

You need to decide if you want to hibernate the tortoise or keep him up all winter. Once you make that decision we can advise you from there.

You are correct that 18C is too warm, and allowing this to continue is not a safe course of action.

 

[Yvonne G]

The main thing that tells a tortoise to get ready to hibernate is daylight. There is also a bit of barometric pressure involved. Don't forget, they've been doing this for thousands of years and it is pretty ingrained for them to do so. In order to fool him into thinking it's summer, you need to make sure the heat is correct and the lights stay on for 12-14 hours a day.

I would dig him up and place him into a shallow bowl of tepid water, a bowl he can't climb out of. Leave him soaking there for 15 to 30 minutes, taking care to watch that he doesn't get into trouble over that time. Then place him back in his habitat. Whenever you think about it, dig him back out and put him in front of the food. Don't let him stay buried all day.

Of course, if you WANT him to hibernate (actually the correct term is 'brumate') then move his habitat to a cooler spot and don't have the lights/heat on anymore. He needs to be cool and dry, between 40 and 50F but the cooler end of the spectrum is better.

 

[friedeggontop]

Thanks for the replies. I have no intention of brumating Tippy, he stayed awake fine last winter and I haven't changed his environment at all. His light/heat lamp is on for 12 hours daily as per usual. He did go off his food a bit before he buried himself but I put that down to the dwindling supplies of daily picked weeds! I think I'll try the bathing route tomorrow unless I am advised otherwise, it's a bit late to start today.

 

[Gillian M]

Hi there forum members. I'm in a slight state of panic...I haven't seen Tippy, our Testudo Graeca hatched 2012, for about 2 1/2 weeks now and don't know what to do. He is currently in his hut in his tortoise table underneath his substrate and bedding. The conditions of his enclosure haven't changed at all, yet he seems to be having a very long sleep! Being indoors in a house with central heating it never gets cold enough for him to know it's winter I'm guessing so is this worrying behaviour, should I just leave him and assume he's having a long break or should I dig him out? I don't want to do the wrong thing so any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'm assuming it's far too hot for him to hibernate indoors, our house temp never gets below 18'c and his heat/light lamp is still on its usual timer.
Many thanks for any help...

Avery warm welcome to the forum!

No need to panic/worry. You'll get the help you need from the experts here.

 

[friedeggontop]

Hoorah, Tippy is alive and so far appears well! I dug him up yesterday and gave him a soak, which he seemed happy enough with. After a meal of some favourite foods he had a wander around and a long bask until bedtime. Thanks for the advice given, much appreciated.