New member from New Zealand with questions re hibernation

Craig Skinner

New Member
Joined
Jan 11, 2019
Messages
3
Location (City and/or State)
New Zealand
Hi everyone - I'm new to the forum and relatively new to tortoises. I live in Auckland, New Zealand and have three awesome Hermanns tortoises - Peggy is 1 years old, and Basil and George are 3 years old. I bought Peggy from a breeder here in Auckland, and she escaped from a temporary outdoor enclosure, only to turn up 5 weeks later on our neighbours driveway! After 3-4 weeks of searching for Peggy, my daughter and I decided to buy Basil and George who were being sold as a couple. It was a huge surprise to find Peggy, and now we find ourselves with three Hermanns which is fantastic! I con't believe how interesting these little creatures are, and how much joy they bring :)

After losing Peg, I wanted to build a decent outdoor enclosure (see photos - keen to get peoples feedback and suggestions for improvement). The enclosure seems to be working really well, but now that we're heading into autumn, I'm getting a little worried about Peg. I was told when I got Peg that the New Zealand climate was suitable for keeping the tortoises outdoors all year round. It's only just starting to get colder here now (temperatures currently 12 - 17 degrees) but the tortoises have slowed down considerably, and Peg has buried herself in the substrate 3 cms down for the past couple of weeks. I'm worried that she has done this too soon, and need advice about what I should do. Really keen to get advice from someone who is use to juvenile tortoises in a very similar climate as NZ.

The enclosure has two indoor areas that are dry - I created a separate area for Peg because the boys took an immediate interest in her when they were first introduced. This interest has since subsided and they all seem very happy together.
One photo shows an upturned container which is over the area that Peg has buried herself in (it rains a lot in NZ and I was worried about the area getting too water-logged.

Looking to get any and all advice from the wider membership :)

Thanks in advance for your help - really appreciate it. Cheers, Craig
 

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Craig Skinner

New Member
Joined
Jan 11, 2019
Messages
3
Location (City and/or State)
New Zealand
Just read my post - auto-correct has changed Peg's burying efforts from 3cms to 3kms! I definitely meant 3 cms! :)
 

Yvonne G

Old Timer
TFO Admin
10 Year Member!
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Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
93,389
Location (City and/or State)
Clovis, CA
I don't know anything about your species, however, I do have Russian tortoises and my climate is too wet to allow them to brumate outdoors. After I'm sure they're finished eating (for about two weeks) and they no longer come out to sun themselves, I box them up in shredded newspaper and put them in a cool, dry, quiet place until spring.
 

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