Ready Brumation

[Raffa]

Hi All,
Just after a bit of advice!
We’ve been preparing our Herman tortoise for his first brumation. We are all set to go now, but he seems to be a bit more active today, which has made us think.
We’ve weighed him, he’s in his shoe box and ready for the fridge!
Should we wait, as he’s a little bit more active, or is it fine to start the process?!?
Thanks in advance.
Raff

 

[Tom]

Hi All,
Just after a bit of advice!
We’ve been preparing our Herman tortoise for his first brumation. We are all set to go now, but he seems to be a bit more active today, which has made us think.
We’ve weighed him, he’s in his shoe box and ready for the fridge!
Should we wait, as he’s a little bit more active, or is it fine to start the process?!?
Thanks in advance.
Raff

I would have to know all the details of how you prepared leading up to this point to answer, but in general, I let the tortoise and the weather decide when the tortoise goes down, after all the prep has been done.

Might be easier to read through this to make sure your tortoise is ready. Waiting a few more days after the correct fasting and wind down are done shouldn't hurt anything as long as the tortoise doesn't eat during a fall warm spell:

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

 

[Raffa]

I would have to know all the details of how you prepared leading up to this point to answer, but in general, I let the tortoise and the weather decide when the tortoise goes down, after all the prep has been done.

Might be easier to read through this to make sure your tortoise is ready. Waiting a few more days after the correct fasting and wind down are done shouldn't hurt anything as long as the tortoise doesn't eat during a fall warm spell:

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

Thanks for that!
We’ve had him checked by the vets, been off food for 3 weeks now (with a reduced routine before that). Been bathed daily for the last 3 odd weeks too. He really quietened down at the start of the week and thought he was ready, so planned to start today, but he seemed more active.
Will monitor him for a few more days!!
Cheers