Chompy
New Member
i am new to having a RT. In San Diego it is around 79 in afternoon and 63 at night. Should she be hibernating. It’s going to be in 80s tomorrow, but so cold at night. What’s the right thing to do?
Russian Tortoise San Diego
- Thread starter Chompy
- Start date
Hi and Wecome!
Your current temps are fine as long as she has direct sun as well as cool shade. 63 at night is great as long as she can warm up in the sun in the morning. I'm guessing that it won't get cold enough, consistently enough for her to hibernate in SD. You would have to refrigerate her or just skip the hibernation and keep her up. Here is a care sheet that will give you the temps, plus lots of other good info.
https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
And here is a thread called Beginner mistakes which is super helpful.
https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
Hope that helps! Have any pics of your tortoise and her enclosure? I love to see all the cute torts and the homes people create
Your current temps are fine as long as she has direct sun as well as cool shade. 63 at night is great as long as she can warm up in the sun in the morning. I'm guessing that it won't get cold enough, consistently enough for her to hibernate in SD. You would have to refrigerate her or just skip the hibernation and keep her up. Here is a care sheet that will give you the temps, plus lots of other good info.
https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
And here is a thread called Beginner mistakes which is super helpful.
https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
Hope that helps! Have any pics of your tortoise and her enclosure? I love to see all the cute torts and the homes people create
It is sometimes difficult for a Russian tortoise to hibernate in the San Diego area, as it doesn't get cold enough. As long as he's eating and acting normal, I wouldn't worry about hibernation. Just continue to offer food and maybe put up a light/heat inside his shelter for those cooler nights.
Chompy
New Member
Thank you so much. This forum is wonderful. I use to raise Box Turtles when I was younger, but have never had a RT. I bought Alfalfa litter because of another advice site and just read not to give to her. Thank goodness I read that before putting it in her enclosure. I have a few more questions and would be thankful for your help.
-When I woke up this morning the temperature outside was 57 degrees. I am going to make some changes to her enclosure. I will purchase the ceramic heating stone for her. I was going to put it where she burrows. I figured she can use the sunshine during the day for now. Is 57 or low 50's too cold for her? It is getting close to 80's in daytime for now. She is starting to not come out on her own. I keep putting her in sunshine in afternoon and she eats and goes back to her burrow.
-She also has been peeling and I have been soaking her once a week. I was going to start soaking her twice a week. Do you think because of the recent rain and the soil being damp that she doesn't need it? Before it was super dry here.
Really appreciate all of your guidance. We rescued her. She was found crossing the street and when the owner was found it was not a good situation. They were good with not having her anymore.
Thank you again for all the help.
Laney
-When I woke up this morning the temperature outside was 57 degrees. I am going to make some changes to her enclosure. I will purchase the ceramic heating stone for her. I was going to put it where she burrows. I figured she can use the sunshine during the day for now. Is 57 or low 50's too cold for her? It is getting close to 80's in daytime for now. She is starting to not come out on her own. I keep putting her in sunshine in afternoon and she eats and goes back to her burrow.
-She also has been peeling and I have been soaking her once a week. I was going to start soaking her twice a week. Do you think because of the recent rain and the soil being damp that she doesn't need it? Before it was super dry here.
Really appreciate all of your guidance. We rescued her. She was found crossing the street and when the owner was found it was not a good situation. They were good with not having her anymore.
Thank you again for all the help.
Laney
Welcome!
Wow, that’s a lot to process.
I am in Newport Coast. San Diego is a big area; how dry is it where you are?
She may not hibernate on her own but it sounds to me like she is heading that direction (mine is as well). If they are outside, they are going to follow the changes of the sun and length of day. The colder night temps are a signal to her as well; it’s not necessarily how warm it is during the day. If she’s a wild caught Russian, she knows it’s time to hibernate.
My own vet says some/all Russians will manage in the winter without hibernation, just give them a warm place. Again, this is not my experience but if you want to give her a heat source, the stone is not the right way to go. She needs to get her heat from above the shell. You can read the links about creating a heated night box or you can try to run in a ceramic heat emitter if that works in your space. (We have a heated night box. It allows us to take her out of hibernation earlier in spring but it doesn’t stop her from hibernating.)
If you are going to see if she will hibernate outside, you need to make sure she is looking at a spot that is dry and won’t get flooded out when/if it rains. Russians are not built for the damp.
I personally fridge hibernate; it’s not cold enough or dry enough here for a Russian to safely hibernate, just as Yvonne says. That said, the first year we had ours (found crossing the street) she hibernated in the yard while we were trying to find her owners. She came out fine but the next year her chosen spot flooded multiple times; keeping her in the fridge is our best choice.
You’re in a tough situation, as a new owner. It’s late to try to start adjusting her to an outside heat source and it’s a bit late to look into fridge setups (you can do it, but you’d have to read up and get ready quickly).
The other alternative is keeping her inside and awake by artifically exposing her to long term light; trick her into thinking it’s spring/summer. Plenty of folks do this. Again you’d have to read up and get ready fairly quickly.
I personally feel I have two to three weeks, possibly four, before my tortoise winds down. She is still eating a little, as yours is; when she stops she’ll need a while going without, while she gets everything out of her system.
I know this can be overwhelming. She’s not going to dig down tomorrow, do a little reading here and then decide how you want to go. Hibernation is a personal decision; you are the person best qualified to decide what you are comfortable with.
Wow, that’s a lot to process.
I am in Newport Coast. San Diego is a big area; how dry is it where you are?
She may not hibernate on her own but it sounds to me like she is heading that direction (mine is as well). If they are outside, they are going to follow the changes of the sun and length of day. The colder night temps are a signal to her as well; it’s not necessarily how warm it is during the day. If she’s a wild caught Russian, she knows it’s time to hibernate.
My own vet says some/all Russians will manage in the winter without hibernation, just give them a warm place. Again, this is not my experience but if you want to give her a heat source, the stone is not the right way to go. She needs to get her heat from above the shell. You can read the links about creating a heated night box or you can try to run in a ceramic heat emitter if that works in your space. (We have a heated night box. It allows us to take her out of hibernation earlier in spring but it doesn’t stop her from hibernating.)
If you are going to see if she will hibernate outside, you need to make sure she is looking at a spot that is dry and won’t get flooded out when/if it rains. Russians are not built for the damp.
I personally fridge hibernate; it’s not cold enough or dry enough here for a Russian to safely hibernate, just as Yvonne says. That said, the first year we had ours (found crossing the street) she hibernated in the yard while we were trying to find her owners. She came out fine but the next year her chosen spot flooded multiple times; keeping her in the fridge is our best choice.
You’re in a tough situation, as a new owner. It’s late to try to start adjusting her to an outside heat source and it’s a bit late to look into fridge setups (you can do it, but you’d have to read up and get ready quickly).
The other alternative is keeping her inside and awake by artifically exposing her to long term light; trick her into thinking it’s spring/summer. Plenty of folks do this. Again you’d have to read up and get ready fairly quickly.
I personally feel I have two to three weeks, possibly four, before my tortoise winds down. She is still eating a little, as yours is; when she stops she’ll need a while going without, while she gets everything out of her system.
I know this can be overwhelming. She’s not going to dig down tomorrow, do a little reading here and then decide how you want to go. Hibernation is a personal decision; you are the person best qualified to decide what you are comfortable with.
Hello and welcome Chompy. Good advice above. I wanted to show you what I did to deal with this issue. Its all explained in the threads.
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/semi-underground-russian-box.98590/#post-922226
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/heating-an-outdoor-russian-night-box.116180/#post-1077261
This worked very well for me. It did not deal with the shortening daylight hours that come with fall and winter, but I also had indoor enclosures to move them to when needed. Using the heated box in the links above gave me another 6 weeks of leaving them outside on each end of hibernation. We have great weather here in SoCal, but the nights tend to be too cold to leave them out, but not consistently cold enough for them to hibernate outside.
Keep us posted. Questions and conversation are welcome.
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