Thinking about hibernation...

[HollyLovesBob]

Hello all, I could use some advice!

I know it’s a long way off hibernation time but we are considering hibernating our Russian boy this coming winter and I was really hoping to get some advice from someone who has past experience of successfully hibernating Russians.

The issue we have is we don’t know anything about his history - if he has ever hibernated before or how old he is - since he was found / was abandoned. We intend to get him checked out by a specialist reptile vet in July/August who would hopefully be able to tell us if it’s going to be safe to allow him to hibernate, however I can’t expect a vet to be an absolute expert in the matter.

I have seen a lot also about not allowing them to hibernate, but for a breed that would naturally hibernate for 9 months of the year in the wild, could it shorten their lifespan by not allowing them to hibernate?

Any info would be great!

 

[RosemaryDW]

Welcome!

You can hibernate or not; both are fine. There are long-term owners on the site who hibernate and who don’t. They’ve all got healthy, breeding tortoises. It’s really more what you want to set up and manage over the winter.

Some people will tell you not to hibernate a tortoise the first year you have it, because you don’t know the health history. That one is your call as well. I personally think you’ve got some flexibility there; watching his health for seven months with the help of a vet isn’t quite the same as a brand new tortoise you found in August. But others will disagree with me.

If your vet is competent, he absolutely will have researched experience with hibernation and opinions on what are good approaches for your tortoise, in your geographic location. If he doesn’t, find another vet! There are plenty of good reptile vets in England, unlike the U.S. where they are fairly rare.

Again, totally fine either way; it’s a personal decision.

 

[HollyLovesBob]

Welcome!

You can hibernate or not; both are fine. There are long-term owners on the site who hibernate and who don’t. They’ve all got healthy, breeding tortoises. It’s really more what you want to set up and manage over the winter.

Some people will tell you not to hibernate a tortoise the first year you have it, because you don’t know the health history. That one is your call as well. I personally think you’ve got some flexibility there; watching his health for seven months with the help of a vet isn’t quite the same as a brand new tortoise you found in August. But others will disagree with me.

If your vet is competent, he absolutely will have researched experience with hibernation and opinions on what are good approaches for your tortoise, in your geographic location. If he doesn’t, find another vet! There are plenty of good reptile vets in England, unlike the U.S. where they are fairly rare.

Again, totally fine either way; it’s a personal decision.

Thanks Rosemary.

I might hold off on hibernating him this year depending on how I feel after speaking to a vet.

 

[RosemaryDW]

There’s no rush; it’s all a lot to take in.

 

[HollyLovesBob]

There’s no rush; it’s all a lot to take in.

Yep, it has been a steep learning curve so far!

Do you allow yours to hibernate? I can’t imagine our guy staying still long enough to hibernate to be honest but I guess he would slow down if we were to reduce his food and time under the lamp.

 

[RosemaryDW]

My tortoise lives outdoors in warm and sunny California but having grown up in the wild, she hibernates regardless of what we want to do. “I do what I want” is her middle name. The year we found her she hibernated in our yard while we were still looking for an owner. Outdoors tortoises know when the days are getting shorter and naturally slow themselves down. The day she gets serious about digging is the day she goes in the fridge.

Russians are built for very dry and cold conditions in the winter. Because it doesn’t get very cold here in the winter and it’s also relatively damp, now we hibernate her in a fridge where she stays at the right temperature. It never gets cold enough in our house or garage for her to go into true hibernation, which wouldn’t be healthy. She’d burn calories.

To get an indoor tortoise to hibernate you’d need to slow down his exposure to ambient light in addition to reducing food and heat. You’d also have to decide if you want to hibernate him outside (if you think your yard will stay cold and dry) or use a fridge.

There is a lot to think about for hibernation. When you’ve gotten things more settled, there are a couple of threads on how to put a tortoise into hibernation safely. Our first year was nerve wracking.