Told Not To Hibernate My Greek Tortoise

MaNaAk

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Thankyou she is okay although I know she would like to hibernate. My task at the moment is to make room for this run tortoise table and eventually I will be moving to another flat where they can enjoy a garden. I shall be looking at pictures on this site decide what is best for D and what I can fit in here.

MaNaAk
 

Yvonne G

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Hello Everyone!

D's still taking her meds like a good girl and I have been round some pet shops getting a good idea of heaters, lights and so on although I am still deciding on a run and house and so on. Bought calcium but Pets At Home seemed to suggest that I need heat for the hibernating tortoise!

Can't wait for Wednesday when we get the blood test results. I live on my own so my tortoises mean everything.

MaNaAk

PS: Up until April when I moved they lived outside for seventy-one years.
You said, ". . . for a hibernating tortoise." I think you've misunderstood us. Your tortoise should be kept up and warm over the winter. Do NOT allow her to hibernate! Whatever bug she has will not hibernate but will continue to grow and multiply and cause havoc within the tortoise, while she has slowed down her metabolism and is extremely susceptible to whatever havoc the bug is causing. Please read my post above which suggest the equipment you'll need to keep her awake and eating.
 

MaNaAk

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You said, ". . . for a hibernating tortoise." I think you've misunderstood us. Your tortoise should be kept up and warm over the winter. Do NOT allow her to hibernate! Whatever bug she has will not hibernate but will continue to grow and multiply and cause havoc within the tortoise, while she has slowed down her metabolism and is extremely susceptible to whatever havoc the bug is causing. Please read my post above which suggest the equipment you'll need to keep her awake and eating.
Sorry @Yvonne G I haven't misunderstood I will not be hibernating D as she is ill. The gentleman in Pets At Home seemed to think that J who isn't ill needed heat as well sorry for the misunderstanding. I was just doing some shopping and having a look around at what I could put in D's run and also buying Calcium. No your advice is brilliant and I shall be using this forum as I make plans for her accommodation.

I'll let you know how D gets on especially when her blood tests come back.

MaNaAk
 

Casie A

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Thankyou she is okay although I know she would like to hibernate. My task at the moment is to make room for this run tortoise table and eventually I will be moving to another flat where they can enjoy a garden. I shall be looking at pictures on this site decide what is best for D and what I can fit in here.

MaNaAk
When I got my little Russian, Ducky, we took a lot of ideas from this site. We eventually converted the top bunk of a bunk bed into an enclosure for her. I've attached a couple pictures in case you want a better idea.. 20210916_192816.jpg
 

roxy-lou

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J is also very pleased that everyone is looking after D.

J
I do hope your tort feels better soon

May I please ask what is your hibernation method
I have a Four year old and both he and I hate the fridge method
Last year he wouldn’t sleep after several hours I took him
Out and ended up overwintering him
I’d like to try a more natural method
Do you keep yours outside in a box?
Do they wake up at all if some days aren’t very cold ?
Your expert advice would be welcomed
I have an attic which is quite cold was going to try in there in some kind of box
Also when is a good time to start winding him down
I normally put him down around Christmas time
Thank you for your help
 
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TeamZissou

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Good evening everyone,

D who I think is 79 is at the top and J who I think is 86 is at the bottom.

These are Testudo graeca marokkensis, or Moroccan tortoises, and they generally not hibernators/brumators. If they've brumated throughout their lives, they must be really tough or have adapted. Neat to see such an old pair of torts.


 

MaNaAk

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I do hope your tort feels better soon

May I please ask what is your hibernation method
I have a Four year old and both he and I hate the fridge method
Last year he wouldn’t sleep after several hours I took him
Out and ended up overwintering him
I’d like to try a more natural method
Do you keep yours outside in a box?
Do they wake up at all if some days aren’t very cold ?
Your expert advice would be welcomed
I have an attic which is quite cold was going to try in there in some kind of box
Also when is a good time to start winding him down
I normally put him down around Christmas time
Thank you for your help
D and J are Greek Tortoises and for seventy years they hibernated outside. Generally as the season got colder they would eat less and less and come out later. They would eat greens, dandelions, mushrooms, tomatoes and strawberries (I generally feed them together except when they have strawberries as D grabs from J!) and the latter is stopped at the end of summer as they would never hibernate with strawberries. I also realise that is they don't emerge before midday they are unlikely to eat.

I moved to this flat in April and before then I was in the family home with a nice garden. D and J used to be in the tortoise house all night until the fox got in one night and dragged them out. I found J on her back and D outside and thank goodness they weren't bitten. After this they were put in the greenhouse at night with their polistyrene and old bedding from the tortoise house to protect them from heat or cold. They were able to go in the tortoise house during the day but neither of them went near it after the attack. Finding them like that was awful and since they've been here I have brought them in at night over the summer and now they are in all the time.

Until I construct a run for D I am keeping her warm with a fan heater and also my bedroom and kitchen face south so they are warm. J emerged briefly yesterday but hasn't emerged today. She is in the pet carrier in the bathroom where the cold will help her hibernate she also has the old polistyrene and metal tray. If you are hibernating your tortoise outside and they have hibernated for a week add some straw. I will be doing this with J and when it gets colder I will add more straw. When they start to emerge take some of the straw away but remember that some nights could still be colder so you need to keep some straw there. I usually stop giving food after a week of them not eating.

MaNaAk
 

JoesMum

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Hello and welcome from the other side of the Thames estuary. I had to keep Joe, a relative youngster in his 50s then probably, awake one winter and it wasn’t easy.

He too spent all his time in the garden except when he was hibernating.

I had a large bookcase on its back on the floor and used an electric radiator to keep the ambient temperature in the room up. He had a respiratory infection so it was hospital conditions - newspaper substrate. I had a basking lamp hanging from a lamp stand and a separate UVB tube fitting rigged up (screwed to batten and then rested on crates at either end of the bookcase).

It’s fair to say that Joe hated it. It was stressful for him and us. There wasn’t enough room for him. He was used to having our entire garden. And a tortoise crashing round after midnight is not conducive to human sleep.

Good luck!
 

zolasmum

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Welcome from Devon. I'm very impressed that Southend is now a city - do people feel different about living there now?
Your tortoises have obviously been well cared for - we have a Hermanns who is now 21, who we have had from a baby, and who is the most important member of the family - and I think he knows it. I don't think we will be around to see him reach the age of your chaps - who in your family had them first?
Very best wishes from Angie
 

MaNaAk

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At first my friends and myself felt but also sad for David Amess. When I lived Leigh he greeted me in the street as if we were great friends eventhough we hardly knew each other. My grandmother bought J when mum was eight and she was already quite big. There was another tortoise that came with J but that didn't survive the winter because it was attacked by a mouse. A year later they bought D as a mate for J and I know they are solitary animals but these two are also great friends. D was quite small and very fast!

My grandmother came to live with us alongwith J and D and when she passed away they gradually went down the family and now I have them. They've seen us through everything and were a great help when I cared for dad with Alz.

MaNaAk
 

zolasmum

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I can well imagine what a help your tortoises have been over the years - there is something so calming about a little creature who has been in your life for so long, and who just gets on with important things - like eating and sleeping - whatever is going on around them. I find that, too, with Zola.
Angie
 

MaNaAk

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Update:

The vet phoned and there is no infection so D must continue with her current medication and not hibernate. So relieved!

However before the vet phoned this is what happened:

I needed to clean my bedroom floor and put madam D in the pet carrier and out of the way. Madam D didn't like this and turned shoving her partner in the process and making her way out! Whilst I mopped the floors Madam D proceeded to wedge herself between the basin and wall in the bathroom. I am doing what I can to protect my little ones but they are very persistent especially D and I have some funny stories over the years.

This wasn't exactly the sign of a very sick tortoise!

MaNaAk
 

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