Tortoise came out early from hibernation I need help!

[dtortoiselove]

Hello everyone I need advice! I just came out to check out on my desert tortoise who is in hibernation and he was outside! Today was the warmest day in months (78 degrees) but the weather will not stay that way.. it will going back to the 60-70’s in the morning and at night it is around 50 degrees.. this is worrying me and it is not the ideal weather for them to come out of hibernation.. I live in SoCal.. what should I do?

 

[Lyn W]

Hi and welcome,
Has he eaten at all? If so I think you need to keep him awake now because you don't want food rotting in his gut but that's where my knowledge ends.
There are plenty of people experienced with hibernation I'll tag some people who will definitely be able to help @Yvonne @Tom @zovick @TeamZissou @ZenHerper @Toddrickfl1

 

[dtortoiselove]

Hi and welcome,
Has he eaten at all? If so I think you need to keep him awake now because you don't want food rotting in his gut but that's where my knowledge ends.
There are plenty of people experienced with hibernation I'll tag some people who will definitely be able to help @Yvonne @Tom @zovick @TeamZissou @ZenHerper @Toddrickfl1

Hi and welcome,
Has he eaten at all? If so I think you need to keep him awake now because you don't want food rotting in his gut but that's where my knowledge ends.
There are plenty of people experienced with hibernation I'll tag some people who will definitely be able to help @Yvonne @Tom @zovick @TeamZissou @ZenHerper @Toddrickfl1

Thank you so much!! I appreciate any help and no he has not eaten yet! I offered him something and he was not interested he is just sitting in the sun at the moment and walking a bit

 

[TeamZissou]

Turtles and tortoises come out of brumation only to go down again:

Hibernation? Brumation?

This topic continues to be one of those never ending debates on TFO. First, I'd like to point out how correct the OP is by stating that tortoises brumate (not hibernate). Knowing the two makes a difference and better understanding of it's necessity, or not. Brumation is a state of lethargy, not...

tortoiseforum.org

Unless you plan to keep him up at proper temps to resume feeding, I would only offer water to drink and make sure he makes it back to his spot so that he doesn't get caught out in cold weather. Brumation outside can be risky due to inconsistent temps.

 

[KarenSoCal]

Hi, and welcome to the forum!

When my DT woke too early, I brought him into the house. We only had 2-3 weeks til warmer weather.

I got a BIG cardboard box and put it on a table. I used newspaper instead of substrate, a cardboard box with a door cut out for a hide. I put an ordinary incandescent light bulb over top to act as a basking bulb, and a food and water dish. The biggest problem I had was that he would try to climb out and occasionally fall onto his back.

He was in there about 10 days, then the weather cooperated, and outside he went.

I laid a towel over the box at night to help keep in the heat, but my house is not kept very cold. He was fine.

In some ways I liked doing it that way...I could watch him closely as he fully woke and started to eat.

 

[Tom]

Hello everyone I need advice! I just came out to check out on my desert tortoise who is in hibernation and he was outside! Today was the warmest day in months (78 degrees) but the weather will not stay that way.. it will going back to the 60-70’s in the morning and at night it is around 50 degrees.. this is worrying me and it is not the ideal weather for them to come out of hibernation.. I live in SoCal.. what should I do?

1. This is why you don't brumate them outside. Our weather is far too inconsistent, and often too warm. But we can talk about that next year in the fall...
2. What you need is a temperature controlled shelter. I'm up in Santa Clarita. I use insulated boxes that I can control the temperatures in for them to live in. They should be brumated in a fridge so the temperature stays constantly cold for the entire duration. If you had a tortoise box, you could simply turn the ambient heat back on, set to around 65, and then use a basking lamp for any cold spells between now and May/June when it gets hot and stays hot. Its all explained in detail here, with pics too:

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

3. I've had animals wake up early during these warm spells, and then eat and either not go back down , or try to go back down and then die from the food in their gut. Our climate simply isn't suitable for letting them brumate on their own outside. So what do you do now? You need a way to keep him warm, regardless of what the weather does over the next couple of months. I simply turn on the heat in my night box, and run the heat lamp on cold days. You will probably need a large indoor enclosure with a day time heat lamp. Hard to do with an adult. It would be much better to leave him in his enclosure. Do you have time to build a night box? Keep the night temp around 60-65, and have a heat lamp for them to warm up under during the day, if its not sun and warm enough.

 

[dtortoiselove]

Hi, and welcome to the forum!

When my DT woke too early, I brought him into the house. We only had 2-3 weeks til warmer weather.

I got a BIG cardboard box and put it on a table. I used newspaper instead of substrate, a cardboard box with a door cut out for a hide. I put an ordinary incandescent light bulb over top to act as a basking bulb, and a food and water dish. The biggest problem I had was that he would try to climb out and occasionally fall onto his back.

He was in there about 10 days, then the weather cooperated, and outside he went.

I laid a towel over the box at night to help keep in the heat, but my house is not kept very cold. He was fine.

In some ways I liked doing it that way...I could watch him closely as he fully woke and started to eat.

Thank you so much for the advice, hearing your experience helps a lot! I will be taking your suggestions and do something similar