What if my tortoise burrows deep and does not come outside?

[Vioderps]

My two RT seem to have burrowed last week (8 inches diagonally downwards) where the weather was slightly colder. They have stayed there for I few days and I'm not sure If I should be worried or not. California's weather is unpredictable and it will keep on getting hot and cold. What Should I do? Take them outside the burrow or leave them there? They do not come out to eat, but ate regularly before burrowing down.

 

[enzot91]

It's not just the temperature, it's the shorter days that are causing them to slow down and in this case burrow away too. I'm not familiar with your climate but I'd imagine even in California you'll need to make the decision to either bring them indoors and provide them with artificial heating/lighting, or hibernate them.

 

[wellington]

If it were me, I would dig them up. It's not cold enough consistently there for them to hibernate if your having up and down temps. Also you said they ate, which means they did not prepare themselves to hibernate. However, I am not in CA, but in IL where we are much more consistent with our temps.
@Tom @Yvonne G @Markw84 may be able to further assist.

 

[RosemaryDW]

@Vioderps, your Russians are hibernating. At eight inches down they are done for the year; they’ll be back up in the spring. I assume they are wild caught, which means they have already spent quite a few years hibernating; they are programmed for it when the days get shorter.

Our California weather is unpredictable, as you say. Your Russians need a constant, dry and cold (38-40 degrees) environment to have a healthy hibernation.

There are lots of opinions on hibernation. I personally am of the opinion that outdoors in Southern California does not provide good hibernation conditions for Russians. It’s not cold enough. Last year the area where my tortoise likes to burrow completely flooded with all that rain we had. If I’d let her hibernate there, she’d be dead.

You have three choices:

Leave them where they are and hope for the best

Build a full-size inside enclosure and run lights to trick them into staying awake (you can find plenty of info on this by doing a forum search)

Put them into hibernation in a controlled fridge environment

This is the information I used to set up my dorm sized fridge last year: http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/Refrigerator.htm.

My tortoise hibernated very early this year—before we were set up for it—so she went into our regular fridge while we wait for the little fridge to develop a consistent temperature. (We did put her in her hibernation box; she’s not just sitting on a shelf!)

I don’t want to frighten you but I do encourage you to make a decision soon. With our recent hit wave, your tortoises are probably not in full hibernation, which means they are burning reserves and losing weight. You want them to slow down their bodies as much as possible if you choose hibernation.

 

[wellington]

@Vioderps, your Russians are hibernating. At eight inches down they are done for the year; they’ll be back up in the spring. I assume they are wild caught, which means they have already spent quite a few years hibernating; they are programmed for it when the days get shorter.

Our California weather is unpredictable, as you say. Your Russians need a constant, dry and cold (38-40 degrees) environment to have a healthy hibernation.

There are lots of opinions on hibernation. I personally am of the opinion that outdoors in Southern California does not provide good hibernation conditions for Russians. It’s not cold enough. Last year the area where my tortoise likes to burrow completely flooded with all that rain we had. If I’d let her hibernate there, she’d be dead.

You have three choices:

Leave them where they are and hope for the best

Build a full-size inside enclosure and run lights to trick them into staying awake (you can find plenty of info on this by doing a forum search)

Put them into hibernation in a controlled fridge environment

This is the information I used to set up my dorm sized fridge last year: http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/Refrigerator.htm.

My tortoise hibernated very early this year—before we were set up for it—so she went into our regular fridge while we wait for the little fridge to develop a consistent temperature. (We did put her in her hibernation box; she’s not just sitting on a shelf!)

I don’t want to frighten you but I do encourage you to make a decision soon. With our recent hit wave, your tortoises are probably not in full hibernation, which means they are burning reserves and losing weight. You want them to slow down their bodies as much as possible if you choose hibernation.

However, they did not stop eating to be hibernating.
I agree though, sounds like your temps there are too inconsistent to leave them in the ground, along with the fact they did not properly ready themselves to hibernate.

 

[Tom]

I agree with all of the above.

If you leave them where they are, there is a good chance you won't see them alive again.

Either hibernate them correctly, or house them indoors and keep them up and heated all winter.