Why is my tortoise constantly scratching during semi hibernation?

[Fe-2470]

I have a 5 year old Hermann’s tortoise who has recently started going into semi hibernation, however everyday i here this loud scratching coming from her sleeping compartment, I tried getting her out and offering her some food but she just goes straight back in again and continues scratching at the bottom of her sleeping compartment. I have laid down a think layer of non dust shavings but she digs through it and carries on scratching and the wood.

Why is this?

 

[Tom]

There is no "semi-hibernation". They are either cold enough to hibernate, or not.

Where in the world are you? Please add this to your profile so we don't have to ask. Your location in the world will affect the answers you get.

What is the temperature where the sleeping compartment sits? Did you spend a couple of weeks soaking daily and not feeding the tortoise to empty its gut? If not, this could be part of the problem too.

 

[Yvonne G]

The tortoise is trying to dig deeper. Add some dried leaves to cover it.

 

[Fe-2470]

There is no "semi-hibernation". They are either cold enough to hibernate, or not.

Where in the world are you? Please add this to your profile so we don't have to ask. Your location in the world will affect the answers you get.

What is the temperature where the sleeping compartment sits? Did you spend a couple of weeks soaking daily and not feeding the tortoise to empty its gut? If not, this could be part of the problem..

I’m sorry I didn’t know that there was “no semi hibernation”. I don’t hibernate her fully when she wants to go to sleep she will for sometimes up to 3 weeks, lately it has been around about 5 days, I live in Cumbria, the Lake District. I feel that he enclosure is too small

 

[Markw84]

There is no "semi-hibernation". They are either cold enough to hibernate, or not.

Where in the world are you? Please add this to your profile so we don't have to ask. Your location in the world will affect the answers you get.

What is the temperature where the sleeping compartment sits? Did you spend a couple of weeks soaking daily and not feeding the tortoise to empty its gut? If not, this could be part of the problem too.

My thoughts about this...

This is where we get into the conversation of Brumation vs Hibernation. Many people seem to feel it is being a bit of grammar police to correct folks who incorrectly say tortoises or turtles hibernate by correcting that "it is really burmation, not hibernation". Mammals hibernate and go into a deep, torpor sleep that requires quite a process to awake again. They become oblivious to their surroundings and conditions. When a reptile brumates it is not in a true "oblivious" state. Conditions can awake it easily and in the wild they will often need to drink and move a bit if the temps rise a bit. Many species of turtles in particular, will indeed "semi" brumate. But brumation itself allows for intermittent periods of various stages of activity. In a pond that does not freeze over, and is in a more temperate region of the US, they will lay at the bottom and "sleep" for a week or weeks at a time. But they will rise and take some breaths, and swim slowly about many times, only to go back to the bottom to sit for another few weeks without moving at all. As spring nears, the semi-active periods increase and the motionless periods shorten and they start to even bask a bit. It may still be several weeks before they show any interest in food. They will have lost no weight during the whole winter. Brumating animals do not live off stores of fat as hibernating animals do. They instead can shut down their bodily functions to where it requires extremely small amounts of energy to last the whole winter. The increased levels of glycogen in the blood and cells easily provide for this extremely little metabolic activity. A hibernating mammal still consumes quite a bit of energy in maintaining body heat. Although lowered, it is still significant energy expenditures that require the consumption of quite a bit of body fat to last the winter.

Brumating reptiles take advantage and use the thermal mass of the earth (or the more stable water temperatures vs air temperatures) to maintain this state of minimal metabolic activity. The coolest area tortoises use burrows to get to even more stable temperatures where air temperature can have many periods of warmer tempreatues throughout the brumating period. Other also find areas to stay in crevices under rocks or as deep as possible dug under bushes. They will also go through periods where they have very limited activity in "warmer" spells, but normally remain uninterested in food, by may drink.

So in captivity it becomes almost impossible to replicate these conditions other than simply erring on the side of creating a constant temperature cool enough to keep the tortoise inactive. Too much warmer temps will cause the tortoise to be awake more and dehydration becomes the main concern. So instead of allowing "semi-hibernation" we force a much deeper brumation and do not allow for conditions that wake the tortoise. A true brumation of semi-active periods is just too hard to manage properly for a tortoise in captivity.

As added thoughts about burmation with chelonians =

With my aquatic turtles I know they will undrego a much more semi-active type of burmation here. I have never lost a turtle to the winter. In my area, the temperatures are such that semi-acitve periods of burmation is the norm. When the UV levels of the sun drop about the 1st of October, they simply start dramatically loosing interest in food, no matter the water temperature. Even though I still feed the same food the koi and other fish still eat eargerly, the turtles no longer come over and show interest in the food. As water temps drop below 55° they will mostly lay on the bottom, rising to breathe a few times a week or so. With water temps below 50° they rarely move at all from the bottom. All the time I will still be feeding my sturgeon through the winter, so food is available, by no turtle will take it at all, and even the koi stop feeding.

 

[KarenSoCal]

My thoughts about this...

This is where we get into the conversation of Brumation vs Hibernation. Many people seem to feel it is being a bit of grammar police to correct folks who incorrectly say tortoises or turtles hibernate by correcting that "it is really burmation, not hibernation". Mammals hibernate and go into a deep, torpor sleep that requires quite a process to awake again. They become oblivious to their surroundings and conditions. When a reptile brumates it is not in a true "oblivious" state. Conditions can awake it easily and in the wild they will often need to drink and move a bit if the temps rise a bit. Many species of turtles in particular, will indeed "semi" brumate. But brumation itself allows for intermittent periods of various stages of activity. In a pond that does not freeze over, and is in a more temperate region of the US, they will lay at the bottom and "sleep" for a week or weeks at a time. But they will rise and take some breaths, and swim slowly about many times, only to go back to the bottom to sit for another few weeks without moving at all. As spring nears, the semi-active periods increase and the motionless periods shorten and they start to even bask a bit. It may still be several weeks before they show any interest in food. They will have lost no weight during the whole winter. Brumating animals do not live off stores of fat as hibernating animals do. They instead can shut down their bodily functions to where it requires extremely small amounts of energy to last the whole winter. The increased levels of glycogen in the blood and cells easily provide for this extremely little metabolic activity. A hibernating mammal still consumes quite a bit of energy in maintaining body heat. Although lowered, it is still significant energy expenditures that require the consumption of quite a bit of body fat to last the winter.

Brumating reptiles take advantage and use the thermal mass of the earth (or the more stable water temperatures vs air temperatures) to maintain this state of minimal metabolic activity. The coolest area tortoises use burrows to get to even more stable temperatures where air temperature can have many periods of warmer tempreatues throughout the brumating period. Other also find areas to stay in crevices under rocks or as deep as possible dug under bushes. They will also go through periods where they have very limited activity in "warmer" spells, but normally remain uninterested in food, by may drink.

So in captivity it becomes almost impossible to replicate these conditions other than simply erring on the side of creating a constant temperature cool enough to keep the tortoise inactive. Too much warmer temps will cause the tortoise to be awake more and dehydration becomes the main concern. So instead of allowing "semi-hibernation" we force a much deeper brumation and do not allow for conditions that wake the tortoise. A true brumation of semi-active periods is just too hard to manage properly for a tortoise in captivity.

As added thoughts about burmation with chelonians =

With my aquatic turtles I know they will undrego a much more semi-active type of burmation here. I have never lost a turtle to the winter. In my area, the temperatures are such that semi-acitve periods of burmation is the norm. When the UV levels of the sun drop about the 1st of October, they simply start dramatically loosing interest in food, no matter the water temperature. Even though I still feed the same food the koi and other fish still eat eargerly, the turtles no longer come over and show interest in the food. As water temps drop below 55° they will mostly lay on the bottom, rising to breathe a few times a week or so. With water temps below 50° they rarely move at all from the bottom. All the time I will still be feeding my sturgeon through the winter, so food is available, by no turtle will take it at all, and even the koi stop feeding.

My thoughts about this...

This is where we get into the conversation of Brumation vs Hibernation. Many people seem to feel it is being a bit of grammar police to correct folks who incorrectly say tortoises or turtles hibernate by correcting that "it is really burmation, not hibernation".

I just found this post, and wow! what a thorough and easily understood explanation of the difference. I've "sort of" understood, but not at this level. I can also use this to help explain brumation to family and friends, who totally don't get it.
Thank you so much Mark!

 

[JoesMum]

Edited out cos Mark said it all