In fact, at this stage, their breathing is so slow that enough air will filter through the soil but not enough to cause any problems with fluctuating air temperatures.Ĭlip on the ventilated lid and place the box somewhere that stays cool between 3 – 7 degrees C. As the tortoise moves around over the next couple of days it will bury itself, don’t worry it will not suffocate. Place the tortoise in the box and let him settle for a couple of hours, then put some more loose soil in the box around the edge banked up the sides. If the tortoise is still very active try cooling it for another week. Once you have gone through the last stages of cooling and your tortoise hasn’t eaten for about two weeks it should be ready to be placed in the hibernation box. Even when it feels relatively dry to the touch it will naturally have some moisture content which will help prevent dehydration in hibernation. Using a large strong plastic box at least 30 cm deep and with a strong clip-on ventilated lid, fill it halfway with relatively dry garden compost or fine soil.
We have been using the following technique for many years and have found it to be the most natural and safe way to hibernate your tortoise. Remember that dehydration kills tortoises in hibernation, not starvation as many people think. It will also cause dehydration which can lead to kidney failure. This will take it in and out of sleep and will unnecessarily burn off calories and lose bodyweight. Also, by keeping your tortoise in straw, hay or paper the air circulating around your tortoise will fluctuate its body temperature. This is due to our winters being long and generally mild which can fluctuate daily. I have found in the past when hibernating tortoises the old fashion way in a box with straw, hay or newspaper, they frequently wake during the winter months and tend to be in poor condition when they wake up in spring. This will keep the tortoise’s metabolism stable and prevent it from burning off calories and losing body weight during hibernation. The main issue of safe hibernation is to be able to maintain the tortoise’s body temperature between 3 & 7 degrees C and not to allow it to fluctuate. After two weeks of not feeding the tortoise should have emptied its stomach contents and will be ready for hibernation. Again by using a heated vivarium you can extend there summer to the end of October by maintaining a constant temperature.Īt the end of October, you can start to reduce the night and day temperatures slowly over a couple of weeks until the tortoise shows no signs of feeding due to its body temperature being to cool.Ĭontinue reducing the temperature and start counting the days from when they last fed. In the autumn as early as the first week in September night temperatures start to become cold and many tortoises stop eating, this is far too early for tortoises to start their hibernation. In a vivarium, tortoises can be kept in a stable environment which will stimulate its appetite and help it recover safely from its hibernation. The main reason to use a heated vivarium is that in spring when tortoises wake up the outside temperatures are not stable enough. Remember that our summer months are much shorter than southern Europe where they naturally live and to help extend the summer and reduce the time spent in hibernation it’s always best to use a vivarium. It is very important to weigh your tortoise using Komodo Reptile Scales and work out the weight to size ratio (refer to Jackson’s ratio graph). Older tortoises can be hibernated safely providing they are of good weight, are generally healthy, and have shown no signs of respiratory problems. Its recommended to keep hatchlings up to three years old (or up to 100mm plastron length) awake during winter in a heated vivarium. PREPARING FOR HIBERNATIONĪlthough tortoises would normally hibernate in the wild from their first year as hatchlings it is not recommended for beginners to do so at such a delicate age.
Over many years using different methods of hibernation we have developed a relatively safe hibernation technique which if followed correctly should take most of the worry out of hibernation. The most traumatic time for a tortoise owner is at the end of the summer when nights draw in, temperatures start to drop and the first thoughts of hibernation come to mind.
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