Hi everyone
Our 3 year old marginated tortoise has had a pretty tough first brumation with us in the north of England. We will in future use the fridge method but this is our current issue. We sent him into brumation on November 19 as the temperature outside became a steady 3-8C so we put him in the double box method in the shed with appropriate insulation. In early December things changed markedly as the UK was plunged into a sharp cold snap with temperature at night dropping to -7C and by day around 0-4C. We added extra protection during this time but after ten days with consistently low temperature we felt we had no choice but to bring him inside briefly. He was on the kitchen flag floor in his box in a cool corner for about five days and didn't appear to wake except on day when we checked for signs of life he had warmed up and made a small movement. With the temperature outdoors going back to 3-7C we put him back in the shed for the last week. However it's getting mild this week between 8-10C and we think he's moved in his box. Should we therefore abandon all attempts to brumate after 37 days and over winter indoors with proper uva uvb and heat and accept it's not going to work this time. We're concerned he may dehydrate having been disturbed. Please advise.
Mark
Our 3 year old marginated tortoise has had a pretty tough first brumation with us in the north of England. We will in future use the fridge method but this is our current issue. We sent him into brumation on November 19 as the temperature outside became a steady 3-8C so we put him in the double box method in the shed with appropriate insulation. In early December things changed markedly as the UK was plunged into a sharp cold snap with temperature at night dropping to -7C and by day around 0-4C. We added extra protection during this time but after ten days with consistently low temperature we felt we had no choice but to bring him inside briefly. He was on the kitchen flag floor in his box in a cool corner for about five days and didn't appear to wake except on day when we checked for signs of life he had warmed up and made a small movement. With the temperature outdoors going back to 3-7C we put him back in the shed for the last week. However it's getting mild this week between 8-10C and we think he's moved in his box. Should we therefore abandon all attempts to brumate after 37 days and over winter indoors with proper uva uvb and heat and accept it's not going to work this time. We're concerned he may dehydrate having been disturbed. Please advise.
Mark