It has been frequently stated that some greek tortoise species cannot hibernate and will die if this is attempted. This has been said for those greek species that do not hibernate for any significant amount of time in their natural habitat, such as Testudo gracea gracea (from Morocco) and the middle eastern greeks.
However several members here have successfully hibernated their T.g. gracea in the UK for many years and I found this site in the USA that has successfully hibernated middle eastern greeks outdoors.
http://www.tortoisereserve.org/captivehusbandry/goldengreek.html
I do not wish to hibernate my tortoise but I feel that this would be an interesting topic to debate. It looks like all Testudo (russians, hermanns and greeks) might have the capacity to hibernate even though some do not need to use this ability to survive in today's climate. Maybe a few thousand years ago all greeks needed to hibernate due to a colder climate.
However several members here have successfully hibernated their T.g. gracea in the UK for many years and I found this site in the USA that has successfully hibernated middle eastern greeks outdoors.
http://www.tortoisereserve.org/captivehusbandry/goldengreek.html
I do not wish to hibernate my tortoise but I feel that this would be an interesting topic to debate. It looks like all Testudo (russians, hermanns and greeks) might have the capacity to hibernate even though some do not need to use this ability to survive in today's climate. Maybe a few thousand years ago all greeks needed to hibernate due to a colder climate.