Anyone's desert torts wake up yet?

Gabriel Luna

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Today here in North Mexico near to Texas is like 15 Celsius, so I guess my torts won't awake today or tomorrow. But next week we are going to have low 30 celsius weather, so I believe they would awake, but we never know.
 

JohnnyB65

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Mine has not, but I’m concerned because there are so many wild desert tortoises showing up on Facebook here in the High Desert in Southern CA.
I can’t get to my Tortoise because his burrow is so deep with a long tunnel. I may have to send down a camera to check on him especially after the heavy rains and flooding we just had.
 

Razan

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Ah yesssss. Another tortoise is up. Thanks to this series of posts I began digging my CA desert tortoise out from being buried by gophers. After 3 days/tries at digging him out the tunnel disappeared at a dead end. The now big pit with no sign of a tortoise was covered up with tarp. The next day he dug his way into the pit and came out. Hurray !

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Slightly filthy. Try not to judge me...



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Coconut the lab looks on. No, she is not left alone with the tortoises. She prefers to be in the house anyway. That dog house top in the background is put over the entrance of the tortoise burrow to keep it dry and shady there.
 

Kenno

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Ah yesssss. Another tortoise is up. Thanks to this series of posts I began digging my CA desert tortoise out from being buried by gophers. After 3 days/tries at digging him out the tunnel disappeared at a dead end. The now big pit with no sign of a tortoise was covered up with tarp. The next day he dug his way into the pit and came out. Hurray !

View attachment 200187
Slightly filthy. Try not to judge me...



View attachment 200188
Coconut the lab looks on. No, she is not left alone with the tortoises. She prefers to be in the house anyway. That dog house top in the background is put over the entrance of the tortoise burrow to keep it dry and shady there.
A filthy tort is a happy tort!
 

rick parks

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Alex and Hercules came to the door and got a little sun today. They only got this far and then slept there all day.
Hi,
Mine is about the size /age of yours and her burrow flooded for the first time. I saw her out under the grasses there and brought her muddiness in and had my son carefully wash her off (cool water!) But I'm concerned, this is the first time we've ever had enough rain to drive her out. Have you had this problem? We've put her in a cool box in a spare (darkened) room as it seems she's not finished hibernating (she usually comes out on March 17th. Seriously. like clockwork)
 

Razan

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Hi,
Mine is about the size /age of yours and her burrow flooded for the first time. I saw her out under the grasses there and brought her muddiness in and had my son carefully wash her off (cool water!) But I'm concerned, this is the first time we've ever had enough rain to drive her out. Have you had this problem? We've put her in a cool box in a spare (darkened) room as it seems she's not finished hibernating (she usually comes out on March 17th. Seriously. like clockwork)

Our CA DT was out early this year too. His burrow flooded after he emerged for the 1st time. He came out one year on the 5th of March. This year it was about Valentines day. Maybe it is the rain situation driving them out sooner. They probably know more about the weather that we do, even with our Doppler 7 thousand HD.

Our guy looks like he would rather be hibernating still. He hasn't eaten that we have seen, and he doesn't go far at all. You did good tucking him away for a little longer it seems.
 

Kenno

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All my DTs are stirring. One is eating grass and the other two are coming out to sleep in the sun.
Their burrow is elevated and covered. If they are out at night when rain is coming, I put them back in the burrow.
As a general rule, I avoid picking them up. My oldest guy really hates to lose contact with the ground!
 

Gabriel Luna

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All my DTs are stirring. One is eating grass and the other two are coming out to sleep in the sun.
Their burrow is elevated and covered. If they are out at night when rain is coming, I put them back in the burrow.
As a general rule, I avoid picking them up. My oldest guy really hates to lose contact with the ground!

He doesn't like flying! LOL
 

Gabriel Luna

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When I was little, we had a Texas tortoise, and me as a child not knowing a lot of tortoises, I pick him up and "flying" him. So much fun for me, but I believe not for our tortoise.
 

JohnnyB65

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Well I guess it was a good thing that mine didn’t come out yet because it was below freezing this morning and supposed to continue through the week.

The problem with my tort is that he doesn’t always go back in immediately when it starts cooling off and then gets stuck out in the cold unless I find him and put him in the entrance of his burrow.
 

Rebs

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Mar 24, 2015
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One of my two woke up today! I just started a separate thread but wanted to mention here too, for those of you whose tortoises have woken up, I'm taking a Geographic Information Systems class and for my assignment I want to make a map of what date everyone's tortoises woke up to see if there's any pattern based on location and weather. Please check it out?
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/5LDHCTJ
 

Kenno

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My three desert torts are in and out of hibernation at this point. They all moved together to a new location during the last rain, but they haven't moved in several days. One even ate some grass when he was up. It might be hard to choose a date. Generally they hibernate until mid March or early April. I'm in Long Beach, California.
 

Yvonne G

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Hi,
Mine is about the size /age of yours and her burrow flooded for the first time. I saw her out under the grasses there and brought her muddiness in and had my son carefully wash her off (cool water!) But I'm concerned, this is the first time we've ever had enough rain to drive her out. Have you had this problem? We've put her in a cool box in a spare (darkened) room as it seems she's not finished hibernating (she usually comes out on March 17th. Seriously. like clockwork)

Hi Rick, and welcome to the forum!

You were smart to not set her up under lights and heat. Just let her wake up in a cool part of the house naturally. If there's a spot outside safe from rain, you can put her out in her box tucked away safely so the weather tells her when to start waking up.
 

Kenno

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Duncan and Hercules are up now. They ate grass and drank water.
Alex is still hibernating.
 

KateZ

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Dec 10, 2016
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Hey friends. Looking for advise. My Sonoran is still hibernating. I live in Scottsdale AZ. Temps over the next two weeks are forecasted between to be warm. Low of 58 with high in the mid 80s. I've had Donatello not quite a year so this was my first experience with hibernation. He is eight years old adopted from TAP.

Question. I am leaving on an extended trip on Sunday. My daughter plans to come by and feed Donatello and check his water should he wake. Is there any harm in me waking him tomorrow to ensure he soaks well, gets warmed up and has a health check? I am concerned with him waking when no one is here to give him a nice warm soak.

Worried about leaving him with someone else. It's quite warm here.

Thanks for the continued support
 

KateZ

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Nature is funny. I went outdoors to consider waking my Sonoran tortoise from his long hibernation. When I peaked inside his shelter he was wide awake. Moving slowly but awake. He enjoyed a warm soak and is already up and moving around. It's warm out today about 80 degrees here in Scottsdale. I have to say how good it is to see the little guy after a long four month hibernation.

Any advise?
 

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Razan

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Nature is funny. I went outdoors to consider waking my Sonoran tortoise from his long hibernation. When I peaked inside his shelter he was wide awake. Moving slowly but awake. He enjoyed a warm soak and is already up and moving around. It's warm out today about 80 degrees here in Scottsdale. I have to say how good it is to see the little guy after a long four month hibernation.

Any advise?
Just my opinion that your tortoise should be fine as long as he is big enough to be outside, protected from dogs and has shelter, food and water available.

I'm so happy he was awake when you checked in on him. It is such fun to see them for the first time each spring !
 

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