Hermannibernation & outdoor housing advice please!

[jen92]

Hi all!

I'm soon to become the owner of a 4-6 week old Hermann (depending on when the breeder wants to part with him/her) by the end of July.

I'm able to provide a great indoor home for our new family member, however I understand that in order for a tortoise to thrive, they must have outdoor hosuing. I live in the North East of England, where it's absolutely freezing (we're lucky to get above 8 degrees even in the summer.. if you can call it that & it rains.. constantly!) What do I do given my situation?

Secondly, some websites advise no hibernation under the age of 2, is this really true? When do I do it? & how long for.. 6 weeks?

Sorry for the trillion questions, just these are the 2 sticking points for me & the info I've found is so conflicting.

Thanks in advance!
Jen

 

[Jacqui]

Welcome! I wish I could give you straight answers for your questions, but I can't. Those are all things that different people feel differently about (and some feel them very passionately). A tortoise will thrive being kept inside and indeed most folks do keep their hatchlings inside. Now that's said, they do so much better if they can get some time outside. It may mean just a 20 min supervised playtime outside once or twice a week, or it could mean getting to live outside 24/7. A lot depends on you and your given situation. The more outside time, the better I think. Of course, come winter it will be almost completely indoors... unless you hibernate him.

Once more hibernation is dependent a lot on you and your attitude. There seems to be no hard evidence that they need to hibernate. Hibernation if done wrong can indeed be deadly to the tortoise. I would say the majority do not hibernate their hatchlings, but once more some do. It's an area you need to study and decide which of the different methods will work best for you... if any of them.

 

[MikeCow1]

I usually wait until they are 2-3 years before allowing hibernation

 

[Zamric]

Welcome to the Forum!

 

[jen92]

RE: Hermann hibernation & outdoor housing advice please!

Thankyou for the advice!

I don't think I'll hibernate my newby this year, he'll still be so tiny & vunerable!

There's no way I can any provide any form of heat lamp outside, which is unfortunate. I think supervised playtime is going to be my best bet.

In the winter, won't my house be too cold at night with the ZooMed bulb & central heating off?

Really appreciate your feedback! I think I have 10,000 questions!

 

[JoesMum]

RE: Hermannibernation & outdoor housing advice please!

There are many people much further north than you who manage to get their torts outside. Maybe not as much as I do, but even in Scotland they can

A cold frame placed in a good sunny spot makes a great basking / warm up / overnight sleeping place. Either knock a hole in the side for a door, or stand it on bricks and leave a tort sized gap for use as a door. Stick a pile of hay inside for your tort to dig into.

Another outdoor trick is to use a wooden dog kennel, play house, shed or tool chest as a hide, insulate it and rig up a ceramic heater for basking in that.

Your tort can then go out stomping and will return to the warmth to sleep and recharge his heat levels.... well that's the theory, Joe reserves the right to sleep where he darn well pleases and march round in hail storms!

 

[dmarcus]

Hello Jen and welcome to the forum...

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Jen:

Welcome to the Tortoise forum!!

 

[jen92]

Oh yes, I've read a lot about the use of cold frames, they look quite canny (as we say up here, haha)

I can't decide.. I love the look of outdoor spaces for through the day especially, but it's just not really an option.

I do feel more reassured now that I know it's good to get them out even for supervised short bursts, I could do that easily on dry days. Are you sure they won't get too cold though?

 

[JoesMum]

RE: Hermannibernation & outdoor housing advice please!

It's amazing how warm it gets close to the ground on a sunny day in winter. Once they've warmed up, under a lamp if necessary, they'll trundle round and then go for cover when they cool off (or head for an outdoor lamp if it's there) Torts find hot spots VERY quickly!

Joe wasn't allowed to hibernate this winter and he's been out in all weathers. Sometimes it's only for half an hour, but it's helped to calm him down.

I'm actually an emigrant Yorkshire tyke, so i do understand your weather

 

[pam]

Welcome

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Welcome!

 

[TORTOISEMAN1]

welcome!

 

[Jacob]

Hell jen, welcome to the forum!

 

[jen92]

Guys, I have another question for you all. What do you think about coconut coir? I seen some in Ikea today for £1.99 (Expands to 15 litres!) Will this be suitable for my new family member? http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/90231416/

 

[ascott]

Yes, coco coir is good...

 

[jen92]

Great! How much depth do I put in? & also, will I need a reflector dome holder for an Arcadia D3 100W bulb? Thankyou so much!

 

[ascott]

I would make the dept at least 4 inches....sometimes they like to completely burrow down and hide their entire body in the substrate ...so the depth should allow at least for that...also I like to make the substrate that depth so that when I add warm water under the basking/heat source it can remain moist under the first layer--but the first layer or so dries to allow for the shell an opportunity to not be wet constantly....again, this is my preference...some others use a swampy environment...and if you should decide to go that route please please please be sure that your enclosure temps do not ever fall below 80-85 degrees....

If you use a reflector dome...just remember that it intensifies the temps directly under and around the light/heat path...so account for that and you should be aok....

 

[JoesMum]

RE: Hermannibernation & outdoor housing advice please!

Outdoors the standard garden soil is fine... It can be used indoors too. Coco coir seems to be used by many people. Do read the bag carefully. If it's been treated with fertilisers or other chemicals, it's not good.