Hibernating with a full stomach

[stevenf625]

Rhialto is a ~ 6 year old Dalmation tortoise.

When I first got him 5 months ago, he seemed severely underweight, so when he tried to start hibernating, I stopped it by moving him indoors where I could keep him warm and well lit.
For the past 5 months he's been active, eating and pooping regularly, and has increased his weight from 315g to 420g @12.7cm.


Lately his behavior has changed. Instead of sleeping on top of the substrate and being up and about shortly after the lights come on, he’s been digging himself down into the darkest, coldest part of his enclosure and generally is not waking up in the morning. He also hasn't been pooping, urates yes, but no poop.

He doesn’t appear to be sick.
If I dig him up and give him a soak, he’ll perk up, eat his usual amount, bask under his lamp, ect. But not if left on his own.

It looks like he wants to hibernate, which is fine except for the following.

1. I know he has a lot of food in his system and hasn’t done a proper pre-hibernation purge.
   
   
2. His enclosure is too warm. I doubt his body temp gets below 70 deg F.
   
   What should I do?
   
   Should I leave him alone?
   
   Should I be soaking him every day, not feeding him till he poops his system clean then stick him somewhere cold?

 

[wellington]

Tortoises should not hibernate the first year you own them. You need the time to know if they truly are healthy or if they came to you with something. I also know tortoises can not hibernate with food in their gut. The food will sit there and rot and cause all kinds of problems. Keep him up. Make sure the enclosure is heated day and night and have the enclosure brightly lit for 14 hours.