What age to start hibernation?

[Natalie Jean]

Hi all, I have an entertaining Hermanns called Noah who will be 2 in November. Has anyone hibernated this young in captivity? Been reading lots and the general info on the net (which I'm often dubious of) is that you should hibernate until the tort is at least 3 (I'm aware of other factors also but am just enquiring about age AtTheMoment) any advice from actual owners would be greatly received, many thanks.

 

[THBfriend]

Sure, I let all my tortoises hibernate right from the start, even hatchlings. They do it in the wild, too.

 

[Tom]

Everyone has different opinions on this matter. I have hibernated many new tortoises, and lizards too, in their very first winter. I have never had any problem doing to this. I frequently see people recommending to wait a year or two or three, but I don't see the need for this if it is done correctly. I am not a fan of letting them hibernate "naturally" in our "un-natural" foreign climates. To me, that is taking a big risk, and leaving things to the mercy of Mother Nature.

"Hibernation" means many thing to many people, so just make sure you know what and how to do it safely before you do it. I would try to find someone in your own climate and area that has been doing it successfully for many years and ask them to walk you through it for the first year or two. A mentorship of sorts, if you will. It is so simple and easy, but there are some easy-to-miss fine points that can mean the difference between success and failure.

 

[Natalie Jean]

Thanks for the replies, I'm pretty confident at what I'm doing if I'm going to go for it (which I think I might) considering Noah is all fit and ready to go this winter. Great advice about seeing if anyone else near by has done it already this early, will add a msg to a new thread here. Thanks again

 

[Yvonne G]

I don't allow new-to-me tortoises to hibernate the first year no matter what their age is. As for babies that I've raised, I keep them awake the first four years and allow hibernation during their 5th winter.