Did my tortoise even hibernate?

[Archie010]

Hi all,
Yesterday I got my Hermann up from hibernation which he’d been put into November last year, everything was fine, no signs of urination or anything, however I swear I heard him stirring sometimes when in the shed.
Yesterday I got him out, gave him a soak and I was expecting him to be extremely lethargic and gummed up, but he was absolutely wide awake, put him to warm up in his heat lamp, and he started running around and eating his food like nothing happened! I really don’t think there was much hibernating going on, at best a light doze… did I hibernate him too young? He’s 5 years old
Maybe I got him up after he’d been awake for a bit? We had two weeks of lovely weather in the UK and it’s been relatively warm (13-14 degrees) he’s been hibernating since November and I read 3 months was the ideal period of hibernation.

Just need some advice for next year really, thank you guys!

 

[wellington]

I don't hibernate which it's really called brumate. However, I have seen many threads where their torts have woken early. I would assume it's the warmer then normal winter most are having.
However, the proper way to brumate is in a control temperature environment like a frig. Doing it in a temp controlled environment would keep them brumating no matter what the temp outside was

 

[Tom]

Hi all,
Yesterday I got my Hermann up from hibernation which he’d been put into November last year, everything was fine, no signs of urination or anything, however I swear I heard him stirring sometimes when in the shed.
Yesterday I got him out, gave him a soak and I was expecting him to be extremely lethargic and gummed up, but he was absolutely wide awake, put him to warm up in his heat lamp, and he started running around and eating his food like nothing happened! I really don’t think there was much hibernating going on, at best a light doze… did I hibernate him too young? He’s 5 years old
Maybe I got him up after he’d been awake for a bit? We had two weeks of lovely weather in the UK and it’s been relatively warm (13-14 degrees) he’s been hibernating since November and I read 3 months was the ideal period of hibernation.

Just need some advice for next year really, thank you guys!

Please read all of these for answers to your questions:

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tortoiseforum.org

Unless you have some means of controlling the temperature, "out in the shed" probably isn't a good place to be brumating your tortoise.

 

[mark1]

my opinion on hibernation in poikilotherms , just my opinion , and it has changed over the years, and may further change ........ i am not familiar with hibernation , i've never watched it , i have watched brumation up close for quite some time, over 20yrs ........ there is nothing precisely controlled about weather conditions for natural brumation.... other than earths relationship to the sun, seasonal weather anomalies are not uncommon , where i live it's a common yearly occurrence ....... february 15th 2023 in ohio was 70F , february 15th 2022 was 7F in ohio ....... the brumation i see, seems to be nothing more than behaviors to survive less than optimal weather conditions for extended periods of time...... ... just like estivation ......

some thoughts on artificial and natural brumation .... a shed and a box is not natural brumation it's artificial brumation ........
is it healthier for a tortoise or turtle to be subject to a constant consistent cold temperature for the entire duration of their brumation, why ? that is without question unnatural? is it natural and healthier for a turtle or tortoise to be subject to temperature fluctuations during brumation, being active and inactive , why ? as much as turtles and tortoise do best provided optimal conditions when kept indoors , they do best when provided optimal conditions when kept outside , either place can be sub-optimal.......... turtles and tortoises survive brumation, both artificial and natural, under less than optimal conditions , just like they survive being kept under sub-optimal conditions for years/decades ....... i am of the opinion you can provide a turtle or tortoise hibernated in nature a hibernacula that is better than they are likely to find in naturally .....

a box in a shed , not sure what defines a shed......a shed, by my definition, on a cold clear sunny late february day can get substantially warmer than the outside temp ?

the only threats to brumating turtles i can see is , they were sick when they went into hibernation , they don't have the energy reserves to survive it ( the warmer more active they are ,the more energy they expend), of course predators , freezing, and whatever natural disasters could occur ....... refrigerators are capable of getting below freezing temps ........

as far as activity during hibernation , turtles that hibernate in water can be watched brumate , their level of activity at 40-50F degrees would surprise a lot of folks .......it did me , initially it concerned me

water temperature for this girl is 48F degrees , she is completely alert and aware of what's going on around her , she has at least another 6 weeks before she eats ..... it's entirely possible that her pond will be frozen before this winter is over , 38 today , 64 tomorrow, and 22 friday ....... i'm wondering if that's how it's supposed to be .........