Hi
I got my Hermann tortoise about 2 months ago. He was previously kept in a vivarium with heat mat, lamp, and uv light, however upon speaking to several people and researching the best ways to keep him, I now keep him in a tortoise table with heat lamp for basking and a uv lamp. He now has his hiding area whereas he didn't have this before.
Over the last 2 weeks he has been what appears to me to be 'winding down'. He has been eating less, and sleeping throughout most of the day. A handful of times I have had to wake him up to get him moving and to come out into the light and heat.
He has never been hibernated before, so I had decided not to attempt hibernation with him at all this year due to my inexperience with him and his never having done so previously.
However, all the signs point to him wanting to hibernate. I think this is due to the fact that he is now kept in an open tortoise table where natural light is all around him (he's kept in our porch out the back of the house, so all windows etc) and also that he's probably cooler than he was before as I haven't given him a heat mat as I've heard they aren't great for tortoises. His basking area is at the right temperatures etc, but he just doesn't seem to want to come out of his hiding area much these last couple of weeks.
So... I decided if he wanted to hibernate I would help him do just that. However from research it would seem his bone density needs to be at a certain amount, and if it's too low then it's too dangerous for him to hibernate. Having weighed and measured him this afternoon it would appear his bone density is only .15 where it should be .20 or more, therefore meaning I cannot prepare to hibernate him. I had already begun the fasting process for the last week or so.
Basically, any help would be greatly welcome. I know some people say they don't think hibernation is necessary etc, but it seems that my tort does.
Any ideas on what I could or should do? And is there a way I can get his bone density up?
Many thanks
Amy
I got my Hermann tortoise about 2 months ago. He was previously kept in a vivarium with heat mat, lamp, and uv light, however upon speaking to several people and researching the best ways to keep him, I now keep him in a tortoise table with heat lamp for basking and a uv lamp. He now has his hiding area whereas he didn't have this before.
Over the last 2 weeks he has been what appears to me to be 'winding down'. He has been eating less, and sleeping throughout most of the day. A handful of times I have had to wake him up to get him moving and to come out into the light and heat.
He has never been hibernated before, so I had decided not to attempt hibernation with him at all this year due to my inexperience with him and his never having done so previously.
However, all the signs point to him wanting to hibernate. I think this is due to the fact that he is now kept in an open tortoise table where natural light is all around him (he's kept in our porch out the back of the house, so all windows etc) and also that he's probably cooler than he was before as I haven't given him a heat mat as I've heard they aren't great for tortoises. His basking area is at the right temperatures etc, but he just doesn't seem to want to come out of his hiding area much these last couple of weeks.
So... I decided if he wanted to hibernate I would help him do just that. However from research it would seem his bone density needs to be at a certain amount, and if it's too low then it's too dangerous for him to hibernate. Having weighed and measured him this afternoon it would appear his bone density is only .15 where it should be .20 or more, therefore meaning I cannot prepare to hibernate him. I had already begun the fasting process for the last week or so.
Basically, any help would be greatly welcome. I know some people say they don't think hibernation is necessary etc, but it seems that my tort does.
Any ideas on what I could or should do? And is there a way I can get his bone density up?
Many thanks
Amy