Hermann Tortoise - help with hibernation!!

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amy_x1

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Hi,

We are about to adopt a 6 year old hermann tortoise from an elderly couple who feel they cannot look after him any more.

However, they have (since birth) kept him in a warm vivarium with heat lamps and he's never been outside. He has never hibernated - poor little thing! After a lot of research I know it is vital that he hibernate as various horrible things such as kidney stones and bone problems can happen to him from eating 365 days a year as it's not natural for him to do so.

My problem is basically that I need to acclimatise him. There's no way he can go from being in a warm tank to going striaght outside now, and my thoughts are that for this first few months until we have warmer weather again in spring I let him outside for, say, half an hour a day or a week or something like that? The other problem there is that he probably won't hibernate then again this winter. Does anyone have any advice? I really want to get him into his natural routine as much as possible to make sure he is happy and comfortable, but I really don't want to cause him any harm by doing it.

I think the first step will be taking the heat lamp away, that way he can get used to living in a slightly cooler environment straight away and can acclimatise slowly to that. If I keep him in the vivarium in the house this winter but don't put any heat lamps on, will he still hibernate? I know that there is a starvation period of I think 28 days so should I do this or wait until next year?

Any advice whatsoever would be hugely appreciated!!

:)

Amy
 

Yvonne G

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Hi Amy:

Welcome to the Forum!!

It would be a good idea to keep this tortoise in an indoor habitat until the weather warms up in the spring. That way you can put him outside and he can become acclimated to weather conditions naturally. It won't harm him to not hibernate this one year. The rule of thumb is to never allow a new-to-you tortoise to hibernate your first year with it. So it does work out for the best.
 

amy_x1

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That's a great help, thank you! I want to make sure I do everything properly to keep him happy, so I will wait until next year to introduce him to the outdoors :)
 

Terry Allan Hall

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Brumation for pet tortopises (tortoises don't really hibernate) is absolutely optional and not brumating them does not cause "various horrible things such as kidney stones and bone problems (that) can happen to him from eating 365 days a year"...in nearly 40 years of keeping tortoises, I've never brumated any of mine, nor have any of mine had these health issues. OTOH, brumating a pet tortoise when you don't know exactly what you're doing is VERY dangerous to your pet and can be fatal.

My 1st Hermann's I inherited from my Grandfather, and between the two of us, she lived about 50 years as a well-loved pet (the last 19 w/ me), never once brumating.

OTOH, keeping him outside during the warm part of the year is an excellent (and healthful) idea, but when it cools off in the fall, bring him in and enjoy his company during the winter, as well..
 

CactusVinnie

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You can slow it down a bit- check the link in my signature. I suppose the tortoise could be too weak to endure a hibernation now. Next spring let him in an outdoor pen. Some pictures would be useful.
 
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