- Joined
- Aug 22, 2013
- Messages
- 196
Terry Allan Hall said:Some folks used to think this, but it has since been disproved...European tortoises that have never been hibernated still reproduce enthusiastically. Nor does not hibernating them have any affect on their immune systems.
Disproved in a scientific way or just by the experiences of some people?
Terry Allan Hall said:No reason to think that, either. My first Hermann's, who'd been my grandfather's pet for over 30 years, upon his passing became my pet for another 19 years, and was at least 10 years old when he found her, and possibly as old as mid-20s, so, upon her passing was at least 60 and possibly as old as 75...a ripe old age.
That's impressive. Maybe that tortoise will live to be 100 years. Maybe it would live to be 150 if it had hibernated regularly. The longevity of tortoises makes this kind of hard to study and verify.
Terry Allan Hall said:Hibernation is absolutely optional.
Maybe if you live in a climate with warm winters (Texas?). If you live in a temperate climate with freezing winters and keep your Hermann's tortoises outdoors (as you should), then hibernation is pretty much a necessity. You could of course move the tortoises indoors for the winter, but not everybody wants to and has enough room for that.
ascott said:http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-38255.html
Please understand that when you toss the word brumation or hibernation out in to this Forum (as well as many other places )...you will GENERALLY get a vast array of comments, opinions and a bunch of other stuff....so, you will really need to determine where you stand on the entire subject, then and only then, will you decide what you will or will not support as part of a life cycle....
Thanks a lot, that was an interesting read.
I was surprised by the amount of anti-hibernation comments in this topic, so I felt I had to chime in.
By the way, here is a pretty interesting article about hibernation by the manager of a research and conservation center in Bulgaria.