Hibernation and Hydration Concerns

[Elmer]

A California desert tortoise adopted us almost 50 years ago. As the years pasted there have been no issues with hibernation until we relocated in October 2020. During the move he emptied his bladder and started hibernating. Knowing an empty bladder can cause death during hibernation, I slowly woke him up to the point he was walking around and then then put him in a warm water bath. He stayed still for 30 minutes with his mouth at water level but I could not see him swallow. After that he started moving around so I removed him from the water. The concerns and questions I have:

1) Is there a way to tell if a tortoise is dehydrated?

2) Is it safe to slowly wake a hibernating tortoise multiple times? I assume not, but I'm concerned he not have enough water in his bladder.

Any guidance and/or advise would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[JoesMum]

You got this a bit wrong.A tortoise emptying its bladder and gut before hibernation is normal. What you don’t want is the tortoise doing so while it hibernates.

Once down, a tortoise shouldn’t defecate or urinate at all. If it does so, that’s a sign that it has roused.

A tortoise that is too warm to hibernate properly is burning energy and will lose weight and dehydrate.

When hibernating properly, a tortoise is as responsive as a house brick. You may get slight movement if you pick it up to weigh it, but very little. All its systems are shut down.

I hibernated my Greek over 40 times and have had lots of practice at this.

You shouldn’t rouse a tortoise and then rehibernate it. Every time you do this it is burning energy and losing weight. Leave well alone.

Know what your tortoise weighs when it goes down. Keep an eye on it through the winter. I weighed every 3-4 weeks. Joe rarely lost more than a few grammes in a 3-4 month hibernation. If your tortoise loses more than 10% of its bodyweight then rouse it and keep it awake.

After hibernation lengthy soaks twice a day on warm water are necessary to rehydrate the tortoise. After a few days Joe would do a massive pee and urate combo and then he’d start eating properly again.

 

[BillyTheSulcata]

You got this a bit wrong.A tortoise emptying its bladder and gut before hibernation is normal. What you don’t want is the tortoise doing so while it hibernates.

Once down, a tortoise shouldn’t defecate or urinate at all. If it does so, that’s a sign that it has roused.

A tortoise that is too warm to hibernate properly is burning energy and will lose weight and dehydrate.

When hibernating properly, a tortoise is as responsive as a house brick. You may get slight movement if you pick it up to weigh it, but very little. All its systems are shut down.

I hibernated my Greek over 40 times and have had lots of practice at this.

You shouldn’t rouse a tortoise and then rehibernate it. Every time you do this it is burning energy and losing weight. Leave well alone.

Know what your tortoise weighs when it goes down. Keep an eye on it through the winter. I weighed every 3-4 weeks. Joe rarely lost more than a few grammes in a 3-4 month hibernation. If your tortoise loses more than 10% of its bodyweight then rouse it and keep it awake.

After hibernation lengthy soaks twice a day on warm water are necessary to rehydrate the tortoise. After a few days Joe would do a massive pee and urate combo and then he’d start eating properly again.

Thank you very much for this information. Very helpful.

 

[Elmer]

Do you try to maintain a temperature range during hibernation? Until we moved our tortoise was in a climate where his burrow offered a good environment for his hibernation.

Thanks again! So helpful!