GB laid down some great info in this thread:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Russian-Tortoise-Breeding-Problems?page=2#axzz1ZOjo8sSQ
I wanted to ask him some more questions, but did not want to derail the OPs thread. This could have been done in a PM, but might as well let everyone benefit from his experience.
So GB, here are my questions: In the wild russians "hibernate" for up to 9 months a year and then its pretty hot and dry for the other 3, right? So if I'm keeping them in a relatively mild area like Southern CA, what is the best way to give them some somewhat natural conditions? You talked about how the start of hibernation needs to be cold enough to get them into a deep enough sleep. It could be highs in the 50's here in January or it could be highs in the 90's too. This time of year, we are still having days in the 90's and that will likely continue into November. Night temps will be dipping into the 40's in the next month or so. So what is someone with an outdoor russian group in SoCal to do? I can provide one of my handy-dandy underground boxes that will level out these extremes, but right now my 3' deep tegu box with no heat is staying 75-76 even with night temps in the 50's and day temps in the 80s-90s. I fear that its just to warm for a russian to properly hibernate and that the "warm" spells will mess with their metabolism. This is what happened to my Argentine tegus a few years ago. They dug in and hibernated in Sept. Then during a warm spell in January they came up and were walking around. When it got cold again they went back in there "cave" but did not dig in. They just laid on top as if it were summer. I lost two out of three when night temps went below freezing again. I'm afraid something similar would happen with any Testudo species here, but I know that lots of people just keep them outside year round with no heat. Would I be better off sticking them in a fridge in the fall, after a two week gut purging. And what temp is ideal if I did. 45? How long should they stay in? Usually by March we are pretty warm again, but still with cold nights.
Maybe I'm over thinking this, but is that really all that unusual for me? All are welcome to chime in on this. I'd love to hear from anyone in Southern CA that is keeping Testudo here outside. I'd love to hear how you do it and what you have learned from it along the way. And I'd love to hear about anyone with reproductive success at it. How do you house them in the winter?
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Russian-Tortoise-Breeding-Problems?page=2#axzz1ZOjo8sSQ
I wanted to ask him some more questions, but did not want to derail the OPs thread. This could have been done in a PM, but might as well let everyone benefit from his experience.
So GB, here are my questions: In the wild russians "hibernate" for up to 9 months a year and then its pretty hot and dry for the other 3, right? So if I'm keeping them in a relatively mild area like Southern CA, what is the best way to give them some somewhat natural conditions? You talked about how the start of hibernation needs to be cold enough to get them into a deep enough sleep. It could be highs in the 50's here in January or it could be highs in the 90's too. This time of year, we are still having days in the 90's and that will likely continue into November. Night temps will be dipping into the 40's in the next month or so. So what is someone with an outdoor russian group in SoCal to do? I can provide one of my handy-dandy underground boxes that will level out these extremes, but right now my 3' deep tegu box with no heat is staying 75-76 even with night temps in the 50's and day temps in the 80s-90s. I fear that its just to warm for a russian to properly hibernate and that the "warm" spells will mess with their metabolism. This is what happened to my Argentine tegus a few years ago. They dug in and hibernated in Sept. Then during a warm spell in January they came up and were walking around. When it got cold again they went back in there "cave" but did not dig in. They just laid on top as if it were summer. I lost two out of three when night temps went below freezing again. I'm afraid something similar would happen with any Testudo species here, but I know that lots of people just keep them outside year round with no heat. Would I be better off sticking them in a fridge in the fall, after a two week gut purging. And what temp is ideal if I did. 45? How long should they stay in? Usually by March we are pretty warm again, but still with cold nights.
Maybe I'm over thinking this, but is that really all that unusual for me? All are welcome to chime in on this. I'd love to hear from anyone in Southern CA that is keeping Testudo here outside. I'd love to hear how you do it and what you have learned from it along the way. And I'd love to hear about anyone with reproductive success at it. How do you house them in the winter?