Hibernation problems.

[Ashleigh B]

Hey guys. Its november 17'th and is winter. 2 of are 3 CDT's are hibernating but are third one wont. We have them set up in their hibernation boxes and everything for them to sleep comfy, but Donitello doesn't want to sleep. Is it possible, if a tortoise is kept indoors and rare goes outside not know when to hibernate and I ask this cause we adopted him from wildlife fish in games, so his previous owner might have kept him indoors.

 

[greyshirt]

I don't have CDT's, but the torts I do have, even within the same species won't start to hibernate on the same day. I let mine begin naturally, and they will always stagger their times. Years ago one of mine was a baby and I kept him inside for about three years,( I didn't know any better then) and he went into hibernation on his own every year. I don't know your situation so don't take what i'm saying as what you should do, it's just the way I do things. My torts stay outside year round except when it gets wet and cold, which is usually not until sometime in December here in South Texas.

 

[ascott]

Yes, this can feel like a bump in the road for sure...lol.

How old is the tort we are talking about (or size if age is not known)? Was the tort a wild tort or was the tort a captive bred/housed tort?

 

[reticguy76]

I have had my dt (arizona native) for almost a year. He is still about 3-4 inches long (grown about double since i have had him). I keep him inside in a homemade enclosure. Im a big believer that animals, particularly reptiles, have a great instinct for needs to be done naturally within their species traits and activities, whether inside or outside. I havent seen Cooter in the last 3 weeks, at all. Temps have dropped naturally, in the reptile room and the natural light from the windows has decreased and getting dark earlier. Torts and other reptiles pick that up, even kept inside and their body tells them, time to pack it up for the winter