I've been reading a few posts about this subject and thought I would share some things I've learned in the past few years.
My first experience with hibernation was with desert torts. I learned about the same way as most of the other old-timers here, and I used to have the same ideas about it that I hear them passing on to others now.
A few years ago, I bought some Argentine Black and White Tegus from a wonderful man named Bert Langerwerf of Agama International. He has since passed away, but he was a great, innovative man and he taught me a lot. He had a particular affinity for reptiles that could be kept outdoors year round and use no electricity. He actually got import permits and went down to Argentina and collected his own breeding stock from the Southernmost, coldest part of their natural range. After painstakingly converting them over to a Northern Hemisphere seasonal cycle. They reached adulthood and he started getting breeding success. The babies from these original imports were giving him nearly 100% breeding success once they reached adulthood and they were all raised outdoors in the Alabama sunshine with no heat or electricity ever.
Babies hatch out every year around August and adults usually go into hibernation in September, even if its still warm out. The new years babies will stay up until end of Sept or Oct if its warm, but then they want got to sleep too. I told Bert that I normally don't hibernate babies( something I learned from tortoises ) and was planning on keeping them warm and up all winter for the first year or two. He asked me if I EVER intended to breed them. I told him yes. He then told me if you ever skip even one hibernation, even the first, that they will never breed and produce babies. So following his advice, I hibernated my two month old precious babies and they did fine.
I wonder if this also applies to other reptiles, including tortugas. Does any one have an adult that skipped hibernating and then went on to produce viable offspring? I know lots of people who raised tegus without hibernating them the first year and not a one has ever bred them. I would love to hear what y'all think of this one.
My first experience with hibernation was with desert torts. I learned about the same way as most of the other old-timers here, and I used to have the same ideas about it that I hear them passing on to others now.
A few years ago, I bought some Argentine Black and White Tegus from a wonderful man named Bert Langerwerf of Agama International. He has since passed away, but he was a great, innovative man and he taught me a lot. He had a particular affinity for reptiles that could be kept outdoors year round and use no electricity. He actually got import permits and went down to Argentina and collected his own breeding stock from the Southernmost, coldest part of their natural range. After painstakingly converting them over to a Northern Hemisphere seasonal cycle. They reached adulthood and he started getting breeding success. The babies from these original imports were giving him nearly 100% breeding success once they reached adulthood and they were all raised outdoors in the Alabama sunshine with no heat or electricity ever.
Babies hatch out every year around August and adults usually go into hibernation in September, even if its still warm out. The new years babies will stay up until end of Sept or Oct if its warm, but then they want got to sleep too. I told Bert that I normally don't hibernate babies( something I learned from tortoises ) and was planning on keeping them warm and up all winter for the first year or two. He asked me if I EVER intended to breed them. I told him yes. He then told me if you ever skip even one hibernation, even the first, that they will never breed and produce babies. So following his advice, I hibernated my two month old precious babies and they did fine.
I wonder if this also applies to other reptiles, including tortugas. Does any one have an adult that skipped hibernating and then went on to produce viable offspring? I know lots of people who raised tegus without hibernating them the first year and not a one has ever bred them. I would love to hear what y'all think of this one.