Hibernation

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jhigh81

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Hello All:
I got my Russian tortoise about 2 months ago. I live in AZ, and he is in an outdoor enclosure. The lady I got him from said he had hibernated outside the last 2 years with no trouble. Thsi is my first tortoise so I have some questions.
My concern is that I built him a burrow made with cinder blocks and dirt on the top. He used that for awhile but has now made his own favorite spot by dugging himself a burrow under a half log. I dont ever see him in the cinder block burrow anymore. I am worried that he is going to try and hybernate in the one he built himself, and that one isnt as protected from the elements.
Should I hibernate him in a large plastic container in the garage? Or see where he trys to hibernate outside? Also, do you need to take them out of hibernation for soaking? And if I go with the garage route do I need to take him outside for natural sunlight?

Any tips or suggestions are much appreciated!

Also, if I hibernate him in the garage what kind of substrate should he have? Since his is outside right now he just has natural soil and top soil. Although I am thinkign of putting cocunut coir in his cinder block burrow to maybe entice him back in there and not under the log.
 

Tom

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Unless you live in the mountains of AZ it will be hard to hibernate him with out a refrigerator. The days are just too warm, most of the winter. You don't have to hibernate him either. You can bring him in to a heated indoor enclosure on cold days and nights and put him in his outdoor enclosure on the nicer winter days. They need it consistently around 45-50 to hibernate properly. If you just leave him outside, the warmer winter weather will confuse his system. It will be too warm to hibernate most of the time, but during the occasional cold spells it will be too cold to function properly. It will put him in a weird limbo state. He probably won't want to eat much, but it will be too warm for his fat reserves to get him all the way through the winter.

I would either get a fridge or just keep him up and warm all winter.
 
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