"hybernating?" 4 yr old Greek in Austin, TX - won't wake up!

[TanknTurbo]

Over a year ago I rehomed my (now) 4.5 yr old, male Greek tortoise, Tank, to a friend of mine who lives about an hour away from me. She has provided an amazing home to him - balanced, varied diet, fantastic outdoor enclosure, and she brings him in if the temperature drops below 50 or so. About 3 weeks ago she wrote me an email asking if Tank had ever hibernated when I had him - which he hadn't (but he was indoor only).

This is her first email to me:
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i think tank is hibernating! i'm not sure if that's a ggod thing, since he is in his terrarium in the house where the temperature usually stays around 75 F, and i thought that was not cold enough to hibernate?
anyway, i started moving him inside on cold nights about 10 days ago, and then back outside on warm days, and he is now buried in his terrarium to where only the top of his shell sticks out and has not moved in about a week. should i just let him sleep?
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After doing some research on the forum I found out that it's not really recommended, but that since Tank is a Testudo graeca ibera it was (kind of?) okay...? So basically we thought she should just keep him inside and that he would wake up naturally...but he hasn't, he's still sleeping.

This morning I got this email:
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so i have let him sleep but now i'm getting concerned because he is inside, and it's about 63F. since he spent all year outside i assume that he is in tune with length of days, angle of sun etc., that's why he started hibernating. my concerns are: does it hurt him to hibernate in 63F ? if so, do i put him somewhere colder or do i need to wake him up?
will he just wake up if i put a bigger light in there? (i'm afraid that an artificial light/heatsource may not override his instincts triggered by outside light) hope this makes sense!
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So now he's been "hibernating" for a month. I've written her an email back asking if he was responsive if she picked him up and I haven't heard back yet.

Should we be concerned? What should we do?? He has always been a very healthy, robust and active guy. We are both very attached to him and really want to make sure this is normal or if we should be doing anything differently.

Thank you for your advice!!

Emma, Inka, and Tank

 

[moswen]

i don't think it's a good idea at all to hibernate a greek, i don't know what's going on with tihs tortoise but greeks do not naturally hibernate, whether or not they were housed outside during the summer and some colder days of fall. this isn't normal, better get that guy to the vet!

 

[TanknTurbo]

Tank is a Testudo graeca ibera.

i don't think it's a good idea at all to hibernate a greek, i don't know what's going on with tihs tortoise but greeks do not naturally hibernate, whether or not they were housed outside during the summer and some colder days of fall. this isn't normal, better get that guy to the vet!

 

[Yvonne G]

Since the tortoise is fairly new to your friend (her first tortoise?), I would place the tortoise in room temperature water and warm it up gently. Then put it under the light in the terrarium. It sounds like something is not right with the tortoise, and he may need to go to the vet. But try to wake him up first.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

He shouldn't hibernate, he's too cold do what Yvonne says then keep him about 85 degrees...she's keeping him too cold. He should not be out lower than 65 degrees...

 

[yagyujubei]

OK, I guess I 'll be the one to ask, how does your friend know, since it hasn't moved in a month,that the tortoise is not dead? I would try to revive it now.

 

[TanknTurbo]

...really? 1 - "it" is a he. and 2 - just because he hasn't moved does not mean she hasn't picked him up to make sure he is breathing. obviously we are concerned, hence the post. thanks for your concern and tact.

OK, I guess I 'll be the one to ask, how does your friend know, since it hasn't moved in a month,that the tortoise is not dead? I would try to revive it now.

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Thank you Yvonne, we'll do that ASAP.

Emma

Since the tortoise is fairly new to your friend (her first tortoise?), I would place the tortoise in room temperature water and warm it up gently. Then put it under the light in the terrarium. It sounds like something is not right with the tortoise, and he may need to go to the vet. But try to wake him up first.

 

[yagyujubei]

OK, sorry, I won't offer any more advice. You seem to know what you're doing.

 

[GBtortoises]

Northern Mediterranean Greeks, [i[Testudo gracea ibera[/i] absolutely have the ability and instinct to hibernate when in the right conditions to do so.

75 degrees is not cold enough for a tortoise to go into hibernation, nor is 63 degrees. At both of those temperatures, under normal photoperiod a Northern Mediterranean tortoise should be active at some level. Obviously to a point, the warmer the tortoise is kept the more active it will be (until it becomes too hot). But the lower temperature (63) is fine for a night time temperature, but not a daytime activity temperature. The warmer temperature (75) is fine for a daytime cooler temperature.

Additional heat and light duration indoors should absolutely trigger this tortoise to become more active, unless there is a health or environmental problem.

If this tortoise is being maintained as such, with a basking light to raise temperatures but is still not eating or more importantly drinking, I would seriously look toward health problems being the cause for the animals inactivity. Most Ibera are normally very active tortoises.

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Sorry about that double post, sometimes my fingers move faster than my brain!