Is it ok to wake my tortoise in the morning?

Humbug & Maz

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I have checked for previous threads but some are a few years old and I wanted to ask if it is ok to wake my 2 year old Hermann in the morning if he has gone to sleep in the cooler end hide? Mostly he will burrow down in the substrate near to the heat lamp and totally cover himself and then I see this beautiful little face peeping up at me as he emerges in the morning when the light comes on. But the last 2 nights he has gone to burrow in his hide at the cooler end and come 10/11am I have woken him up, given him a warm soak and then he has tucked into breakfast. Just want to know if this is ok? I feel really mean waking him! :tort:
 

TisMary

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I have checked for previous threads but some are a few years old and I wanted to ask if it is ok to wake my 2 year old Hermann in the morning if he has gone to sleep in the cooler end hide? Mostly he will burrow down in the substrate near to the heat lamp and totally cover himself and then I see this beautiful little face peeping up at me as he emerges in the morning when the light comes on. But the last 2 nights he has gone to burrow in his hide at the cooler end and come 10/11am I have woken him up, given him a warm soak and then he has tucked into breakfast. Just want to know if this is ok? I feel really mean waking him! :tort:
Have you tried waving his favorite food in front of the hide? My little guy is only 4 months old, so he sleeps a lot and I too don't like to disturb him. One day, he didn't come out at all which made me nervous. I could see him, see that he was breathing, etc. The next morning, I was ready to "drag him outta there", but decided to wave some fresh-picked clover around in front of the entrance to his hide. Pretty soon, he popped his little head out and he was his regular ol' self. (BTW, cinnamon rolls have the same affect on me! ?)

We do have to make sure they're OK though, so if ya gotta disturb him, I'm pretty sure he'd get over it.
 

Humbug & Maz

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Have you tried waving his favorite food in front of the hide? My little guy is only 4 months old, so he sleeps a lot and I too don't like to disturb him. One day, he didn't come out at all which made me nervous. I could see him, see that he was breathing, etc. The next morning, I was ready to "drag him outta there", but decided to wave some fresh-picked clover around in front of the entrance to his hide. Pretty soon, he popped his little head out and he was his regular ol' self. (BTW, cinnamon rolls have the same affect on me! ?)

We do have to make sure they're OK though, so if ya gotta disturb him, I'm pretty sure he'd get over it.
If I wave his food he is awake instantly! ? Just feel a bit bad waking him and this is a new thing (he has been with me a little over 2 months) that he sleeps in the cool end. I feel like leaving him all day if necessary to wake up but somehow I feel I need to tempt him out and it doesn't take much but if I didn't tempt him I reckon he would just stay asleep in there :rolleyes:
 

ZEROPILOT

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I routinely have to pick up fully grown, sleeping tortoises that have fallen asleep outside of their heated houses at night during out brief winter.
And I usually have to bang on the door and wake up my entire group to feed them.
Waking them does no harm.
Just avoid frightening them if possible
 

Humbug & Maz

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I routinely have to pick up fully grown, sleeping tortoises that have fallen asleep outside of their heated houses at night during out brief winter.
And I usually have to bang on the door and wake up my entire group to feed them.
Waking them does no harm.
Just avoid frightening them if possible
Thank you! I always do it very gently if needed! :)
 

TaylorTortoise

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I have checked for previous threads but some are a few years old and I wanted to ask if it is ok to wake my 2 year old Hermann in the morning if he has gone to sleep in the cooler end hide? Mostly he will burrow down in the substrate near to the heat lamp and totally cover himself and then I see this beautiful little face peeping up at me as he emerges in the morning when the light comes on. But the last 2 nights he has gone to burrow in his hide at the cooler end and come 10/11am I have woken him up, given him a warm soak and then he has tucked into breakfast. Just want to know if this is ok? I feel really mean waking him! :tort:
Hi there!
Is it cold where you are from? Your tortoise could be trying to brumate. Torts are starting to slow down activity in preparation for the cooler weather :) Where they are sleeping more. My torts still having clock work activity when the sun comes up/down. However I’m noticing more time hitting the snooze button. And catching some zZzz
 

Humbug & Maz

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Hi there!
Is it cold where you are from? Your tortoise could be trying to brumate. Torts are starting to slow down activity in preparation for the cooler weather :) Where they are sleeping more. My torts still having clock work activity when the sun comes up/down. However I’m noticing more time hitting the snooze button. And catching some zZzz
The temps have dropped here in the UK but he is indoors over winter and I am managing to keep the humidity and temperature the same as always. Maybe he just senses the change in the season!
 

Krista S

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The temps have dropped here in the UK but he is indoors over winter and I am managing to keep the humidity and temperature the same as always. Maybe he just senses the change in the season!
How large is your enclosure and is it a closed chamber or an open top? The reason I ask is because if the enclosure is large enough, it may need another heat source for the cooler months. Where I am, it’s already snowed 3 times and we’ve had temps in the -20 range…gross ?. I have an open top “tortoise table” style of enclosure and I have to add another heat source for these cooler months. I will say though, even though I’ve been able to maintain the same temps in the enclosure, my tortoise (also a 2 year old Hermann’s tortoise) still seems to know what’s going on outside. His days have gotten shorter over the last month, but especially in the last week. It is completely ok to wake your tortoise to soak him and place him in front of some food. Another thing you could try to encourage him to wake up if he’s sleeping on the cool side and you don’t need supplemental heat, is to set up another light source on that side. You could use a LED bulb that doesn’t give off heat or a fluorescent fixture. I tried that this year with Dozer. I added another fluorescent fixture in an area of the enclosure that typically is a little on the dark side and it seems to have made a difference. This time last year, Dozer was only awake for a couple hours per day and would have the odd occasion where he’d sleep 2 full days in a row. This year so far he’s still waking up around 6:00 am and is going to bed by 5:30 or 6:00 pm and last year was a much more mild start to winter than this year.
 

Humbug & Maz

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How large is your enclosure and is it a closed chamber or an open top? The reason I ask is because if the enclosure is large enough, it may need another heat source for the cooler months. Where I am, it’s already snowed 3 times and we’ve had temps in the -20 range…gross ?. I have an open top “tortoise table” style of enclosure and I have to add another heat source for these cooler months. I will say though, even though I’ve been able to maintain the same temps in the enclosure, my tortoise (also a 2 year old Hermann’s tortoise) still seems to know what’s going on outside. His days have gotten shorter over the last month, but especially in the last week. It is completely ok to wake your tortoise to soak him and place him in front of some food. Another thing you could try to encourage him to wake up if he’s sleeping on the cool side and you don’t need supplemental heat, is to set up another light source on that side. You could use a LED bulb that doesn’t give off heat or a fluorescent fixture. I tried that this year with Dozer. I added another fluorescent fixture in an area of the enclosure that typically is a little on the dark side and it seems to have made a difference. This time last year, Dozer was only awake for a couple hours per day and would have the odd occasion where he’d sleep 2 full days in a row. This year so far he’s still waking up around 6:00 am and is going to bed by 5:30 or 6:00 pm and last year was a much more mild start to winter than this year.
Thanks Krista (wow your temps are brrrrrrr cold!!!) I also have an open top tortoise table and that's good advice. He has been ever so regular with his waking and sleeping routine, then the clocks went back here in the UK last weekend and suddenly his habits changed! ? I do think you are right that they pick up on what is going on outside. Today I gently woke him for a warm soak and he tucked into his food afterwards. I am just grateful to know it IS ok to wake him and I will keep a close eye on the temperature and humidity :)
 
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