My Desert Tortoise Starting Hibernation

JohnnyB65

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 19, 2014
Messages
564
Location (City and/or State)
Southern CA High Desert
I don't know if mine actually goes in on its own because when I at home hes usually following me around, so I usually have to put him in it. I then use a paint brush to wash the top of him while he soaks. Sometimes he stays in there enjoying it and other times hes out of there as soon as I leave.
 

JohnnyB65

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 19, 2014
Messages
564
Location (City and/or State)
Southern CA High Desert
Laughing really hard here (apology)....the torts here don't go crazy over it either....perhaps cut it up some and then cook it a bit so it is soft and then try again....
Ok so I softened up the pumpkin a little in the microwave and he wasn’t interested. The dog ended up eating it after he went back down the burrow.

DSCN1439_1_zpsfc793dc2.jpg
 

ascott

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Apr 10, 2011
Messages
16,138
Location (City and/or State)
Apple Valley, California
Ok so I softened up the pumpkin a little in the microwave and he wasn’t interested. The dog ended up eating it after he went back down the burrow.

DSCN1439_1_zpsfc793dc2.jpg


Oh good, well the dog will benefit from it ....lol...yeah, the CDTs here are not impressed either....go figure? Great pic, love the "are you f'ing kinding me" look that they can give....lol....
 

majxmom

Member
Joined
Mar 28, 2014
Messages
29
I don't know if mine actually goes in on its own because when I at home hes usually following me around, so I usually have to put him in it. I then use a paint brush to wash the top of him while he soaks. Sometimes he stays in there enjoying it and other times hes out of there as soon as I leave.
Another excellent tip about the paintbrush, thanks. It turned out I actually had a medium sized crate as well (forgot about that!) so I put the bottom out yesterday and put a little water in it. It was over 90 degrees here so the water temp should have been comfortable in the afternoon when the sun was shining in it. I saw some dirt in it, but it could have been used for a bird bath for all I know. Today I picked him up and put him in it. He stayed there for a while, maybe 2 minutes, before he walked out so I think he liked it. I will try the paintbrush thing next.
 

kibog

New Member
Joined
Feb 2, 2014
Messages
20
Location (City and/or State)
Arizona
Hi again everyone! This is the first fall/winter we have had with Larry who lives outside all year round. We got him last September of 2013 but we had to keep him inside and prevent hibernation due to a respiratory infection followed by leg abscess. Poor guy was NOT healthy when we got him from the herpetological society :( I have been trying to pay extra attention to his habits between work due to hibernation time coming up, but I'm not familiar with the "normal" patterns yet. It was really weird, it seemed about 3 days ago he switched to only coming out of his burrow one time per day where he was coming out twice to eat. Today I tried to give him some grass, hibiscus leaves, etc. but he was NOT interested. He seems very sleepy. I gave him a warm bath, and like I would have done, he fell asleep. We rarely give him carrots, but it's his top fav....that's the only thing he ate some of. And yes I know he is a tortoise, lol, but he ate REALLY slowly and not aggressively like he has been doing only about 4 days ago. He has not eaten for 2 days that I know of now. He did have a large bowel movement today. Is he trying to prepare for hibernation? I'm worried if this is normal. His eyes are not sunken in, no bubbles from his nose, he still comes out in the AM to bask then right back to his burrow. We love our little Larry and were just so used to him roaming all over the back yard snarfing up grass all along the way. Now we only see him for a couple of hours in the late morning and he hasn't eaten? :confused:
 

JohnnyB65

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 19, 2014
Messages
564
Location (City and/or State)
Southern CA High Desert
Hi kibog, your tortoise sounds pretty normal to me at this time of year, but I’m no expert.
We are having a little bit of a late heat wave this week and my tortoise is undecided on what to do so he’s traveling around the yard. He doesn’t want to eat his normal food at all and yesterday I saw some kale on sale at the store so I decided to buy some just to try it out. I’ve never given it to him before, but he completely surprised me by eating the whole piece. By the time I realized that he ate the whole thing he was already heading back down his burrow. Now I can’t wait till tomorrow to see if he’ll eat some more.
 

kibog

New Member
Joined
Feb 2, 2014
Messages
20
Location (City and/or State)
Arizona
Hi kibog, your tortoise sounds pretty normal to me at this time of year, but I’m no expert.
We are having a little bit of a late heat wave this week and my tortoise is undecided on what to do so he’s traveling around the yard. He doesn’t want to eat his normal food at all and yesterday I saw some kale on sale at the store so I decided to buy some just to try it out. I’ve never given it to him before, but he completely surprised me by eating the whole piece. By the time I realized that he ate the whole thing he was already heading back down his burrow. Now I can’t wait till tomorrow to see if he’ll eat some more.
Awwww! Your tortoise sounds great! :) Larry used to ONLY eat Kale when we first got him as previous peeps never gave him grass :( However he is a grass machine now and sticks his nose up to kale! lol But he CAN be altered in his grass eating only by .......CARROTS!!! Larry is awesome and so funny! I'm sure you feel the same with yours too! ....................I'm thinking I may just make Larry an appt at the vet. That way they can check him over, make sure he is ready for hibernation, etc. Especially since this our first hibernation period with him (last year we were not allowed to hibernate him). He just had his one year birthday with us last month in September! We partied hard with his FAVORITE cake!! Carrot cake of course!! I was adorned with red roses too! lol larry birthday.jpg
 

kibog

New Member
Joined
Feb 2, 2014
Messages
20
Location (City and/or State)
Arizona
lol, I meant IT was adorned with red roses for edible decoration on the cake. I did not wear any red roses. lol
 

kibog

New Member
Joined
Feb 2, 2014
Messages
20
Location (City and/or State)
Arizona
lol he wanted to, and he would have, but we stretched it out over the week. We rarely give him carrots, and I didn't want him to get sick....I mean, it's like my husband & I with chocolate cake -we both will eat it all and then spend the next day totally sick. lol So we gave Larry a break =) Yeppers, Larry is around 9 lbs. :<3::tort::<3:
 

JohnnyB65

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 19, 2014
Messages
564
Location (City and/or State)
Southern CA High Desert
Well he is still wondering around like he’s confused, but will not eat anything. Today I tried to give him a small slice of apple and even some rose petals, but he wouldn’t touch any of it. I’m hoping that he goes in soon so I don’t have to worry about it anymore.

I had a little scare on Sunday when I heard the neighbors talking about taking a turtle away from the kids if they didn’t behave. I hadn’t seen him for a few days and knew the neighbors weren’t the type of people to have pets which scared me. They are very abusive people and I get nervous when they even look into my yard. Well it turned out to be a toy ninja turtle they were talking about and I was glad it was a toy because they hung it from their balcony and beat it into smithereens with a bat.:eek:
 

Kenno

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Nov 4, 2014
Messages
254
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
Awwww! Your tortoise sounds great! :) Larry used to ONLY eat Kale when we first got him as previous peeps never gave him grass :( However he is a grass machine now and sticks his nose up to kale! lol But he CAN be altered in his grass eating only by .......CARROTS!!!

The carrots look like they're boiled and mashed - are they? ?
My DT's like the shredded carrots from the grocery store. i used to shred raw carrots by hand but the store carrot shreds are longer, thin pieces and they prefer that texture to my own efforts.
 

New Posts

Top