My Russian Tortoises Are Hibernating (Brumating)

Yvonne G

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Russian tortoises are very good at disguising where they've buried themselves. They don't dig a burrow, per se, but rather a tunnel and they fill in behind them as they go...little gophers, or moles.

So when I spied all of them out in the sun one day little over a month ago I figured it was a good time to gather them all up so I'd be sure to have them when the cold weather finally arrived. I set them up temporarily in a 4'x8' cinder block enclosure with lights and water, and fed them daily until the temperature started cooling.
cinder block enclosure 10-19-16 a.jpg cinder block enclosure 10-19-16 b.jpg

I quit offering food or turning on the light a couple weeks ago. And two days ago I noticed that all of them stayed hiding in the tunnel and not coming out at all. Brumation time!

In the same area (on my carport) I have a smaller cinder block enclosure for brumation. I gathered up a bunch of fallen mulberry leaves and started to prepare the hibernaculum:

Russian hibernation a.jpg russian hibernation b.jpg russian hibernation c.jpg russian hibernation d.jpg russian hibernation e.jpg

As the leaves break apart and settle down, I'll add more to make sure there's a nice, insulating layer to protect the tortoises throughout the winter. I leave the lid closed, only opening it occasionally to make sure all is quiet and no one is on top of the leaves.

In Spring, when the night temperature is consistently 50F or above, I'll prop open the lid. When the tortoises wake up, I give them a good soak and put them back out into their yard. Once our night time temps reach 50F it never gets down to freezing again. And if it rains, I make sure all the tortoises are in their shelters in their yard, and I barricade the entrance so they can't come out and get cold in the rain.

I never bring them back in under lights. Having just spent the winter in cold temperatures, they are acclimated to the ups and downs of temperature change. To bring them in under lights means they would have to be kept warm until the weather warms up enough to put them back out. Leaving them out is much easier on them and on me, and is not harmful for them at all, as long as they are dry.
 

Mr Buster

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What a genius setup. I will not hibernate mine but I read if you want to be a breeder you have to hibernate them or there will not be much luck in getting eggs.
 

Yvonne G

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What a genius setup. I will not hibernate mine but I read if you want to be a breeder you have to hibernate them or there will not be much luck in getting eggs.

Not necessarily true, however, when they wake up in the Spring, the males of any species are usually rarin' to go with the females.
 

wellington

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How low to your temps get and on those low days/nights, what's usually your highs? Also, how long does this usually go for? How long do they usually need to brumate?
 

Yvonne G

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Where they are on the car port they're protected from frost and it doesn't get much colder inside the hibernaculum than about 38F or so.

Winters here are average 45/30 day/night with some nights dipping down into the 20's. Never snows here, but frost almost every night.

Night time temperatures start staying 50F or above in late March/early April. For Russians, it's usually 6 months awake and 6 months asleep.
 

RosemaryDW

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Our Russian decided it was lights out not quite two weeks ago. The fact that we had several days in the 90s this week did not matter to her. If we take her out of her night box, she just looks for a spot to dig.

So...she's locked in her box while we make sure her gut is empty and then she goes in the fridge. Three months is what she chose for herself last year when she brumated in the yard. We don't really get below 50 other than in December so we'll see how things look in February (and every week in between, I imagine).

It's such a help to see what other Russians are doing this time of year. Thanks for posting!
 

Teri71

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Yvonne. I saw another thread where you mentioned trying to find when they dug in. She's never dug completely where I cant see part of her. Im in AZ but I know she ate right before.she been missing since thew5th I was going to bring her inside to not hibernate this winter. Any ideas how to find her? No disturbed dirt I searched every inch
 

Yvonne G

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Is there a tuft or clump of grass? They like to dig under the clump and into the roots. When they get ready to hibernate, it's awfully hard to find them, as they push the dirt behind them, covering up the hole they're making. The only way I've found is to get down on my hands and knees and go over every inch of the habitat with my fingers feeling for loose dirt. And even then, I've not been able to find them. Do you get much rain? It may be ok for him to be out during the winter, but I'd keep trying to find him.
 

Teri71

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Is there a tuft or clump of grass? They like to dig under the clump and into the roots. When they get ready to hibernate, it's awfully hard to find them, as they push the dirt behind them, covering up the hole they're making. The only way I've found is to get down on my hands and knees and go over every inch of the habitat with my fingers feeling for loose dirt. And even then, I've not been able to find them. Do you get much rain? It may be ok for him to be out during the winter, but I'd keep trying to find him.
We won't get much rain. Im worried about watering plants. Ill try to sprinkle them instead . Ill do an intense search this weekend. Hope for early spring if I don't find her. Thanks for your help
 

Teri71

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We won't get much rain. Im worried about watering plants. Ill try to sprinkle them instead . Ill do an intense search this weekend. Hope for early spring if I don't find her. Thanks for your help
I found her! Thank you Yvonne! There was a small mound by her burrow under sod. She was under the sod and under the concrete block of the burrow. Im bringing her in!
 

KevinGG

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I found her! Thank you Yvonne! There was a small mound by her burrow under sod. She was under the sod and under the concrete block of the burrow. Im bringing her in!

Good news.

One of my russians dug in about a month ago. Enclosure is ~1000 sq ft and we have soft soil so looking for him was futile. He endured 8 inches of rain and temps in 40s. Spotted a muddy tortoise one warm morning and brought him in. Tough guy.
 
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