Newb to hibernating - how do I not kill my tort?

[Alith7]

My husband and I are new to owning a tortoise, and our Russian seems pretty determined to hibernate, so we would like to let her.
I've read the bits and pieces that I could find: make sure she has enough weight, make sure she is well hydrated before starting, put her in a box starting at 50 degrees for the first week then bring down to 40, leave her there about 10-12 weeks, then reverse.

but how?!? should I put food in the box with her? do you put a lid on the box? if I put her in a fridge, will she suffocate? We have a smallish mini fridge that we're not using right now and we were going to use that. our regular fridge is on it's last legs and I have the option of freezing, or no cold so we can't use that. how often should we check on her?

basically, HELP?! We want to let her hibernate, but i'm so worried that we're going to hurt her...

Thank you for your help!

 

[Yvonne G]

Just box him up in a cardboard box full of shredded newspaper and put the box in a back closet or in the garage. You want the temperature to be about 45F - anywhere between 40 and 50 is ok, but down towards 40 is better. Put him in a quiet place.

Tortoises stop eating about two or three weeks prior to hibernation. This way they clean out their digestive tract so food doesn't rot while their body temp gets too low for digestion. So NO, do not put food in the box.

If you can be sure your mini fridge will keep a constant temperature, then there's no reason to not use it. If you open the door every other day or so for a slight air exchange the tortoise won't suffocate. They breathe very slowly during hibernation.

 

[Alith7]

ok. So I should stop trying to get her to eat. I've been bribing her with Dandelion flowers which are her favorite.

On one of the threads I read to start soaking her everyday for the week or so before you hibernate them. Is that right?

 

[Yvonne G]

Yes, soaking before hibernation is good.

 

[JoesMum]

No food in the fortnight before hibernation.

Soaking encourages them to poop and ensures the tort is fully hydrated. Do it daily.

Weigh your tortoise before hibernation and weigh weekly throughout. Weight loss should be no more than 10% of bodyweight. If 10% weight is lost then the tort must be roused.

I double box my tort for hibernation. He's in a box full of shredded paper and that box is put in a bigger box packed round with shredded paper or straw. I find it keeps the temperature in the smaller box more stable.

I have a wireless indoor outdoor thermometer with a min/max function and put the outdoor sensor in the box with my tort which means that I can keep an eye on how he's doing without disturbing him other than for weight checks.

That said, the steadily warmer UK winters mean I shall be fridge hibernating for the first time this year (after 46 years of box hibernation!) That's a whole new, and rather scary, ballgame for me!

 

[Alith7]

Thank you for all the info!
How much bigger than the tort should the box be? and about how deep?

 

[JoesMum]

My tortoise is over 10 inches long (a mature Greek) and weighs 7lb+

His inner box is just big enough for him to turn round in and maybe 4 inches deeper than his shell is high.

The outer box allows is a good 6 inches bigger than the inner box in all directions so I can really pack the straw in and get good insulation from it. (The straw is looser on top as I disturb it to monitor Joe)

 

[Alith7]

ok, thank you again for all the help!

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

Today's refrigerators are all typically frost-free. They dehydrate items quickly that are not sealed. You need to ensure the refrigerator you use is NOT frost-free.
The easiest way to check is to leave a piece of bread unprotected on a shelf of the refrigerator, monitor the bread for 5-7 days and see if it starts to get dry and stale. If so, a different refrigerator is needed for tortoise brumation. Keep us up to date, and good luck.

 

[Alith7]

what if you only have one refrigerator available?

 

[dmmj]

since it is a mini fridge I doubt it has one but don't use the vegetable crisper that dehydrates as well. Basic rule of hibernation empty stomach full bladder

 

[Alith7]

ok. I'll try to keep an eye on the humidity in there, and if nothing else put in a dish of water. the house gets pretty dry int he winter anyways.

 

[Tom]

Read through this:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/looking-for-an-rt-hibernation-mentor.128790/

 

[Alith7]

thank you! I'll read through that tonight.

 

[Kasia]

what if you only have one refrigerator available?

I also have only one fridge and I give my tort the bottom drawer. To ensure stable temperature I put full 2 liter water bottles (2 or 3) close to him. Water has a huge heat capacity and putting the food in and out of the fridge doesn't bother him temperature wise. I put into his box electronic temperature/higrometer sensor for constant monitoring just to be on the save side

 

[Alith7]

ok, so we had a wine fridge that went down to 40 degrees, bathed her daily for 2 weeks, no food, put her in her box last Sunday, and slowly brought the temp down on the fridge. I finally gave up last night and put her back in her tortoise table (at 1am because she was making so much noise she was keeping me up). she just keeps digging around and digging around in her box, almost constantly night/day. is this normal? is something wrong? She seems as frustrated as I am!!

Also, when I pulled her out, I noticed that there was a little poop or something in the shredded paper.

We weighed her when we put her in last week. 1lb 5oz. she felt pretty solid. did she maybe lose too much weight from improper temperatures before we finally put her in the fridge to hibernate and she's hungry? Honestly, I have no idea what she weighed before last Sunday.

I feel like the worst tortoise mama ever right now!

 

[Kasia]

So

ok, so we had a wine fridge that went down to 40 degrees, bathed her daily for 2 weeks, no food, put her in her box last Sunday, and slowly brought the temp down on the fridge. I finally gave up last night and put her back in her tortoise table (at 1am because she was making so much noise she was keeping me up). she just keeps digging around and digging around in her box, almost constantly night/day. is this normal? is something wrong? She seems as frustrated as I am!!

Also, when I pulled her out, I noticed that there was a little poop or something in the shredded paper.

We weighed her when we put her in last week. 1lb 5oz. she felt pretty solid. did she maybe lose too much weight from improper temperatures before we finally put her in the fridge to hibernate and she's hungry? Honestly, I have no idea what she weighed before last Sunday.

I feel like the worst tortoise mama ever right now!

It's normal that they will move a bit around but poop is a singh that she should have been kept without food and just soaked for a week or two longer. My Rufin weight c.a. 800 grams and before hibernation I kept him without food for almost 4 weeks and soaked him for 4-5 times a week to be sure that there is nothing left in his guts. For the last two weeks of this regime I kept him in 15 deg Celsius. He was sleeping all day long by the end of week two. Going in and out of the fridge is not a good plan. Maybe leave her up this year and try again next year. You are carefully learning and that's a good thing because you will not harm your shell better safe then sorry

 

[Alith7]

ok, I feel a little better now. we only did about 2 weeks without food.
When I put her back in her table, she went to the coolest corner, dug in, and went to sleep.
because we wait to turn the heat on in our house until we can't stand it any longer, our house has been around 15-20 deg celsius for a few weeks now. the fridge hadn't quite gotten down to 45ish as of last night.
I know she really really seems to want to sleep, if I give her another week without food (that will make 4 weeks with no food) and bathing about once a day. along with keeping her room coolish, would it be a horrible idea to try to put her in again?

We don't know if she is full grown yet, and she's only a few grams lighter than your male, so I'm thinking she has enough weight.

 

[Kasia]

ok, I feel a little better now. we only did about 2 weeks without food.
When I put her back in her table, she went to the coolest corner, dug in, and went to sleep.
because we wait to turn the heat on in our house until we can't stand it any longer, our house has been around 15-20 deg celsius for a few weeks now. the fridge hadn't quite gotten down to 45ish as of last night.
I know she really really seems to want to sleep, if I give her another week without food (that will make 4 weeks with no food) and bathing about once a day. along with keeping her room coolish, would it be a horrible idea to try to put her in again?

We don't know if she is full grown yet, and she's only a few grams lighter than your male, so I'm thinking she has enough weight.

If you feel comfy with trying and she didn't eat I would go again , give her week or two and try to go 15 deg or lower all day long, if she's warm she's loosing her precious reservs.

 

[Alith7]

We're going to bail on trying to hibernate her this year. going to look for a 3' or 4' florescent bulb and get her table lit correctly.