Not eating...

Shorty

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Hello everyone! Recently over the past few weeks I have noticed Petie to reduce the amount he is eating daily and he is not as active as he was when the weather was warmer. He lives indoors and his terrium stays around 70-72° on the cool side and around 85-88° on the warmer side (anything warmer and he avoids the warm side).
Our weather has recently shifted to only being in the 70s outside and we keep our over all house temp between 68-70°. I am wondering if reduced eating is typical "wintery" behavior or of he is showing signs he wants to hybernate?
He is a Russian Tortise I inherited roughly 5/6 years old to an adult (I've heard BOTH ranges)
 

Tom

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I am wondering if reduced eating is typical "wintery" behavior or of he is showing signs he wants to hybernate?

Your questions asks if this is one thing or another. Both of these things are the same question and the answer is yes.
 

Shuler24

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Your questions asks if this is one thing or another. Both of these things are the same question and the answer is yes.
Thanks Tom, Sheldon has also slowed down, only coming out a couple times a week to eat and we give him a soak. This is our first winter with him, and we want to make sure this is normal. We have his table at 95F on the hot and 72F in his cool side with his hide, we are doing our best to keep the humidity kinda above the outside, with lighting over the whole table, 12 hours. So to just clarify your advice above, this can be normal to slow down and not go into hibernation? It’s safe that he only eats a couple times a week?
 

Tom

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Thanks Tom, Sheldon has also slowed down, only coming out a couple times a week to eat and we give him a soak. This is our first winter with him, and we want to make sure this is normal. We have his table at 95F on the hot and 72F in his cool side with his hide, we are doing our best to keep the humidity kinda above the outside, with lighting over the whole table, 12 hours. So to just clarify your advice above, this can be normal to slow down and not go into hibernation? It’s safe that he only eats a couple times a week?
The subject of hibernation is a contentious and controversial one. Emotions tend to run high and debates often get heated. There are two main camps on this:
1. Tortoises that hibernate in the wild should hibernate in captivity too. I will add that they should be hibernated "safely".
2. Tortoises don't "need" to hibernate and their sleepy behavior is simply a response to external stimuli.

I'm of the former group, although I will openly admit that there seems to be no harm done to tortoises that are kept up and warm and fed all winter. To me, hibernation is just a natural thing for some species. To force them to stay up is weird and unnatural to my way of thinking. As you are seeing, and as everyone sees, it is not in their nature to just go on about their business and have a perpetual summer.

Why did I just explain all of that? Because your question is a bit tricky. Is it "normal" to slow down and not hibernate? No. Not really. Its normal to slow down and stop eating, but that should be followed by going into hibernation. We humans decide they should stay up with us and be kept warm and active all winter, but their minds and bodies are clearly telling them otherwise. Doesn't matter how warm and bright we keep it. They still think its time for their winter slumber. They just "know". Yes, it is normal for them to slow down. I would opine that its not so normal to convince them with lights, warm temps and soaks, that its not time to hibernate. Having said that, I realize a lot of people successfully keep them up all winter and things seem to work out fine.
 

Shuler24

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The subject of hibernation is a contentious and controversial one. Emotions tend to run high and debates often get heated. There are two main camps on this:
1. Tortoises that hibernate in the wild should hibernate in captivity too. I will add that they should be hibernated "safely".
2. Tortoises don't "need" to hibernate and their sleepy behavior is simply a response to external stimuli.

I'm of the former group, although I will openly admit that there seems to be no harm done to tortoises that are kept up and warm and fed all winter. To me, hibernation is just a natural thing for some species. To force them to stay up is weird and unnatural to my way of thinking. As you are seeing, and as everyone sees, it is not in their nature to just go on about their business and have a perpetual summer.

Why did I just explain all of that? Because your question is a bit tricky. Is it "normal" to slow down and not hibernate? No. Not really. Its normal to slow down and stop eating, but that should be followed by going into hibernation. We humans decide they should stay up with us and be kept warm and active all winter, but their minds and bodies are clearly telling them otherwise. Doesn't matter how warm and bright we keep it. They still think its time for their winter slumber. They just "know". Yes, it is normal for them to slow down. I would opine that its not so normal to convince them with lights, warm temps and soaks, that its not time to hibernate. Having said that, I realize a lot of people successfully keep them up all winter and things seem to work out fine.
Thanks for the detailed response. I will admit we want to have a normal life for Sheldon but the hibernation process scares us. We wanted to have a full year with him to better understand all his cycles, that being said next year we were going to research hibernation. Just nervous. I have seen the debatable threads in other posts, so thank you for responding with your thoughts on this one.
 
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