Russian Tortoise winter help

[Seldom Thomas]

Hi everyone, I’m new here. My wife and I adopted a 5 year old Russian tortoise last winter- he’s been outside in his garden all summer and fall and went under for the long haul sometime in mid November. He was very actively into mid fall, super healthy, grazing around the garden enjoying life. We are on the Delmarva peninsula in southern Maryland where winters tend to be pretty mild and the water table can be high. This is his first winter out although in the spring he spent about 3 weeks buried in the dirt upon introduction to his outdoor life. My wife and I fear that he could escape the enclosure. The fence has 9 inches of hardware cloth buried along the enclosure. The clamshell path has plastic weed liner under it so he can’t dig in the clam shell. He ended up digging down right by the 6x6 between the dirt and the clamshell path where there’s about a 3’ distance to the fence (clamshell path is 3’ wide). I have a few questions. Anyone had tortoises pop up mid winter or should I expect him to bed down till spring (it’s supposed to be nearly 60 degrees here this Christmas although nights are in the 30s)? Do they tend to come out of the same hole they dug in from? Any chance he could get stuck under the plastic weed liner not being able to find his way? My wife has a lot of trust in him, but the whole thing has been unnerving to me. Should we dig him up to check on him? Should I build another perimeter fence outside of the fence in case he dips under the clamshell, under the hardware cloth, and pops up in the grass into the open world?

Thank you!

Sam

 

[Seldom Thomas]

Hi everyone, I’m new here. My wife and I adopted a 5 year old Russian tortoise last winter- he’s been outside in his garden all summer and fall and went under for the long haul sometime in mid November. He was very actively into mid fall, super healthy, grazing around the garden enjoying life. We are on the Delmarva peninsula in southern Maryland where winters tend to be pretty mild and the water table can be high. This is his first winter out although in the spring he spent about 3 weeks buried in the dirt upon introduction to his outdoor life. My wife and I fear that he could escape the enclosure. The fence has 9 inches of hardware cloth buried along the perimeter under the fence. The clamshell path has plastic weed liner under it so he can’t dig in the clam shell. He ended up digging down right by the 6x6 between the dirt and the clamshell path where there’s about a 3’ distance to the fence (clamshell path is 3’ wide). I have a few questions. Anyone had tortoises pop up mid winter or should I expect him to bed down till spring (it’s supposed to be nearly 60 degrees here this Christmas although nights are in the 30s)? Do they tend to come out of the same hole they dug in from? Any chance he could get stuck under the plastic weed liner not being able to find his way? My wife has a lot of trust in him, but the whole thing has been unnerving to me. Should we dig him up to check on him? Should I build another perimeter fence outside of the fence in case he dips under the clamshell, under the hardware cloth, and pops up in the grass into the open world?

Thank you!

Sam

 

[Yvonne G]

It has been my experience with russian tortoises that if they are allowed to get wet during brumation they die. I lost lot of them my first winter with them (many years ago). I learned my lesson and now I box them up in shredded newspaper and store them on the carport in protected cinderblock houses.

 

[Seldom Thomas]

It has been my experience with russian tortoises that if they are allowed to get wet during brumation they die. I lost lot of them my first winter with them (many years ago). I learned my lesson and now I box them up in shredded newspaper and store them on the carport in protected cinderblock houses.

Should we try digging him up?

 

[Cathie G]

I agree so totally with YvonneG. They are such a small tortoise and could drown easily. They only need 40 to 60% humidity. That's one of the reasons I chose a Russian. I keep my little fella inside or outside depending on the weather.and have 2 enclosures.to accomplish that. It's not a problem to just carry him back and forth since I'm little too 😘

 

[SinLA]

I 100% would not leave him outside to fend for himself. Many make it, many do not. We often talk about "but that is what happens in nature" but we don't care (much) when random wild animals die, but we do care about our pets. I wouldn't leave it "up to nature" as she is a cruel mistress. Here is a good thread on brumation:

Tom's Brumation Thread

Every fall we get bombarded here on the forum with all sorts of questions and problems regarding hibernation and tortoises "slowing down" for winter. The purpose of this thread is to talk about all aspects of this subject, to dispel some of the myths and mysteries, and give a "how to" list of...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[Cathie G]

I 100% would not leave him outside to fend for himself. Many make it, many do not. We often talk about "but that is what happens in nature" but we don't care (much) when random wild animals die, but we do care about our pets. I wouldn't leave it "up to nature" as she is a cruel mistress. Here is a good thread on brumation:

Tom's Brumation Thread

Every fall we get bombarded here on the forum with all sorts of questions and problems regarding hibernation and tortoises "slowing down" for winter. The purpose of this thread is to talk about all aspects of this subject, to dispel some of the myths and mysteries, and give a "how to" list of...

tortoiseforum.org

I hate mother nature 😜 she and I both know what the tort needs. I'm the one that will go out of my way to make sure that happens. She'll throw him under a bus like road kill. Probably not on purpose but that's how it is. My little tortoise is my pet. I'm trying to fulfill my duty to give him a better life since he's lost his freedom. All that extra effort gives them a longer life.

 

[Seldom Thomas]

thanks for all of the responses- we love our little fella and want him to be ok. What should we do from here? I’m looking for specific advice for a specific situation at this point. Should we dig him up?

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

I'm not very familiar with brumation and just base my reply on what I've read on this forum (like "Tom's brumation thread" linked above).

Russian tortoises need pretty low temperatures for brumation (like 35-41F). They can wake up if warmed up to 50F (not sure about this number!) during winter warm spells. In the wild that usually kills them (unless they are lucky to quickly burrow deeper). So, wherever he is in a burrow, a shoebox in a garage or in a fridge you need to provide stable low temperatures.

I would dig him up. But you need to prepare his brumation place first.

0. Read "Tom's Brumation Thread".
1. Prepare an insulated, non-heated outdoor box, fridge or a safe place in a garage. It should stay dry whatever rain, flood or snow is outside. And there should be cold enough.
2. Get a plastic or cardboard shoebox, put some substrate (like shredded newspapers, orchid bark, coco coir).
3. In the colder morning, when ground and air are still cool, dig him up and put into the box.
4. Move the shoebox to garage, fridge or outdoor box. Watch him and temperatures closely - he should settle down soon.
5. Make "plan B" preparations. Though odds are low he might decide to stay awake and you'll have to house him indoors. The same can happen even if you leave him outside and then comes a warm spell.

To even out temperature fluctuations you can use frozen water bottles, for example. If he stays awake after digging out - don't feed him or you will need to keep him awake.

--
If Tom, Yvonne or some other experienced member give you other advice - listen to them.

 

[Tom]

Should we dig him up?

YES! Please read the thread that was linked for you.

 

[Cathie G]

thanks for all of the responses- we love our little fella and want him to be ok. What should we do from here? I’m looking for specific advice for a specific situation at this point. Should we dig him up?

Yes. The only reason I say that is because you are asking. I don't brumate my Russian because he's not totally healthy. And the other reason to not brumate is that you don't fully understand how to. You can always do it at a later year when you fully understand how. And the circumstances are perfect.