Southern California Hibernation

daveyjones1972

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Joined
Feb 28, 2020
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26
Location (City and/or State)
Sierra Madre
Curious what other folks in Southern California are doing with their outdoor tortoises right now. The weather has been all over the place. I’ve got a Mojave Desert Tortoise and I thought he was going to go down last week when it got cold, but then he came back out because it was 98 degrees. Anybody else having similar problems?
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
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Jan 9, 2010
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Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
Curious what other folks in Southern California are doing with their outdoor tortoises right now. The weather has been all over the place. I’ve got a Mojave Desert Tortoise and I thought he was going to go down last week when it got cold, but then he came back out because it was 98 degrees. Anybody else having similar problems?
Either hibernate him or don't, but commit to one or the other. You don't HAVE to hibernate him, but I'm of the opinion that you SHOULD hibernate him.

The answer to your questions are not simple. Its a long explanation that I previously type up in post number 19 here:
Looking for an RT Hibernation "Mentor"
In this thread, @Tom mentioned seeking out a "mentor" who has experience in successfully hibernating Russian tortoises. So I am looking for you! Or any ideas of potential helpful peeps... Thanks! :) A little background: My boyfriend and I are interested in hibernating Steve, our male Russian...
tortoiseforum.org

I"ve found it much easier to get into and out of hibernation, regardless of finicky weather using a temperature controlled night box, which is shown and explained here:
The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise
I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...
tortoiseforum.org

Read these two threads, and you should have most of your questions answered. If not, come on back and we will get you sorted.
 

daveyjones1972

New Member
Joined
Feb 28, 2020
Messages
26
Location (City and/or State)
Sierra Madre
Either hibernate him or don't, but commit to one or the other. You don't HAVE to hibernate him, but I'm of the opinion that you SHOULD hibernate him.

The answer to your questions are not simple. Its a long explanation that I previously type up in post number 19 here:
Looking for an RT Hibernation "Mentor"
In this thread, @Tom mentioned seeking out a "mentor" who has experience in successfully hibernating Russian tortoises. So I am looking for you! Or any ideas of potential helpful peeps... Thanks! :) A little background: My boyfriend and I are interested in hibernating Steve, our male Russian...
tortoiseforum.org

I"ve found it much easier to get into and out of hibernation, regardless of finicky weather using a temperature controlled night box, which is shown and explained here:
The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise
I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...
tortoiseforum.org

Read these two threads, and you should have most of your questions answered. If not, come on back and we will get you sorted.
I definitely plan to hibernate him. Just trying to get the timing right due to the weather fluctuations. Once it’s colder I’m going to slowly cook down his house and then keep it at the right temperature.
 

daveyjones1972

New Member
Joined
Feb 28, 2020
Messages
26
Location (City and/or State)
Sierra Madre
I definitely plan to hibernate him. Just trying to get the timing right due to the weather fluctuations. Once it’s colder I’m going to slowly cook down his house and then keep it at the right temperature.
And thanks for the post. I’ve actually read it before, and that’s what gave me the idea to do a more controlled cool down period. Like I said it’s more about timing with the variability of the weather.
 

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