Successful Hibernation

[OrdHall]

Following some excellent advice from Yvonne, our 20mth old greek marginated tortoise named "Ouzo" was awake from his first 39 day hibernation, As a novice owner, I worried what to do, do I keep him awake, do I leave him alone, was he supposed to wake up so soon? etc etc. Once awake, (which was obvious, although very slow) I followed advice, gave him a long soak in warm water for about 40minutes (I had 2 bath's on the go to make sure he didn't get cold), his eyes were wide open and legs started to move around and neck extended with mouth opening and closing. He dried off on a piece of muzzlin and I put him under his lamp, temperature between 22-26degrees which he seems very happy with, he spent most of the day warming up and moving around and very happy. I weighed him today and during his 39 day hibernation he lost 5.2grams. He weighed 98g on 12 November and now 92.8g on 22 December. Food is in bowl and plenty of fresh water, he has spent the whole day under his lamp and checking out his tortoise table, but not eaten yet, pretty sure his appetite will soon return, he is in really good condition (phew). He is now asleep for the night and light will go on at around 6am tomorrow. I am SO pleased that we have had our first successful hibernation, he looks fab, bright eyed and pretty active, I am REALLY happy! Phew! It is SO worrying when they go into first hibernation, and being a complete novice tortoise owner I am very thankful to this forum and the time people take to ensure new owners succeed, I hope for many more years of posting and updates, eventually he will live outside, but not while so tiny! ... THANKS to everyone ..... Heather & Ouzo

 

[Yvonne G]

Well, here's hoping for continued success. Once he starts eating you'll be home free.

 

[OrdHall]

Hi, update on Ouzo following his first hibernation : Warmed up the tortoise table, he seems to want to eat more and move around in a much warmer environment, must be due to our winter temperatures even though he is indoors. Temperature is between 28-35degrees, he is very active, eating really well, loves his bath's etc. I have weighed him and he's put on 24g since coming out of hibernation. He came out of his first 39 day hibernation on 22 December 2016 and has put on 24g in 28days - great going he has also grown 1cm in 8mths (measured underneath from tail to neck). He was 7cm when I got him in March 2016 and now 8cm. Eyes are bright and he seems very happy and healthy. Stats thus far :
Was 1yr old in March 2016, weighed 55g and measured 7cm, took a while to settle into his new environment, after 2mths I upgraded his tortoise table, this again upset him for a month or so, (slow eating and rather shy), he had a slow start during the summer last year to get into a routine, he then took himself into hibernation on 12 Nov 2016, he had slowed his eating for 3-4weeks prior, he weighed 98g at that time, he hibernated for 39 days, woke himself up (probably my fault as the winter temperature rose consistently for a few days - he is indoors), he woke up, I sought advice from this forum and was advised to keep him awake and warm him up. I had several warm baths for him (ice cream containers are great) and moved him from one to another for approx. 40minutes, put him back into table under lamp, he slept. Then next day he was hungry and appetite has increased ever since. He is now aged 20mths, weighs 122g and measures 8cm, lovely bright eyes, very active and back into a routine. I have increased the temperature in his table to 28-35degrees and he seems very happy ... looking forward to summer when he can eat some dandelions (his favourite). I am feeding him on Mixed Italian Salad leaves, he likes the peppery variety mixture of red and green leaves, he has an option of some dried tortoise complete pellets and sometimes crunches on one or two, he doesn't seem to like the dried flower heads or dried weeds .... fussy I guess! I always leave fresh water in his table every day, I know some say not to because they like to defecate in it, but I find that very rare and I do clean the water bowl every day and replace with fresh water and fresh leaves every day. The light is a large 160w lamp Arcadia D3 Basking Lamp, UVB/UVA & heat and I have a heater in the room to and thermostats to ensure the temperature remains pretty constant for him, the lamp is on at 0530 and off at 1900 each day. The heater is off during the night and the temperature drops to approx. 14degrees. He always takes himself off to his sleeping compartment normally before the lamp goes off. In the mornings, he takes about 1hr to wake up from when the light comes on and the temperature warms up. He basks, warms up and then potters around searching out his fresh food! Am loving learning all about him and I know people think I am crazy but I enjoy spending quality "slow time" with Ouzo. I have a cat and 2 dogs, none of which are allowed anywhere near the tortoise table room ... pretty sure they all wonder what goes on in there
Will update again in the Spring when hopefully the dandelions and other weeds are plentiful and if warm enough he may have a few outings on the lawn in the sunshine (when it decides to make an appearance). I hope everyone else is as successful as we have been during the winter months and I look forward to hearing other news.
thanks Heather & Ouzo