Tortoise constantly under soil

[louisewhomack76]

Hi. My 2 year old Hermanns is a puzzle. Since the weather turned he is constantly under the soil. I’ve checked his temps and they are fine. Ambient room temp is 20, basking is 37. He has 2 basking lamps at each end of his enclosure and a CH lamp in the middle. The lowest temp in his enclosure is 22. It drops to about 16 at night. Humidity is around 80 and he has a closed chamber over his table for winter. He has a warm soak daily and is fed a mix of fresh weeds, florette ( loves radicchio) and Mazuri twice a week which he loves. He has nutrabol and calcium powder alternate days as advised by the Vet. I get him up every morning for a soak and he eats plenty then wanders around his enclosure which is 6ft by 3 ft. He seems alert and well. I’ve had him checked by the vet who specialises in tortoises who says he fine and his shell looks great. Each day he is only up a few hours before he burrows under the soil. This can be around midday. Is this normal for winter? I am at my wits end. Have read manuals and help sheets. Do t know what to do. Any info would be helpful.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Hello! I guess he's thinking about brumation (hibernation) as the temperatures are low enough. Here is a copy-paste from Tom's brumation thread (https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/toms-brumation-thread.201823) if you want to keep him awake this winter:
----
Here are steps to take if you don't want to brumate your temperate species:
1. Add bright LED lighting in the 5000-6500K color range. Lots of it. Make it look like daytime outside looks.
2. Set light timers to be on for 13-14 hours.
3. Bump all ambient temperatures up a bit.
4. Keep night temps warmer. Shoot for no lower than the 70s over night.
5. Pull the tortoise out of hiding and soak it often. Don't let it stay hidden in a cool hide box all day.
6. I usually run HO UV tubes for 2-3 hours mid day. To keep a tortoise up, I might bump them up to 6-8 hours a day.
----

 

[louisewhomack76]

Thanks. Will tweak things a bit and see how we go

 

[Tom]

Thanks. Will tweak things a bit and see how we go

Perfect suggestions from Alex.

I would add that you are fighting millions of years of evolution. Your tortoise knows that it is time to brumate. What you are seeing is pretty normal and your tortoise is doing better than most because you are doing the right things to keep him up.

You may have been told not to "hibernate" your tortoise for the first 3 years, or the first 5 years, or the first year, etc... I don't agree with this. They brumate in the wild their first year and every year. Its a normal and natural process. Its good for them. I do this for all my temperate species their first year and every year, all snakes, lizards and turtles and tortoises.

Here is more info on that. This thread explains both how to brumate, and also how to keep them up.

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

 

[louisewhomack76]

Perfect suggestions from Alex.

I would add that you are fighting millions of years of evolution. Your tortoise knows that it is time to brumate. What you are seeing is pretty normal and your tortoise is doing better than most because you are doing the right things to keep him up.

You may have been told not to "hibernate" your tortoise for the first 3 years, or the first 5 years, or the first year, etc... I don't agree with this. They brumate in the wild their first year and every year. Its a normal and natural process. Its good for them. I do this for all my temperate species their first year and every year, all snakes, lizards and turtles and tortoises.

Here is more info on that. This thread explains both how to brumate, and also how to keep them up.

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

Thanks for this. I’m only keeping him up as my Vet told me not to hibernate him this year. I wish I could do it. I will keep trying! I’m glad I’m doing the right things!

 

[Tom]

Thanks for this. I’m only keeping him up as my Vet told me not to hibernate him this year. I wish I could do it. I will keep trying! I’m glad I’m doing the right things!

Did your vet give a reason for why you shouldn't?

 

[louisewhomack76]

I don’t remember why, but my tortoise had a full and thorough check. He said not to do it this year.