Waking Hibernating Russian Tortoise Early

[MethodAgent]

We have a russian tortoise that is over 5 years old that lives in our backyard. She has the run of the place. She just started hibernating about 3-4 weeks ago. We are planning some construction in our backyard and are concerned about waking her up to keep her safe. I would hate to postpone construction for 5 months to wait for her to wake up, but do not want to harm her by waking her out of her hibernation. Any advice would be helpful.

 

[LaLaP]

Do you have an indoor set-up for her where she has proper heat, lights, etc? If you wake her up she'll probably be done hibernating this year and you'll have to keep her up indoors.

 

[MethodAgent]

No setup although we have a heat lamp and some small caves she uses outdoors. We are in Southern California so the weather here is not extreme. She is outdoors 24/7.

 

[Yvonne G]

It's really not a good idea to allow Russian tortoises to brumate outside here in California. I know we are usually in a drought, however, even in drought conditions, we get too much rain for a Russian to be safe brumating outdoors. By all means, dig her up. Then do this:

Take the whole Sunday newspaper, folded in half and place it in the bottom of a like-sized cardboard box. Add a layer of shredded paper, then the tortoise, then fill the box up with shredded paper. Fold over the flaps of the box and lock them together (or put the lid on). Place the box in a cool, dry, quiet spot (a shelf in the garage, up off the ground in the garden shed, a back bedroom closet that is not in use, etc. The best temperature for a brumating Russian tortoise is around 40F degrees, but it can be anywhere from 40F to 50F, but lower is better. Don't worry about "waking her up" when you dig her up. If she's truly brumating, it takes a pretty long time to snap them out of it. Just get her and box her up and put the box away.

 

[MethodAgent]

Thank you for the advice. What is the concern with rain while a tortoise is brumating?

 

[Blackdog1714]

THe burrow floods with water and the tortoise gets water in its lungs

 

[Maro2Bear]

Just curious really, but isn't it way too early and warm/hot for a Russian to be already brumating? Not sure what part of California, but here in Maryland we are still flirting with low 90 degree daytime temps.

Plus you say it started brumating almost a month ago, just seems early.

Anyhow, best of luck. Just curious on your local temps!

 

[MethodAgent]

Got it. We will look out for that.

In regards to temps, yes it is still in the 70's-80's. We haven't really thought about it, but she always disappears in September and reappears in March. She has always been that way.

 

[Maro2Bear]

Got it. We will look out for that.

In regards to temps, yes it is still in the 70's-80's. We haven't really thought about it, but she always disappears in September and reappears in March. She has always been that way.

Interesting, msybe just gets tired of the heat, digs in and decides to wait for next year! Good luck.

 

[Yvonne G]

Thank you for the advice. What is the concern with rain while a tortoise is brumating?

Warm or hot coupled with wet conditions is ok for tortoises, but cold coupled with wet can be a death sentence - a sick tortoise for sure.

 

[Yvonne G]

Just curious really, but isn't it way too early and warm/hot for a Russian to be already brumating? Not sure what part of California, but here in Maryland we are still flirting with low 90 degree daytime temps.

Plus you say it started brumating almost a month ago, just seems early.

Anyhow, best of luck. Just curious on your local temps!

No. Russians start early, especially wild caught because they're still tuned in to their home world.

 

[RosemaryDW]

Thank you for the advice. What is the concern with rain while a tortoise is brumating?

Russians are very susceptible to respiratory infection; cold damp is no bueno. Desert tortoises are similar.

 

[MethodAgent]

Hi all,

So before I could make the decision to disturb our turtle or not, she randomly appeared!! I bought a large storage bin for her and filled it with soil and wood chips and her favorite shelter rock and put it in the corner of our garage. I have been keeping an eye on her and she hasn't come out at all from what i can tell and has just stayed in her little cave partially buried. I was sort of expecting this, but before I consider just not bothering her at all I wanted to check with the community here. Should i not try to feed or water her and just leave her alone? We expect her to be in this state for another 2 months at least until we can let her loose again in our backyard.

 

[Yvonne G]

No, don't offer food. They have to clean out the digestive tract before they actually go into brumation.

 

[MethodAgent]

Thank you!

 

[MethodAgent]

So it has been week now and our turtle is still in its rock, it has not moved. It is half buried. I peeked in the crate and both eyes are wide open. She moved and recognized me when I looked in. This makes me nervous to leave her in there. I understand not feeding her to keep her belly empty....I guess my other choice would be to wake her up and keep her active in her crate for the next 4-8 weeks. Just nervous... See pic.

 

[RosemaryDW]

We are in Southern California and decided to let our tortoise make her own decisions (like she cares what we think) and put her into the fridge to hibernate a few days ago. She was digging in despite the warm weather.

Let her alone to hibernate or make the active decision to keep her up in an appropriate enclosure. Tortoises don’t go into true hibernation but brumation. They remain alert in brumation; they will move, dig, and open their eyes. Mine remains fairly active until she gets to 44 degrees and lower. At forty degrees she is still responsive.

I find it nerve wracking this time of year no matter what we do, if that helps. I think it best they be kept cold and dry during brumation. Cold being around forty degrees, not the fifty-five and up temperatures that we get in our garage.