new horsefield advice!!

[drummerboyed]

i have been looking at buying a horsefield and i have a few worries which id love people opinions on.
Firstly, i heard from a friend that for the first few years they are too small to hibernate so there vet said you have to bath them daily and keep them awake for a few years so is this true?
secondly i plan to keep him indoors so any help on this?
and finally i will be going to university next year so will it be okay for him to come with me because he will still be inside and i will give him access to an outside area!?

any help would be appreciated
thanks

[purplepixie]

Lol I am not sure what people think young tortoises in the wild do
They hibernate, just like the adult, especially horsfields as they can hibernate up to six months in their natural habitat.
If you get a horsfield now, then you would not be expected to hibernate him this year, as you do need to get to know your tortoise and his habits etc, and he the new set up. If you buy from a breeder (highly recommended) and your tortoise is a hatchling then you shouldnt have any problems not hibernating anyway.
If you buy from a petshop (most not recommended) and the tortoise is older than they say (normally happens) then you might not have a choice, as most tortoises previously hibernated, are hard to keep them up. Even with the correct temps etc.
The vet is correct you should bathe any tortoise every day while young, as young tortoises dehydrate very quickly. Adults once or twice a week.
www.thetortoisehouse.com for great horsfield info.
As long as the enclosure is large enough for him to wander around, and the substrate deep enough for him to dig down into, then there shouldnt be too much of a problem taking him to uni.
Although personally I think all tortoises should have acsses to the outside during the late Spring and during the Summer months and early Autumn.

[drummerboyed]

hi thanks for the help. i am looking to buy from this tortoiseshop.com. they say that the tortoise will arrive at two years old. so with regards to hibernating would the same apply to what you said above. and also is the tortoiseshop.com okay to buy from?
thanks

[purplepixie]

Its not a recommended site to buy from. Much better to buy from a breeder. See list above.
If you do decide to buy from them, then yes it could be if they have hibernated before they might well still go into windown mode. Even with temperatures set for them to stay up.

[drummerboyed]

thanks for the help another thing i have noticed with the tortoise shop is that in the package they provide it does not say to use sand or soil and i believe that horsefields are digging species. would a herman be better?

[annsimpson1]

all torts dig with horsfeilds being keener than some of the others but top soil/garden soil by itself or mixed with sand is the most common bedding used for most of the species. You can add different substances in different areas but soil/sand is the most natural, most torts like to bury themselves and as they are cold bloodied don't need a soft warm bed (it wouldn't keep them warm ) the only warmth they get is from a source such as the sun or your heat lamp, they can't get warm from the air temp around them so they still feel cold even its hot in the room. Have a look in the housing section there are lots of photos of owners set ups showing the bedding ect.

[drummerboyed]

also are you saying then that if they do go into wind down mode then they should still be kept awake and not hibernated?

[drummerboyed]

thanks annsimpson thats another to think about. im so excited about getting one but theres so much to think about!

[annsimpson1]

if you don't want to hibernate this year you'd be better getting a hatchling that hasn't hibernated before as you might not have much choice with an older tort. It can be hard to keep them awake and eating if they don't want to know, or at least find one thats used to being kept awake and don't change the conditions if you can help it, you'll need a warm room with plenty of light and you'll be trying to imitate high summer conditions, plenty of long warm hours and lots of light, plus warmth at night, no rooms that don't have heating.

[drummerboyed]

i think i definately shouldnt go for tortoiseshop.com then becasue as they come 2 years old they may well have hibernated. i havent got a problem with hibernation id prefer them to do whatever is natural