Hibernating diversions!!

[scotton]

If anyone has a tips about keeping a hermans awake over the winter it would be gratefully received. Mine just sleeps and when I wake him for a bath straight after he may munch a leaf or two but then goes straight back to sleep. If I let him out for a walk about he heads for the nearest dark warm place and goes back to sleep. Do I just keep disturbing and bathing him each day?

[AnythingWithAShell]

Yep, get him up and bathe him about an hour after the lights go on if poss, if he hasn't got himself up. While he's in the bath, get his food ready. A warm bath can stimulate appetite. Check your basking temps are hot enough, and you can also up the ambient temps if the room he is in is too cold. Also, try keeping the lights on for 14 hours each day instead of 12. All this can trick them into thinking it's still summer.

Be wary of letting him roam around the house, this can result in injury, or the tort getting something it shouldn't, and eating it!

How old is your tort, and where did you get him? If he's hibernated before, you'll have more of a fight on your hands

[Mrs Mental]

Cant add anymore than Dawn has said really.

Can I ask if there's a reason why you aren't hibernating him?

[purplepixie]

How long have you had your tortoise?
Where did you get him/her from?
How big is he/she?
Once a tortoise has decided they want to hibernate (if this is the case here) it is very difficult to keep them awake.

[davidk]

In the mid of september I entered my tortoise indoor and started to be very careful, as she was very underweight. Between mid. September and mid. of October she was very inactive and didn't eaten much. She gradually started to eat, and now she eats well, she is grazing a couple of hours a day, but she still have some sleepy days she never goes out of her cave. I bathed her every evening and then gave her food. To stimulate the apetite, I served corn, apple and pumpkin at first. Gradually, I mixed these with weed leaves (dandelion, clover and some pansies) and now I don't feed vegs, since she is better with her weight and appetite. I have very much light that starts at 7:30AM and goes out at 21:30PM.
Anyway, she is far less active than outdoor in the summer.

[AnythingWithAShell]

Originally Posted by davidk

In the mid of september I entered my tortoise indoor and started to be very careful, as she was very underweight. Between mid. September and mid. of October she was very inactive and didn't eaten much. She gradually started to eat, and now she eats well, she is grazing a couple of hours a day, but she still have some sleepy days she never goes out of her cave. I bathed her every evening and then gave her food. To stimulate the apetite, I served corn, apple and pumpkin at first. Gradually, I mixed these with weed leaves (dandelion, clover and some pansies) and now I don't feed vegs, since she is better with her weight and appetite. I have very much light that starts at 7:30AM and goes out at 21:30PM.
Anyway, she is far less active than outdoor in the summer.

That's great that feeding those foods worked for you, and you've now got your tort on a weed/flower diet, but I personally wouldn't recommend doing this in this case. It can be very difficult (and take a lot of perseverance) to wean a tort off of fruit and veg, as more often than not they'd rather have that than the good stuff!

Too much fruit and veg can upset their stomachs, and most veg is too high in protein.

If you're struggling at all with winter feeding OP, have a look here http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/shell...r-feeding.html

Maybe an interesting, varied and wholesome meal each day will help keep him awake and more interested in eating too?

[den_bish]

Because my house is sooooo cold at night I have invested in a overnight heating system - a 100W ceramic bulb on a thermostat in a clamp lamp. I only received the package yesterday and set it up last night - at the moment is set up down the end with the basking lamp which is also where he sleeps so if the temps drop too low overnight the heat lamp kicks in.
Although it will take a while to see if this has made a difference, he certainly seems a lot more active and tucked into his weeds this morning so fingers crossed he thinks it's summer!

[AnythingWithAShell]

That's fab Denise, I really hope he keeps it up for you

[lillieflower]

hi i posted in another thread too. my torte only came home yesterday, she was really active at first, she didnt eat at all yesterday which i wasnt worried about, i bathed her last night and she dug under the substrate and went to sleep. i had to wake her this morning and bathed her again, she then had 3 mouth fuls of weeds and dug under the substrate again. i woke her this pm but after 30 mins she dug under again. is she getting ill? the substrate seems to be sticking to her and when she is awake she is trying to rub her face to get it off is this normal? she has no discharge from anywhere and all the tepms in her home are perfect although in the store she was in a viv so maybe its a little cooler in her new home?

[Mrs Mental]

If you only got her yesterday and the temps are all okay I epxwect she is just settling in - it can take them a good few weeks to settle so as long as her eyes are bright and her nose clear and a nice pink mouth give her time to settle in before you get worried

Bathing her daily will help to keep her hydrated