hi me and my 2 torts munchie and crunchy have been to my vet this week and she wormed them, we asked her about weather to hibernate them , and she said that she wouldnt hibernate munchie (the 3 yr old ) as she is too young hibernate because there is a high risk of her not surviving . the tortoise trust said that i SHOULD hibernate her as it is wat they would do in the wild ! my vet also said that crunchie (my new one thats 7) should have blood tests and x-rays (that cost more than £100) to see if he is fit for hibernation and if we wont pay that much for the tests then we should over winter them both !!!!! is this write or wrong ?? ADVISE PLEASE !!


JACK

if its underweight then they might have said dont hibernate

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ANDY B 1

Taken the place of Tops in his absence
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What ive got0.1.0 '07 Amel corn snake2.1.0 Hermanns Tortoises2.3.0 Cats0.2.0 Guinea pigs

Did the vet weigh your tortoise? Did she look for worms in a sample that was tested, or looked at under a microscope? The only reason I can think of for a vet recommending not hibernating a 3 year old tortoise, is if it is freshly imported, dehydrated, with a heavy parasite load, and/or seriously underweight.

Did you take them to be wormed because they were exhibiting signs of sickness and parasites, or is it just a regular checkup?

Hibernating a sick tortoise could do a lot of damage.

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why dont you take your torsts to another vet to get a second look. i recomend andy forsight hes a gud vet look him up

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pretty much what Athravan said. At three years old the tort is plenty old enough to hibernate, providing she/he is of correct weight and in good health. As for needing to x-ray the seven year old..did she explain why that needed to be done? Is the tort showing signs of pyramiding or something?

Is this a specialist rep/tort vet..off the advice given i don't think she is. My old vet wasn't a specialist n gave some of the most stupid advice..unless they're specialists more often than that they don't know much

You said the seven year old is new? have u quarantined it from the other tort? If not, then partly based on this i wouldn't hibernate, as the new tort could have passed on something to ur old tort. But i could be way out, definately worth seekin a specialists advice mate. sorry i can't be of more help

Katie

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the vet weighed the tort but she just wormed her because she said because the tort had been living outside it needed it ! she didnt test anything ! and the tort is verry healthy but she said the reason she wouldnt hibernate her is because the chances of the tort not surviving are so high because she is so young . thanks jack

the seven year old has pyramiding because i rescued it from a woman that said it was an un wanted gift so she keped it in a viv and fed it on lettuce and tomato ! i have not quarrantined the new one because it has always been kept on its own and so has mi one ! thankyou jack

I would seriously consider changing your vet..............my tortoises all live outside but don't necessarily have worms. I don't rountinely worm as I feel its unnecessary medication that could upset the natural balance of their guts.....neither does my vet, he test their samples first and if they are clear he leaves well alone. Sounds like your vet just wanted to charge you for worming .

Ask your vet what young tortoises do in the wild? There is no one there to over winter them and if it was so risky with healthy young ones, they would be in danger of becoming extinct.

My youngest tortoises all hibernated when they were 6 months and weighed between 24 and 27 gs, they slept for 10 weeks and barely lost a gram between them, they have continued to hiberate each year and this will be their 3rd (they are only 2). However, as your vet has indiscrimanently wormed this tortoise without FIRST knowing if it even had worms, I would not hibernate it now.......which is a shame as it sounds in good health

If you go to http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/T...Group/database
you will find a recommended vets list, hopefully there will be one near you and I would advice you use them in future.

Not all vets know about tortoises, some are honest and tell you, others hate losing business and will carry on regardless, sometimes with disastrous consequences.

Hope this helps

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Phoebe

Keeping: Hermanns and Whitei's

Ive been through this problem in the past, there are so many vets out there who know nothing about the tortoises but think they do or just claim they do.

It can sometimes be hard to establish who actually is a specialist vet and who is not, but at the end of the day you have to do what you feel is right for your tort / s.

I have always read books, internet sites etc and asked vets about any animal before i ever purchased one and i always noticed them telling me that you should not hibernate a captive bred tortoise untill it is at least 3 years old - i think the reasoning behind this was because our climate is so different to their natural environment but as other people have stated, what do tortoises do in the wild at this age? HIBERNATE, and if they can live in our climate without problems why should it be different here?

Due to what i have always been told and things i didnt hibernate my tortoises and now am very nervous about doing so. All i can suggest is that if you want to hibernate them that you get a second opinion from another 'specialist' vet and ask what they would do.

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I hibernated my youngest tort last year, she/he was just over a year old at the time. My other Hermann has been hibernated for a few years. I have to say the first year I had him I didn't hibernate him as I was told not to because he was too young. So the next year when I found out they are never too young I did hibernate him. When he woke up he seemed to have a new lease of life! Also of course, if you are hibernating them, they are not eating as much food, so there is less chance of them growing too quickly.

I was really scared of my tort dying when I first hibernated him, but I wound him down correctly, kept the fridge temp stable at 5 degrees and we sailed through, I don't stress about hibernating torts now!