hi how long is it that you havn't hibernated them for please?

Have you had them since hatchlings? Did you hibernate then and not as adults? What made you decide not to in the end?

It's interesting to hear a different view.

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Some of them haven't been hibernated for four years.

The reason I stopped hibernating them was due to two of them being underweight one year, I decided that as I was keeping these two awake, I may as well not hibernate any.
I noticed no change in behaviour patterns from the Tortoises and have kept them awake since then with no obvious ill effects.

Thanks for the info

Do you overwinter them indoors in a viv or table or keep them outside in a heated enclosure?

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Depending on the species depends on whether they need to hibernate, not all tortoises hibernate in natural habitats

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My theory on evolution is that Darwin was adopted...
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Hello littlesnake to the forum.

jms keeps hermanns so they would normally hibernate.

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They are kept in there own outbuilding, however, at the risk of seeming to contradict much of the advice on the forum, I am happy to use vivs to overwinter them.
These enable me to control their temperatures very easily and prevent me from having to heat the entire building which would be very expensive.
Should there be any sunny days during the winter, I have a greenhouse which is sited to catch any sun available, which ,even during the winter heats up to an acceptable temperature for them to spend a couple of hours inside.
Even without this facility, against popular advice, I am quite happy to use vivs for Tortoises when necessary, provided they are large enough for the animals.
Contrary to popular belief, they aren't death traps or ovens and are no more likely to cause problems than any other type of accomodation, they are in fact most suitable for creating the correct micro-climates for cold blooded animals, including Tortoises.

Vivs work well...if used properly...but then so does everything.
The reason that people try to dissuade new keepers/inexperienced keepers is because they can be potentially dangerous if the correct information re temps etc etc is not adhered to.

For instance...I have a male THB who had problems when he came to me because he was kept for 4 yrs in a viv...not in itself necessarily a problem...however the substrate was astroturf...he was fed cucumber and tomato...he had a water bowl sat on top of the astroturf which he spilled daily and it wasnt cleaned up...he had a heatmat on 24/7 a ceramic heater 24/7 and a worn out uvb..which was never on and the viv/cabinet was very very small...when I got to the house he was pacing and knocking on the glass constantly...there was nothing in there to provide him with any activity or break up the line of sight.....he was never got out of it.
Problems

1. His shell was covered in algae and it stunk...as did his cabinet I had to drive 60 miles with my windows open. I scrubbed him with a nail brush when I got home and it took an hour to get the green slime off...the cabinet took days to clean.
2. He was stir crazy.....his behaviour was bizarre.
3. His nails needed trimming
4. His beak was very long
5. He was slightly bumpy.

To quarantine him I put him in another viv...well set out and much much larger...within the day he was calmer...a trip to the vets for a check up and his beak and nails were trimmed.
This was in feb 2007.
He spent the whole miserable wet summer outside.
In august I put him with some of his own age...he bit them constantly...I then put him with some who were older...and larger...he stopped biting them!!! I wondered if he would ever be able to be mixed with a group of his own age,
The answer is yes...he came out of hibernation and he has forgotten he ever bit!! He managed 16 weeks and he is well. He is in a temp table until he goes out for the year again.
The point of all this??? vivs are only bad if misused...I find tables albeit temporary ones easier...but I will not stand up and lie and say vivs are all bad.

I have to admit that when I first started looking into getting a tort and their accomodation I couldn't really get my head around why the correct climate couldn't be created in a viv. I keep my leopard and crested geckos in vivs and have never had a problem. I guess in the end it's how much knowledge a person has when setting up the viv that is key... if it's not big enough, if it's not well ventilated, if the heating/lighting is too powerful for the size etc etc etc then it could be wrong and cause problems... but the same could be said for any species kept in a viv if the person doesn't have enough knowledge.

I worried about whether I would be able to keep the temperature high enough in a table (which I did go for in the end) but luckily I haven't had any problems... so far.

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