HELP!!!!  live in essex and my tortoise has dug in for the winter under a grape vine which is against a fence my garden.  He did this last year and couldn't find him till he appeared this March.  Should i leave him where he is or put him in his box in the shed ?

Hiya,

They hibernate like this in the wild and the chances are your tortoise will be absolutely fine. My concerns would be your tortoise is accessible by predators and it could be problematic if the water table is high.

HTH
Darren

Thanks for your quick reply Darren.  Only been looking after him for 3 years so still not 100% on what to do for best re hibernation as he is in his 50's.  Will get some sort of cage/shelter put over area to protect him. Should I disturb him to weigh him, I didn't know it had to be done. 

Regards

The cage may protect him, but rodents & foxes may well burrow under this - so there is an element of risk involved. This wouldn't be my choice of hibernation. Having said that we have had 6 month old tortoises hibernate outside in a brick cold frame at the top of the garden where the water table isn't so high and all were perfectly ok:-). I personally wouldn't dig him up to weight him as it would be a problem getting him back down. If you're going to go to the trouble of digging him up - I would box him and place him in a secure outhouse or even a temperature tested fridge (our preferred method). There are some links in the hibernation section, under tortoise - if you haven't read them already?

All the Best
Darren