What a strange winter!

My mature ibera are in moist soil boxes in an unheated hallway. Previously I have worried it was too cold...this year it is almost tropical! OK I exaggerated a little. However, the thermometer has risen to 8 deg C, and my torts have shuffled slightly several times. I am not worried yet though, they are still very torpid. I am determined not to wake them yet. In the wild they must stir sometimes.  I was chatting with a chap the other day who has had his tortoise since 1963. He has hibernated his in the same garage every winter. He said that his torty regularly moves about some  winters, others it barely moves. He seemed surprised at my concerns. So I am wondering what the rest of you have experienced over the years. Have any of you had torts since before 1963? If yes, do yours wake or move about much in their state of hibernation? I do remember one winter, somewhere around the early 90's when I had a female laying eggs in February!

I would be really interested to hear of your thoughts and experiences. Please let us know if you have any thoughts, worries or ideas on the matter. In the meantime I am hoping for a cold spell for next few weeks...everything crossed!!!!!!!!!!

Regards, David nr York.

Hi David
Funnily enough I was talking to my friend last night who was voicing the same concerns, her whitei has semi woken up and her temps are 8.5c in the greenhouse, even though the windows and doors have been opened, so she was undecided whether to get her out or not, but like you she is going to go with it as the temps are going to drop and hopefully she will settle back down. The interesting thing that I learnt is that Whitei's sit high in the soil they do not go down very deep, even if the temps drop they will not dig down further like the other hermans or  Ibera's that she has, just a little bit of info for the old memory bank.
Good topic, all the different stories will be interesting to read
Jane