Hi

Can anyone tell me roughly how much their adult tortoises eat in a day, in 1) peak times, and on winding down times. I know the exact amount is hard but I am just looking for a rough guideline-

Thanks
Jane

Hiya Jane

There is no real answer to the first part of your question.  If a tortoise is left to forage for itself there isn't very much you can do about the amount it eats.  If however, you are providing it's food then a rough guideline is if food is still there after 20 minutes of it starting to eat it - then throw it away. A better guide might be watching the tortoise's weight.  You should be aiming for your tortoise to gain no more than 2 - 3 gr. per month.  You can then increase or decrease the amount of food offered accordingly.

As to the second part of your question.  Tortoises must not be allowed to eat during wind down at all. The danger of allowing it to do this is that the food will lay undigested in the gut and ferment causing serious problems during hibernation.  The only thing that the tortoise should ingest during wind down is water.  Please refer to our hibernation documents in the tortoise section of the web site as this clear sets out the wind down procedure.

HTH

Helen

Hi Helen
Sorry I didn't make myself very clear, what I meant was when the torts are starting to eat less themselves, before we start the wind down. The reason why I am asking is that, Molly is eating now, but not very much at all, perhaps a couple of leaves plantain?dandelion, a little piece of cucumber. Sometimes a bit each day sometimes every other day, and I was wondering if this is all other peoples torts are eating at the moment or should I be concerned?
Thanks
Jane

My adult Russians have stopped eating altogether and so I've started official wind down with them but my juveniles haven't stopped but are eating much less.  I have to put them under the lamp on a morning.  If I didn't they don't warm up they wouldn't want to eat at all.  Once they are warm they eat a bit and then go back to bed.  I'm going to keep them going as long as I can as I don't want them to wind down before December.  I know they are healthy and so I don't worrry. 

The hermanns are more active but have slowed down too.  Again I don't worry, Jane as it's the weather making them want to do this earlier than normal.  If I were you I should go on offering food as you are for a bit longer yet, once you know she is warmed through.  Once Molly stops eating altogether you'll just know that is the time to start wind down. 

HTH

Helen

I agree with what Helen says -- I think you should try and keep her eating as long as possible, but it's a battle of wills, and if Molly is winning and stops eating altogether then you need to count that as the start of wind down.

My Doris hasn't wanted to wake up in the morning since the second week in August, although if I wake her up and warm her up she eats well -- but then she goes straight back to sleep after about half an hour. I'm afraid that this weekend I just kept waking her up because we had so much sunshine I didn't want her to miss it.

I think with Molly eating less and less, you should keep an eye on her weight, and if she starts losing and you can't get her eating again, then you will have to count the last few days she hasn't eaten as the start of wind down and go from there. It's so frustrating, isn't it?

Nina

Hi
I don't know if you get more confident once you have hibernated your tortoise but I will be glad when I have had the experience so that next year it won't feel so traumatic. At least I am getting to see the behaviour pattern of when the torts start to let you know they are winding down. I supose it has been abit more difficult for me because Molly has just come to live with us, and I have not known whether it has been out of stress that she did not eat to begin with, or because she was sick.. anyway it sounds like everyones tortoises are eating less, but isn't it too early for them to start hibernation, because they will loose too much weight. If they do hibernate by the end of next month how long will they hibernate for?
I don't know why I find this so scary,  I think it is the thought of loosing my two if anything goes wrong, plus I enjoy having them around...
Jane

Hi Jane,

I still find hibernation mildly traumatic, but it does get easier! (a bit) As far as being too early, I think it is a bit early, but some people have had to start wind down as their tortoises have stopped eating altogether. They won't lose any more weight, because if you start wind down from the time they stop eating, then it is the same as if you started it by withdrawing their food. If they hibernate by the end of next month they will hibernate for the same length of time as if put them into hibernation later. I would say this would be for juveniles, or for first hibernation 8-10 weeks if all is well. 12 weeks is better for a juvenile or sub-adult, and sixteen weeks for an adult if all goes well (or even a week or two longer, but probably not longer than 20 weeks as then they start to use up their reserves. When I say 'going well', this means that they have not urinated (if they do then you have to wake them up as they can get dehydrated) and no massive loss of weight (not more than 1% of weight loss per month or 10% loss for the whole hibernation). For Molly, I know she had problems earlier (was it a hysterectomy?) -- if she has been fit and well since early August, and she has no health problems then I would go for 8-10 weeks to start, and at the end of that time, if she hasn't lost much weight, then you could keep her in for a bit longer -- say, up to 12 weeks.

Have you read the articles on fridge and box hibernation in the Hibernation section of the website, and the article on preparation for hibernation (wind down)? They should help, but you will probably have more questions (we all do), so keep asking.

Cheers,
Nina

Thanks Nina

Yes I have read the articles, but a another visit won't do me any harm..
I have started to play around with the fridge and the thermometers to get temps right, I have put a box with substrate in to simulate Molly, so I am trying to get a feel of things, but I am sure I will be back asking questions. I have taken notes on your comments so that I can refer to them, as they are good guidelines for me.
Thanks
Jane

Don't forget to put sealed bottles filled with water in too, Jane, as filling up the empty spaces with them also helps to stabilise the temperature.
Here are some other articles on fridge hibernation (I'm afraid my browser won't allow me to post live links here, so you will have to cut and paste):
http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/Refrigerator.htm
and
http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/Refrigerator_2.htm
and here is a really lovely account of someone of their first hibernation (well, their tortoise's first hibernation {g}:
http://russiantortoise.org/hibernation_journey.htm
Hope I haven't loaded you down with too much reading (I like reading as much as I can because it keeps me busy and sometimes I forget to worry!).

Nina


Cheers,
Nina