Hello we have a friends tortoise on loan as she has moved to a new house with no lawn, weeds just gravel. Daisy is a Testudo graeca Iberia who is approximately 80 years old I have been assured that she will hibernate herself as she has lived in the garden and dug herself in for all these years. I have taken up the mesh under our tortoise run so that she can dig down byt as yet she has shown no signs of digging, Is it too early? Im a bit concerned as its so cold our little tortoise is under his lamp on the tortoise table and I feel bad that Daisy is out in the cold?? Any help much appreciated, thanks.
Kerry

Hi Kerry. As our winters are getting colder and much wetter, I would really worry about her digging in, in a suitable spot. I hibernate mine ( also old T g ibera) in 80 litre plastic storage boxes of a soil/ compost mixture. Currently mine are in a cool hallway in 2-3 inches of soil. They are hardly moving these days. Once temps drop to around 10 degrees C,  I will add extra mixture...damp, not wet to aroung 12 inches deep, and then watch the temps daily. Have you an outhouse or unheated garage to keep the box in? YOU MUST WATCH TEMPERATURES ALL WINTER. My groundfloor hallway is unheated and temps range from 2-10 degerees in winter. I have digital thermometers with alarms going off whem temp falls. I move boxes up and down a step or two to maintain temps in correct range. As they are in moist soil, it buffers temp changes and prevents dehydration too. I excavate them regularly to check they are ok.

Hope this helps, regards, David nr York

Hi Kerry. As our winters are getting colder and much wetter, I would really worry about her digging in, in a suitable spot. I hibernate mine ( also old T g ibera) in 80 litre plastic storage boxes of a soil/ compost mixture. Currently mine are in a cool hallway in 2-3 inches of soil. They are hardly moving these days. Once temps drop to around 10 degrees C,  I will add extra mixture...damp, not wet to aroung 12 inches deep, and then watch the temps daily. Have you an outhouse or unheated garage to keep the box in? YOU MUST WATCH TEMPERATURES ALL WINTER. My groundfloor hallway is unheated and temps range from 2-10 degerees in winter. I have digital thermometers with alarms going off whem temp falls. I move boxes up and down a step or two to maintain temps in correct range. As they are in moist soil, it buffers temp changes and prevents dehydration too. I excavate them regularly to check they are ok.

Hope this helps, regards, David nr York

Hi Kerry. As our winters are getting colder and much wetter, I would really worry about her digging in, in a suitable spot. I hibernate mine ( also old T g ibera) in 80 litre plastic storage boxes of a soil/ compost mixture. Currently mine are in a cool hallway in 2-3 inches of soil. They are hardly moving these days. Once temps drop to around 10 degrees C,  I will add extra mixture...damp, not wet to aroung 12 inches deep, and then watch the temps daily. Have you an outhouse or unheated garage to keep the box in? YOU MUST WATCH TEMPERATURES ALL WINTER. My groundfloor hallway is unheated and temps range from 2-10 degerees in winter. I have digital thermometers with alarms going off whem temp falls. I move boxes up and down a step or two to maintain temps in correct range. As they are in moist soil, it buffers temp changes and prevents dehydration too. I excavate them regularly to check they are ok.

Hope this helps, regards, David nr York

Oops...faulty mouse!

David

Agreed - it's never a good idea to let a tortoise hibernate itself deliberately especially in a new home - they need to really know the area for a number of years and even then, with our changing climate, it would be foolhardy to let her just do her own thing. I would follow a decent wind down and hibernation plan, it would be a shame to lose her after so long, plus older tortoises could do with a bit more tlc to ensure they lead an even longer healthier life.

Hope this helps

Sue

www.tortsmad.com

Oh no she might have to go back to owners for that then as they have outhouse, I only have a shed.