We have a Horsefield Tortoise in his third year. Lives in a cage with usual white light (on timer) plus red basking light on temp control. He is normally up early looking for his food bowl, but past 10 days he has burrowed under his bedding and left all food. I am no expert but does this indicate he wants to hybernate for a few weeks. If so can I put him in a snug box withn his cage, just wind down his lighting and heating and leave him for that period.

Hibernation has to be controlled to compare with what would happen in the wild. He has to empty his gut and stomach for a period of up to four weeks and then be placed in a box at 5 degrees. If  just left in his cage unchecked he will dehydrate and die, so you need to look at the page on hibernation to get it right for him,

Sue

www.tortsmad.com

Hi, we have a 3 year old Horsefield tortoise who is trying to hibernate too. We overwintered him last year, and I wanted to hibernate him this year. I have read lots about making sure he is not underweight, but I can't find any info about what weight he should be. Only the Jackson scale, which is no good.

He is 13cm long and weighs 381g. Does anyone know if that is ok for hibernation?

Thanks for your help

Nikki