I have a very old male tortoise (approx 80 ) who has always been hibernated in a box in the garage with straw. I have had the tortoise for 40 years and this was the way it was always done, but now I see there is the 'fridge' method and am wondering whether at his time of life it would be wise to use this different method. He has not been well after coming out of hibernation (RNS/worms) and I am wondering if it could be to do with the straw plus variances in temperatures in the garage in hibernation  (no thermometers used to check temps).

Thanks for your help.

Bryan

Hello Bryan. After this last, punishing winter, I reckon you are lucky to have a living tort. You do need thermometers and checks 4 times per day in my opinion during the coldest parts of our winters. I use boxes of moist soil for my torts, plus digital alarm thermometers. You must ensure your torts do not drop below 2-3 degrees celsius for more than a few hours. More than that and their eyes freeze and they do go blind. I move mine daily during coldest spells, to ensure stable temps. Even fridges can let you down in extremes of cold...they cannot raise temps above ambient surrounding temperatures of a garage or cellar, they must be monitored several times each day.

Hope this helps Bryan. regards, David nr York,

you shld try a room which you rarely use and try the garage method