experts on horsefield tortoises wanted?

Question

i have a torty that will almost be 3. i have had alot of different advice about hibernating. How do i do it? is he old enough? how can i tell if he is strong enough? how long do i hibernate him for? is the best place really in a box in the fridge? any help gratefully received

Answer 1

Unfortunately, a great deal of information presented to tortoise keepers in the past has been inaccurate and sometimes positively lethal. Into this category falls such advice as "never disturb a hibernating tortoise", "make sure you leave plenty of air-holes in the hibernating box", "give your tortoise one last meal to see it through hibernation" and " provide plenty of cat or dog food in the diet". The first is simply incorrect, the last three can kill.

So as for your Horsefield (Russian) tortoise.
This species originates in Central Asia, principally in Pakistan and Afghanistan. It is of a generally light-golden hue with black markings, reaches a maximum of about 250 mm , and combines the miniature spurs with pointed tail similar to T. hermanni. It has a 'stubby' squarish body, a long neck, and, most distinctively, only four toes per foot. Hibernation is recommended, but extra-special care should be exercised as this tortoise is particularly prone to respiratory and skin complaints. It requires a very low humidity environment, and must never be subjected to damp. Large numbers have been collected in recent years, and wild-caught animals are common in the pet trade. Most do not survive for long.

You can certainly improve your tortoise's chances greatly simply by limiting the period of hibernation to not more than 20 weeks at the outside. This, it should be stressed, is for a perfectly fit specimen which is fully up to weight. Tortoises which are anything less than l00% fit, or are in any way underweight, will require a proportionally shorter period of hibernation under carefully controlled conditions; possibly they may even need to be kept awake and feeding over the entire winter season.

If i knew more i would help more but i sincerly hope this helps.

Answer 2

Tortoises can share pens so long as the care needs for each tortoise is met, AND each tortoise has adequate space for thier needs- usually about 100 square inches per inch of shell. Smaller pens encourage aggression and territoriality. It worries me that you don't know what type of tortoise you have. This means you probably are not providing the best possible care, since almost every species has specific needs. You cannot mix a desert species with a forest species, or a high temp species with a lower temp species, high humidity with low humidity, etc. Your first job is not to get a new tortoise, it is to identify your current tortoise and figure out its real needs. Next you have to make sure you are giving it good care. Once the cares are rock solid, THEN you can think about adding another tortoise. These sites can help. The first is a good general purpose site, the second is a diet site I really like.

Answer 3

you have a tortoise, that one, is too young for hibrenating.

my question is this, why do you want to hibernate him? is if for breeding purposes? then if so you need to wait until he is 5 years at least before doing so, the best place to do this is as said, a box of straw in teh very bottom part of your fridge. hiberbate for NO MORE than 8 weeks! horsefeilds tortoises in teh wild only get around 8 weeks of hibernation, so yours shouldnt be any different, you do not want to risk him loosing too much weight.

if this tortoise is only as a pet, a single tortoise that you are not wanting to breed then there is no need to hibernate them. you only hibernate tortoises to prepare them for breeding, it is part of the essential breeding procedure to prepare the creatures for mating. if you only have the one tortoise then there is no need to hibernate him, keep him warm and active in his vivariium all year round and enjoy your pet

Answer 4

feed him up before he hibernates and drop the temperature as a sudden drop in the temp will make him automatically hibernate, i dont hibernate mine so i just make sure the temp is high.make sure he has plenty of straw or shredded paper to hide himself,if ur really unsure ask the vet to check is weight to c if he is ok to hibernate.

Answer 5

Here are some good articles on the subject:

http://www.russiantortoise.org/care_sheet.htm (Scroll to near the bottom)

http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/safer.html