DAILY MAIL (London, UK) 04 February 08 Four hundred tortoises come out of hibernation early because of the mild weather

Four hundred tortoises have come out of hibernation earlier than usual because of Britain's milder weather.

Staff at Tortoise Garden in St Austell, Cornwall, were expecting the animals to wake up as usual in March after bedding down in December.

But a warm winter has seen over 400 come out of hibernation in the last few days - well short of their normal 12-week kip.

But because of the cold snap many of the younger tortoises are having to be kept warm with special heat lamps to keep them alive.

Owner Joy Bloor said: "To hibernate properly they need to be under 6C. Above that and they start waking up and start using energy.

"It's energy they can't spare because they don't have the body weight, so we have to keep them warm with the lamps.

"They can't go back to sleep because they would die. If they are not warm enough they will not eat or drink.

"So they are up and about now for the year. It's definitely the earliest they've ever been awake.

"It's the weather. Most of them were still awake in mid-December because it was so mild and now they are out of hibernation already.

"We have one called Banger who's always awake by New Year's Day but the rest of them should still be fast asleep."

Joy looks after 450 tortoises from 15 species including South African Leopard, Mediterranean, Red Foots from the Venezuelan rainforest, Yellow Foots from the Brazilian rainforest, African giants, South African Leopards and Russian Horsefields.

As well as breeding them she runs a home for old tortoises which are often given up for adoption and can live to be 120-years-old.

The animals come from three main sources; owners who are no longer able to look after them, the RSPCA, and illegal imports seized by Customs and Excise.

Joy said: "Our policy here is not to re-home - every one which comes in will stay with us for the rest of their days. Many older people have placed them with us because they have gone into sheltered accommodation.

"But they don't have to give them up completely because they can come here and visit.

"It's lovely to see an elderly man or woman sitting in the sunshine with their tortoise in their lap because if you have had a tortoise for 40 or 50 years it is part of your family, part of your life."

The 60 tortoise pens, both inside and outside, are furnished with a variety of seeds such dandelions, clovers, bindweeds and sour thistles, allowing them to graze as they would in the wild.

Joy's oldest tortoise is Toto - a female who arrived in Britain from North Africa in 1900 and is now 106.

She said: "Most tortoises that live in gardens all the year round are absolutely miserable because they are cold and wet.

"It is not a very good idea for anybody to keep tortoises in this country, and especially not tropical varieties because they fare even worse than the Mediterranean ones as they don't hibernate so you have to provide winter quarters 12 months of the year with a lot of heat."
Four hundred tortoises come out of hibernation early

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