If the animals have been well fed, they are healthy and you follow the indications Victort says about emptying and hidratating ,hibernation should not be problematic. The first year I had them I let them hibernate outside. I was out for a week and when I came back they were all buried. I saw some soil not compacted and when I dug I found a tunnel. I put all of my arm inside and couldn´t touch them. I let them there.That was not a very rainy winter and in mid february they were out sunbathing. I haven´t let them repeat that because the weather is unpredictable and I am afraid of rains (not of cold if they can dig deep).Since then I have hibernated them in a cool garage and in a fridge. I have used soil and also shred newspaper in rubbermaid containers without problems.I sprinkled with water every two-three weeks, just a little bit.

As Victort, I am also worried with temperature fluctuations. When they are buried deep under the soil they don´t notice fluctuations of a few days duration, but in a container they become active at not very high temperatures. Highfield recommends a hibernation temperature of 5-7ºC, the temperature they have at the end of the tunnel they dig in the wild. That´s why now I prefer the fridge instead of the garage.In the garage I heard scratching until the end of October, in the fridge only the first days. With both methods they were OK in spring.

Good luck.

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