EVENING NEWS (Edinburgh, UK) 26 October 05 Health class helps tortoises sleep easy this winter (Linda Summerhayes)
They may not live life at the most hectic of paces, but it seems that spending their days in the slow lane is taking its toll on the humble pet tortoise.
Common ailments such as loss of appetite, colds, mouth ulcers, pneumonia and jaundice are all life-threatening for the reptiles if not treated before their annual 20-week hibernation.
Now, thanks to a group of vets from Edinburgh University's Small Animal Hospital, the Capital's tortoise population can receive the very best of medical care before they nod off for the winter.
Members of the public are being invited tonight to take their pets to the hospital, which is near Hillend, for a free check up before temperatures plummet.
Visiting tortoises will be joined by Piaggio and Harley, six-year-old male Spur-thighed tortoises, who live at the school. The pair were rescued by Customs and Excise workers from a boat in Leith, and nursed back to health at the vet school.
As part of the clinic, the vets will weigh all the tortoises to ensure they have stocked up enough weight over the summer months to survive five months of hibernation.
Emma Keeble, deputy head of the Exotic Animals Services at the university's Small Animal Hospital, said: "It is important to check that tortoises are healthy prior to hibernation to ensure that they will come out of it in the spring. We do not advise hibernating a tortoise which is showing signs of illness or is underweight.
"This is a fun evening, and a chance to meet with other tortoise owners and compare notes."
Reptile expert Jay Gunn said there were a number of myths associated with hibernating tortoises, including giving pets a last supper prior to hibernation. He said that owners should not feed their pets for at least a month before putting it to bed as the food would not digest and would poison the tortoise.
Not disturbing an animal while it was sleeping was also a myth and he said it was vital owners checked their defenceless pet was not attacked by rodents while it was hibernating.
"You also need to make sure they have plenty to drink when they come out of hibernation because all the toxins will have built up in their kidneys," he added.
The Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said there were a number of simple checks that owners can do to ensure their pets will survive the winter.
Scottish SPCA spokeswoman Doreen Graham, who once owned a tortoise called Peter which lived to the grand age of 65, said owners needed to be aware that their pet could wake up during the winter.
She said: "I think a lot of tortoises die in hibernation and one of the reasons for this is they have not put on sufficient weight during the summer.
"You need to be careful in our centrally-heated homes as these animals like to be somewhere cool but also frost-free.
"You also need to keep them somewhere that is rodent-free, too, so a loft might not be the best thing.
"I think tortoise health checks are an excellent idea and, hopefully, this will mean that many more tortoises will come through their hibernation."
The health checks take place between 4.45pm and 7pm, and tortoises should be placed in a cardboard box or a pet carrier with a hot water bottle on the journey to the hospital.
Health class helps tortoises sleep easy this winter

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