Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've got a few questions...

Can I/should I go ahead and hibernate my '03 baby, and for how long?

How can I do a gradual cool down? When I brumate my snakes, I just turn the heat down bit by bit, as they can brumate at 65 degrees, which is my house temp in the winter, but don't torts need more like 40 degrees? How do I manage to get them from 65 down to 40 without doing it all at once (or does it matter)?

Is the refrigerator really the best place to hibernate?

This is in regards to a Hermann's tort.

Thanks once again,
-----
Jeannie

0.0.1 California King Snake
1.0 Mexican Rosy Boa
0.1 Baja de L.A. Rosy Boa
0.1 Okeetee Corn Snake
1.1 Rubber Boas
2.0 DSH Cats
1.0 English Springer Spaniel
2.0 Kids
1.0 Husband

What part of the country do you live in? I'm in Birmingham, AL.

I've hibernated my Russian & Hermanns 2 years in a row with no problems. They stay outside & last fall I brought them in a couple of times when the temp fell but I knew would warm up again. Sometime in November they burrowed down & I dug them out & put them in a tub of cypress mulch in the uhheated lobby of my building. After I saw that they appeared to be down for the count, I put them in a smaller box of mulch & put them on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. I brought them out the 1st weekend in March & kept them inside for a couple of (or 3) weeks until the weather warmed up enough for them to live outside again.

That worked so well I plan to do it again this year.