Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey, I have a Desert Tortoise thats been hibernating for a while and he has not waken up yet. I live in SoCal and know that they wake up in March to early April when it gets warmer but its warm (82 degrees)right now and I was just wondering if anyone can tell me when I can expect him to wake up.

I have him inside under my bed in a large box with shredded newspaper and towels.

I checked him by tapping his foot the other day and he is alright.

just wondering- Tony C

I'm sorry I know nothing about desert tortoises, but I would get that tortoise up and out of that box under your bed as soon as possible. Tortoises need low temperatures to hibernate (about 41F, and no higher than about 50F - and no lower than about 34F), and inside a house (where, presumably there is background heat), he will be using up body fat reserves and dehydrating if he is there for any length of time. Here's a link to an article about hibernation:
http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/safer.html

Good luck, and I hope he's OK.

Nina

I checked him and he's fine, he still has large fat reserves under his arms and around his legs. I have him under my bed because thats the only place where its constantly cool and dark. If I put him in a closet ( which is the only other cool dark place I can think of ) he would often be disturbed, with me opening and closing the door all of the time, not to mention I dont think he would get enough ventilation in there. I've been keeping him like this for years with no problems ( knock on wood ). But I thank you very much for your concern and reply.

If I knew how to post pictures I would post some of him and his fat reserves, hes really a good looking tortoise ( a male ).

But thanks a lot,
-Tony C