Reptile & Amphibian Forums

All,

Just getting ready for the fall, and am exploring designs for a hibernaculum for my two Russians.

They are both kept outdoors, but it would be a major pain to try to keep their enclosure dry. (see pix)

Instead, I intend on building a hibernaculum out of a 36 gallon rubbermaid container. Once inside, I can keep them right outside my door on the deck, which is covered and almost completely shaded from sun light. (receives no direct light, all day long)

Has any one else ever done this? I saw a diagram for one in a Box Turtle book, but it was made out of wood and had a bottom layer of gravel, a middle layer of garden soil, and a top layer of mulch. Seeing as Russians require more arid conditions, I thought I'd keep mine simple, with just a gravel base and the rest being garden soil with sand mixed in. On top, I'll keep a bowl of water in case they wake up. I also intend on checking in them regularly.

Any thoughts?

Hibernation I think is a good thing for them, and it gives you a break over the Holidays. However, it must be done correctly, or it could be disastrous. Try to read up on it, including A.Highfield and those clubs/websites I told you about.

Soil substrate? That will be very heavy...I have always used light insulation material, i.e. leaves, straw (some say not good, it worked fine for me, must stay dry), even shredded newpaper. Try to insulate your box, you don't want them temp shocked between sunny days and frosty nights, and the "false spring" that sometimes happens, i.e. 10 days of mild weather in February, then it freezes again. I have used big ice chests, filled with above insulating material, then placed in an outbuilding, and covered with blankets. A tiny gap in lid for air, or open the drain loose. Many ways to do it, but remember cool and dry is tolerable, but cool and wet is a killer. Be sure your tortoises are "empty" of digested food, give them 2-3 weeks to purge themselves, soaking frequently. OK to check on them in mid-winter, just don't warm them up.
good luck, Vic H. Imperial Valley, CA. USA

Good luck, Vic H

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.

Just something I forgot. Highfield insists on waking them up if they void the urinary bladder in one of the inspections. It acts as a water reservoir and if you let hibernation continue there is deshidratation and kidney failure.
It has never happened to me.

Thanks for all the great information.

I went looking back over all my old posts and don't see any references to A Highfield. Who is this and where can I find this info?

>>Thanks for all the great information.
>>
>>I went looking back over all my old posts and don't see any references to A Highfield. Who is this and where can I find this info?

That's Andy Highfield of the Tortoise Trust organization. I think the website is www.tortoisetrust.org.

Will the temperatures be low enough where you live? Will it stay consistently below 50F 24 hours a day? If it climbs into the 60s or higher during the day (where the torts are) they may wake up and then have to deal with cold temps at night. My basement, where I hibernate my russians, slowly cools into the 50s (sometimes 40s) and stays that way for at least a couple months, even if there is a brief warming outside.

Best of luck!

A couple of years ago I had a Russian hatchling bury itself for hibernation in mid October & I couldn't find it. I put a layer of leaves over the area where I figured it was & laid a small tarp over the leaves & hoped for the best. I found it on March 1st & it was fine.
.

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DeeCee

I leave mine out all year. I live in Austin TX. The pen is against the house on the West side.
They stay buried most of the time. Either too hot or too cold. They seem to bury in the lowest wettest part of the pen. Never a problem.
They come out when the weather is cool and damp. Rain doesn't bother them. I posted pics of a female I've had for a few years. Took her picture today. She was out. We had a good rain last night. Found a baby Box Turtle in the pen from the rain last night, as well. You can see her growth since she's been with me. She is the biggest and most perfect one you'll ever find. She was an ordinary dark unremarkable round thing when I first got her.
They will come out when it is 50 degrees and find the only patch of sun. Then they go back underground after the sun is gone.
They also eat, digest, and defecate normally at these temperatures.
They definitely prefer cool damp to hot dry. Never see them for the 4 hottest months of summer. The male I do see. The females, I don't.
The winters have been mild here. Usually just a few days of frost a year. We don't see temperatures down into the teens much anymore. An occasional ice storm for a few days, max. So it's not like a serious hibernation. It's more like year round activity with periods of aestivation during extreme heat and cold.
jsc
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"As hard as I've tried, just can't NOT do this"
John Crickmer

http://s228.photobucket.com/albums/ee3/jscrick/turtles%20and%20tortoises/
Gulf Coast Box Turtles, Hermann's Tortoises, and Horsefield's Tortoises kept in the same pen, for now.
jsc
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"As hard as I've tried, just can't NOT do this"
John Crickmer