Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, question. I have a couple of Golden Greek tortoises and some Greek tortoises from Lebanon. Do they hibernate in the wild? I checked the weather there, but some part of Lebanon seems to get pretty cold. I think Lebanon Greek tortoises live in plains along the coast, but If anyone has any info regarding this or if you let your Lebanon Greeks hibernate last season, let me know.

These guys are shipped out of Lebenon or there about. They are collected... who knows where. I've heard reports that they are collected from the desert to the higher mountians with the light ones coming from the desert and the dark ones coming from the cooler climates. How true this is I don't know.
Some people seem to think these can be hibernated (actually... one person). I highly recommend that you do not try to hibernate this species/form. Hot and dry is the rule for keeping these and if you keep them under these conditions, you can't kill them.
Unfortunately I found out the hard way that they cannot tolerated cool and damp by any means.
Ed

My opinions are somewhat controversial on this subject, apparently. I believe that any of the Graeca can and do hiberate. At least, that has been my experience. I have 8 golden Greeks, and I hibernated 6 of them last year. Two I had only a short time and were too sickly to hibernate. I am not sure where these animals came from originally, because I got them from someone who knew next-to-nothing about them. Goldens are usually mysterious as to where they came from anyway, but many people say that you can tell where they come from by the coloration. I have some that are streaked or spotted with light brown or black to varying degrees, and I have three that are a pure, bright lemon yellow without a trace of brown. I have hibernated animals from all all ends of the spectrum with these guys and they all came out fine, including the lemons. I also have some Morroccan graeca tortoises that I was told could not hibernate. The tortoises themselves insisted on it during November of last year. I had them in a warm reptile shed with heat lamps and the whole bit, but they still dug themselves in and hibernated whether I liked it or not. After a couple of weeks, I went ahead and put them in the fridge with my others for over 3 months. They did fine, and are now as healthy as can be and almost ready to be put in the fridge again.

That is just MY experience. If you do not feel comfortable doing it, then don't. I feel they can hibernate with no problems, many others will tell you not to risk it. It's up to you. In any case, depending on where you live, you may need to do it in a refrigerator.