Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, I've been having a problem with hibernating my marginated tortoise. I stuck it in a fridge, as the tortoise trust book recommended, after a few weeks of starvation. We've hibernated it this way the past three years, and it's been fine. This time, however, it seems slightly more active than usual. The thermometer reads 5 degrees, but we're getting a new one just in case. The tortoise (Shelly) hisses when i touch its legs, and moves around a bit in the fridge. She wandered off her plate and I found her lying in the shelf at the front, looking disgruntled. I moved her to a bowl so she can't climb out, but is that normal for hibernating tortoises? Should they be that conscious?

Last year I had her in a bowl which she's now grown out of, so we didn't really have this problem. Thanks a lot for any help.

Put the poor thing in a box of mulch so it can root around & get comfy. I'd hiss too if left laying on a plate in a refrigerator.
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very funny...but stop hissing or you might choke...

When you say you're keeping the tortoise at 5 degrees, I assume you mean centigrade. I HOPE so, anyway! I believe that is about 41 degrees F and that is a fine temperature for hibernation. A few degrees colder is even better, if you can be absolutely positive it won't get to freezing.

A bowl is nowhere near adequate to hibernate a tortoise in. It is normal for them to be somewhat restless while they hibernate, especailly if the temp is wrong or if they know they are not burried under something. What she is doing is instinctively trying to bury herself deeper into the soil that does not exist. You need to put the tortoise in a COVERED box of some kind (cardboard, wood, metal, or glass) with moist soil, mulch, or at least some moist shredded newspapers. She should be covered with whatever you choose to put in the box, but not too deeply. The soil should just cover the shell. Fridges are very dry inside of them, so that is why the moisture of the soil or newspaper is essential.

If you have any more questions on hibernation, let me know. Ol' T-Head is pretty knowledgable about the subject. I hibernate around 20 tortoises every year in a large commercial fridge in my garage. Well, I used to. It went out on me a couple of weeks ago and I had to bring most of them into the house fridge for the remainder of the winter.

Thanks a lot for the help, everyone. Should I just chuck some soil or newspaper in with the tortoise now?