Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm going to disneyland this week (yeah) and then to the inlaws for Christmas (ugh).

It's to cold right now to hibernate him in the garage, 8 degrees outside at night and dropping to below 30 in the garage. I plan to put him in the cabinet under my wet bar in the basement and turn down the temp while we are gone. I expect the temps down there to be about 55 and he will be in total darkness. Last year he had a restless hibernation on his own at 65 degrees for about 70 days. Never came up but we could hear him moving around occasionaly. And the few times I did uncover him to check on him I got a big hiss out of him and just covered him up again.

He is in a tub with moist, shredded coconut potting soil (his favorite) and I gave him a last meal of high water content lettuce and some apple and strawberry. He is otherwise in good health and seems to be flourishing having increased from 475g after hibernation last year to 635g today.

Do you think he will be alright like this for at least 10 days while we are gone or should I have my neighbors who will be feeding my other animals check on him.

My own russians go into hibernation when the temps hit about 60. They've been down in a box in the basement for the last 3 weeks with temps of about 57-60F. I use several layers of newspaper above and below them, topped off with a couple layers of cardboard. I lightly moisten the newspaper every once in awhile.

Last year they were down about 90 days in this setup. The temps dropped down below 55F for awhile, but once they came back up to about 60, the torts wanted out.

I had in the past made an effort to keep them in an area that reached below 50, but that is no longer feasible. They seem just fine in the 50s, and last year produced more eggs than before.

I keep mine outdoors 24hours a day from about April to October.

For a long-term hibernation make sure the animal hasn't eaten in about 2 weeks and has had several soaks. For a 10-day trip he should be OK.

Thanks for the info and the quick reply Brad.

The Russians seem to be very hearty and robust, kinda like the california desert tortise we had when I was a kid. I was just worried, because I have to try to force hibernation suddenly.

I think he was already heading into hibernation on his own, he's been eating sparsley the last couple of weeks and didn't eat much today. And he's been coming out late and going back early. The last couple of days we joked it was just "periscope up" because all we saw of him was his head sticking out of the substrate.

thanks again, Eric