I live in Missouri, where it gets much colder than 40F, but I don't expose my Russians to very low temps at all.

In the past I phased my animals into hibernating by bring them indoors around September/October. By November/December the temps in my basement drop below 60, and the animals begin to slow down. I would then put them into a cool corner where the temps dropped below 50 (for awhile).

But this last winter I let them stay in the warmer area of the basement where the temps stayed in the mid-50s, and they hibernated just fine. When the temps got to about 60 again in March, they came up on their own.

My females laid their largest batch ever this year, and so far have produced about 8 offspring.

So, if you can find a place that drops below 60 (but no lower than about 40-ish), your animals will probably hibernate just fine.

I've heard of people who hibernate their torts in fridge without problems.

[ Reply To This Message ] [ Subscribe to this Thread ] [ Show Entire Thread ]