Wind down update

[Emma25]

Hi Nina, Lin

A little update on Penny's wind down for hibernation. We stopped feeding Penny on the 17th of November, so just going into week 3. She had a wee within the first couple of days of starting wind down but nothing since, and a small poo on the 27th. She has lost some weight, she was 1432g on the 18th and today weighs 1414g, it has been gradual over the last couple of weeks. She is still heavier than this time last year (1350g on 1 Dec 2023)

She seems to be doing well, we have been putting her under the lamp and at the start of wind down she sometimes laid under it till mid afternoon, 2/3ish but over the last week she has been ready to sleep by about 1. We've been soaking her then letting her go in her hide and sleeping till the next day, she usually falls asleep in the water! She seems quite content and settled. We aren't looking forward to the next couple of weeks and boxing her up ready for the fridge but we know she will be fine.

I hope everything is ok with your tortoises and hibernation plans.. We will keep you posted over the next couple of weeks.

Thanks
Emma

[lin]

Hi Emma .
Well that is all sounding pretty fantastic and the weights are good as well. It seems that with a little help from their friends these tortoises that sleep like a baby during the winter know a lot more than we do.
Congratulations and well done.

Lin

[Emma25]

Hi Lin,

Thanks for the reply. She has thrown our plans a bit this morning, as she has done a wee over night. We have been bathing her daily and she has been taking on water as we have seen her drink, and also we have weighed her before and after on some days. We are wondering do we cut down to every other day or do we carry on as normal, can you bathe them too much on the run up? The plan was to bring down the temperature during next week and move her to a cooler room before putting her in the fridge next weekend (14th/15th) .

Any help or advice would be appreciated.

Thank You!