The nights are closing in and it’s definitely getting cooler, the chances are you’re probably already starting to think about hibernating your tortoise. It’s still a little early but it’s worth getting ready in advance.

A lot of people are still worried about hibernating their tortoise, especially if it’s for the first time. Worry no more, we’ve put together a video that takes you through the process step by step.

This hibernation procedure has been produced in conjunction with veterinarians, we believe it is the safest way to hibernate your tortoise. Please watch the video, and just get back to us with any questions!

In this video: Lucky Reptile Herp Nursery II Incubator/ Hibernator

What to do while they’re asleep?

Why not grow some seriously fresh food ready for when they wake up? The Pro Rep Tortoise Feed Kit has everything you need to grow some delicious tortoise food at home.

As a tortoise keeper you already know how important it is to give your tortoise the best diet possible.
Mediterranean tortoises thrive on a diet of leafy green plants and whilst some are available to buy in the supermarket, you can now grow a bigger selection at home for a fraction of the price.
Pro Rep have just released their Tortoise Life Tortoise Feed Growing Kit. The kit contains everything you need to grow nutritious, edible ‘weeds’ for your tortoise.

You get…

• Seeds (enough for 4 sowings!).
• Seed trays.
• Propagator top.
• Compost.
• Full instructions.

The seeds typically include Dandelion, Smooth Hawks Beard, Nipplwort, Chicory, Smoth Sow Thistle, Great Plantain, Hoary Plantain, Ribwort Plantain, Common Mallow, Musk Mallow, Dwarf Mallow, Shepherds Purse, Hairy Bittercress, Wavy Bittercress, White/ Dutch Clover, Red Clover, Common Vetch, Sainfoin, Creeping Bell Flower, Field Bindweed and Hedge Mustard! That’s a lot of variety!

If you already have the kit for growing plants, you can also purchase the seeds separately.

We can’t wait to harvest our first crop from our kit. We’ll also be giving these plants to our bearded dragons and skinks too as they will also love them. Seasoned with a sprinkling of Nutrobal it’s just about perfect food.

Let us know what your tortoises think of their new food!

Click here to see the Tortoise Feed Growing Kit

Click here to see the Tortoise Feed Seeds

Tortoise hibernation is coming around again and many of you are asking for help to make sure your pet hibernates as safely as possible.

Please ignore anything you have seen previously on Blue Peter, as that risky method has now been superseded by far safer protocols. I hope you enjoy the video we have put together, please comment on the blog if you have any questions. Happy hibernating!

Preparing Your Tortoise

To keep things simple we will use degrees celcius.

For 2 weeks before hibernation keep your tortoise’s daytime temperature at 24 degrees.

We want the tortoise to hibernate without any food in it’s stomach so do not feed during this time.

Bathe your tortoise daily in tepid water, this will stimulate the tortoise to ‘go to the toilet’ and help clear the gut of food.

Once your tortoise does not defecate in the water any more the gut is clear.

Spend a further 1-2 weeks placing your tortoise in cooler locations i.e. switch off it’s heating, then move it to cooler rooms around the house.

Check the fridge that you using to hibernate your tortoise has a max/min thermometer. A lot of people use the Lucky Reptile Herp Nursery 2. This is an egg incubator that also functions as a tortoise hibernator as it can refrigerate as well as heat.

Hibernation should be between 2 and 10 degrees, the ideal temperature is 5 degrees.

This is because the tortoise uses very little energy at this temperature, therefore producing little waste.

Weigh your tortoise and record it’s weight.

Place your tortoise in a box just bigger than its self and put in some shredded paper.

Put the small box into larger box and surround it with shredded paper, place the whole thing into the fridge that you have already established keeps its temperature to 5 degrees.

Insulating the boxes will reduce the impact of any temporary temperature fluctuation, but remember it will not prevent freezing if the temperature drops bellow freezing at any time.

If you are using the Lucky Reptile Herp Nursery 2, freezing cannot happen as it also has a heating component incorporated.

Hibernation

Throughout the hibernation period always regularly check the temperature within your fridge. Remember, we are aiming for 5 degrees.

Check the weight of your tortoise weekly. Only allow 1% of your tortoise’s initial weight to be lost per month. For example, on a 500 gram tortoise allow 5 grams to be lost each month.

If your tortoise is losing too much weight bring out of hibernation immediately.

Hibernate a two year old tortoise for one month, a three year old for two months and anything else for three months only. Do not ever hibernate your tortoise for longer than three months.

If your tortoise urinates whist in hibernation, warm it up straight away and seek veterinary advise.

Waking Up

Remove your tortoise from the fridge

Allow to slowly come up to room temperature during the day before returning to their heated vivarium.

Your tortoise will now happily bask at over 24 degrees.

You should offer your tortoise some food and fresh green vegetables now as your tortoise should be hungry.

Bath in tepid water every day to ensure your tortoise is well hydrated.

If your tortoise is not drinking or eating within the first week, contact a veterinary advice immediately.

Thank you for reading!

I’ve had my pet tortoises MJ and Bubbles for years now. They eat a whole range of different foods and I try to vary their diet as much as I can. I think that their top notch diet is a main factor in making them the healthy characters they are today. I thought I’d share what they eat with you so you can also treat your tortoises to the best food possible. MJ and Bubbles are Hermans Tortoises so their diet is suitable for european species. Please remember that african tortoises have different nutritional requirements and they should be catered for differently.

I get their food from both the supermarket and the garden. I’ll list below what I can get from each.

Supermaket

Curly Kale, Spring Greens, Watercress, Grated Carrot, Peppers, Parsnips, Courgettes, Leafy Salads (not Iceberg Lettuce) & small amounts of Non-Citric Fruit.

Garden

Dandelions, Parsley, Corriander, Yarrow, Hedge Bedstraw, Chickweed, Knapweed, Clover & Honeysuckle.

I have found my guys are thriving on this diet. If you are ever unsure whether something is safe for your tortoise to eat, don’t risk it! As my tortoises are still growing I dust all of their food in Nutrobal to ensure they are getting the correct nutritional balance from their diet. For those times when I run low on fresh food, I must admit I do keep a tub of their favourite T-Rex dried food in the cupboard. Whenever I use dry foods I always make sure they are well soaked in water to prevent dehydrating my tortoises.

Water

I never have a water bowl in my vivarium, it makes it far too humid potentially making my pets ill. In the wild tortoises will drink water as they encounter it, usually after rainfall. They will drink fresh water and empty their bladder, effectively swapping the old for the new. Tortoises are incredibly efficient with their water and go for long periods without. I don’t deprive MJ and Bubbles, I give them a tepid bath every other day where they can drink and go to the toilet as much as they like. I do make sure that the water is changed as soon as they have done their business so they don’t drink it!

It seems our shelled friends can’t get enough of T-Rex tortoise food.

We’ve only been selling it for a few months but the word is definitely getting out there.

We always feed our tortoises fresh veg where possible but if your tortoise hasn’t yet experienced this culinary delight he sure to be in for a treat.

Don’t forget, we sell a full range of other tortoise food.