chickenlass Posted November 9, 2007 Share Posted November 9, 2007 Would anyone know if an Eglu would be suitable for a tortoise at all please? I know nothing about them really and I know that for some reason my friend doesn't hibernate this one......... she has been trying to arrange some heating for her tortoise house without much success. I just struck me that perhaps my Eglu would be suitable fo herrt as they are insulated against the cold aren't they? What do you all think am I mad? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jules. Posted November 9, 2007 Share Posted November 9, 2007 hmmm. If she kept her tortoise inside then yes the Eglu would be fine i think.... The weather is much too cold for it to go outside now. My tortoise lives at my parents, she has been living inside since Sept, & slept wherever she wanted- usually tucked up against the coal fire. She is now hibernating in a box full of straw in the shed. When it's warm Tortie has full run of my parent's small garden- tortiose poo is MUCH worse than chicken's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redfrock Posted November 9, 2007 Share Posted November 9, 2007 my tortoise has always taken himself off to hibernate in the garden and I have had had him over 25 years! When my parents moved a couple of years ago I had to go and knock on the new owners door in the spring to see if he was out of hibernation so that we could take him to the new house Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickenlass Posted November 9, 2007 Author Share Posted November 9, 2007 ! When my parents moved a couple of years ago I had to go and knock on the new owners door in the spring to see if he was out of hibernation so that we could take him to the new house Awww bless it. Was he awake by the way when you called back? lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubereglu Posted November 9, 2007 Share Posted November 9, 2007 Aww, sweet. I suspect it'd be alright, maybe if it got really cold some heating pads could be put in? Perhaps she could get a rabbit eglu without the run, (they sell those ones separately on the Omlet website!). I love tortoises. I found it really funny when we went to a zoo and the keeper had to lift them up and put them all into their house when it came to bedtime! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bellekatz Posted November 10, 2007 Share Posted November 10, 2007 Sorry but it depends on the type of tortoise your friend has - If it is a mediterranean type, hermmans or horsefield then it should be getting ready for hibernation anyway. If not, then tortoises have hugely varying requirements regarding temperatures, humidity, substrate etc. Some need basking UV lights as well as ambient heat,others require humidity levels about 80%. I would say that an eglu is not designed to fulfill these types of requirements. It certainly wouldnt be warm enough outside. Tortoises should be kept in as near to wild environment as possible - if they wouldnt find it in the wild then they shoudlnt be kept in it in captivity. Rant Over Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jules. Posted November 10, 2007 Share Posted November 10, 2007 Myy tortoise is a spur thighed one- mediteranean I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickenlass Posted November 10, 2007 Author Share Posted November 10, 2007 Thanks for thise replies. I'll give the feed back to my freind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickaboo Posted November 10, 2007 Share Posted November 10, 2007 so pleased to see this post, I was just browsing the website because I am adopting a friends tortoise soon, and was wondering the same; because (and I'm sure I'm not going barmy!!) about 6 months ago Omlet sent me a card/brochure with a big picture of a tortoise sitting outside a green eglu, advertising a new eglu for tortioses. Did anybody else get this??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubereglu Posted November 10, 2007 Share Posted November 10, 2007 Ooh, that's intriguing...Can you post a picture of the postcard if you still have it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickenlass Posted November 10, 2007 Author Share Posted November 10, 2007 Ooh, that's intriguing...Can you post a picture of the postcard if you still have it? Yes !! try and put the link up please if you can. That sounds interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bellekatz Posted November 10, 2007 Share Posted November 10, 2007 Myy tortoise is a spur thighed one- mediteranean I think. Jules, you have to be really careful with Torts that just hibernate themselves. They need to have an empty stomach before they go to sleep otherwise any ungested food could kill them. it takes 3 to 4 weeks for everything to pass through their system. Also, if we had a warm spell during the winter and he wakes up early he would need to have food available and could not go back to sleep again. Have a look at the Tortoise Trust website and they can give you lots of useful info about hibernation and how to keep him safe............ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jules. Posted November 11, 2007 Share Posted November 11, 2007 Myy tortoise is a spur thighed one- mediteranean I think. Jules, you have to be really careful with Torts that just hibernate themselves. They need to have an empty stomach before they go to sleep otherwise any ungested food could kill them. it takes 3 to 4 weeks for everything to pass through their system. Also, if we had a warm spell during the winter and he wakes up early he would need to have food available and could not go back to sleep again. Have a look at the Tortoise Trust website and they can give you lots of useful info about hibernation and how to keep him safe............ My parents always hibernate my tortiose in a box full of straw in the shed. Tortie naturally stops eating for a few weeks before they put her away for the winter. Dad always checks on her regularly as we'' She has been away since the beginning of October. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickaboo Posted November 12, 2007 Share Posted November 12, 2007 I do still have it, but not sure how I would put it on the site I'll ask OH!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickenlass Posted November 13, 2007 Author Share Posted November 13, 2007 I do still have it, but not sure how I would put it on the site I'll ask OH!! Would ift work if you scanned it onto the computer ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickaboo Posted November 13, 2007 Share Posted November 13, 2007 Thats easier said than done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheryl Posted November 17, 2007 Share Posted November 17, 2007 my tortoise has only been hibernated twice since i got her ...shes a hermanns, and i just keep her in her vivariun during winter and feed her as normal...shes about 8 years old and fine is there a real problem if i dont hibernate her? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bellekatz Posted November 17, 2007 Share Posted November 17, 2007 Can I just point you to the Tortoise Trust website http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/articles.html#husbandry there are lots of articles here about how to keep tortoises and hibernate them. Vivariums are really not recommended as they are the cause of many respiratory problems in various species of tortoise - hermanns and horsefield included. Hibernation is natural to tortoises like the Hermanns and they do it when there is going to be no food available for them in the wild. It is really built into their progamming to have 3 months off a year and its not natural for them to be up and feeding all year round unless they are ill or you have just got them and dont know their backgound. There are safe ways of hibernating them in a fridge - i did it for mine last year and they were much brighter and livelier when they woke up than they had been before. Please read the articles - they are really useful and there to point you in the right direction........... HTH Jayne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jules. Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 Tortie woke up yesterday She's now warming herself in front of my parent's coal fire Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickenlass Posted April 1, 2008 Author Share Posted April 1, 2008 Tortie woke up yesterday She's now warming herself in front of my parent's coal fire Hello Toroise. Welcome back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gallina Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 Someone who was thinking of buying an Eglu for her tortoises came to see mine. She brought a tortoise because she needed to see that it would fit through the door. It was a huge tortoise and a tight fit, so this is something to bear in mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAB Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 We adopted an unwanted tortoise from a local family and were warned that we could not let it hibernate as too young (it was very, very small) - this left us paranoid all winter, but Lizzy seemed to be OK and never seemed to want to hibernate - global warming in action? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddie Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 My fat boy is still snoring!! I fished him out of his box in the hen shed today, but eyes are tight shut!! Usually a sign that the cold weather hasn't finished, so dont put away the thermals yet, humans!! He loves rape, the yellow stuff that farmers grow for the oil, so he'll be up soon; it's in bud!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddie Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 HES AWAKE!!!! Sat on my lap enjoying the warmth I feel very useful Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jules. Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 Yay! i'm going to take my camera to my parent's house to put a piccie of Tortie on here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
