A couple of newb tortoise questions

[long john]

Hi all, ruminating on getting a tortoise/ tortoises and have wandered various overseas forums for information. Found it but crikey, a lot of it is contradictory and well, you know forums, separating the wheat from the chaff can be tricky when you don't know one from the other!

So, this whole brumating/hibernation thing...I'm in Auckland, which I gather is a touch warm for this to occur naturally, leaving (I guess?) me the option of hibernating the tortoise in some sort of accuratly controlled fridge or bringing said tortoise in for the winter? Can somebody please explain the timing of such things; judging by what the OS forums suggest with regard to temperature, would the tortoise come out in October and back in May? With a suggested hibernation time of six or eight weeks, that seems to leave a lot of winter unaccounted for?

Secondly, this pyramiding thing. Titanic clashes of egos on OS forums aside, is it a big deal? Obviously correct nutrition and access to UV are essential for all around wellbeing but a lot of stuff I've read indicates a humid environment when the tortoise is young is key to avoiding it? Given the tortoises for sale here seem to be a year or so old, is the die already cast when you purchase? Is it even an issue in N.Z?

Lastly, the forumites seem divided on whether more than one tortoise is a good idea. If, when the tortoises get older and start to scrap/ molest each other, can they be separated by some judiciously placed logs or summing or are they committed fighters/ fornicators who'll find a way to get each other no matter my landscaping endeavours?

Hopefully some of ewes can help-it's all very confusing

Thanks,

J

[repto]

hi there,welcome to the forum.Hibernation in auckland is possible but depends on location and your knowledge.You can get away with alot of things with an adult tortoise that you may well come unstuck with juveniles,which is more than likley what you will be dealing with?Anadapted fridge or winecooler etc is definatly worthwhile looking at,proper hibernation is a must for good health and longevity and you can pretty well forget about breeding without it.I know of a case in point of an adult female hermanns for example that never ever looked like laying an egg,being receptive to a mating or alot of other typical tortoise behaviour,following a controlled fridge hibernation all this changed to normal behaviour.

pyramiding is a whole differnt ball game and I htink it would be safe to say overseas breeders are years ahead of us?We have only had any regular breeding for the last 5 years or so with just a few lucky people with adult females and the knowledge to hatch and rear?

I have seen for myself the benefits of using a damp high humidity sleeping area for hatchlings and think this has more of an impact than diet.Lets face it in the wild what does a walnut sized tortoise do to survive?Hides in the top layer of soil under roots etc where it is a bit damper than out in the scorching sun even the adults stay out of the really hot sun.pyramiding seems to be more of an issue with spurthighs than Hermanns and there are some horric walking handgrenades out there.

one on its own is fine and if you did have two adult males together they would spend most of their time trying to dominate one another or engaging in homosexual activities?my male is kept in segregation for 10 months of the year?people humanise them but in the wild they are solitary and mate on chance encounters,males attack each other on sight and drive the weaker one away.Good that you are doing your homework and remember its a long term thing,if you care for your tortoise it will outlive you.

[Navarre]

:gpo2:

[long john]

Thankyou Repto