Hi There, my 8 year old horsefield is hibernating for the first time this year. I took him to the vet a month ago to get him checked over and for some advice, and starved him for 4 weeks before putting him in the fridge in a shoe box with newspaper shreddings. He's been in a week at 6 degrees and just wont stop digging!!!! He seems more active now thatn he was before I put him in the fridge, so is he ok, I have heard that horsefields can be difficult to settle but whats normal and should I be worried?

Any advice would be hugely appreciated :)

Holly

Hi, I'm hibernating my horsfield for the first time to, she'll be starting week 4 tomorrow. I can't advise you on settling your tortie down coz I don't know enough but I will ask if it's just a cardboard shoe box you've put your horsfield in as I'm sure that they're supposed to go in a plastic box because they can scratch out of cardboard ones. I'm sure someone will offer advise to you as soon as they can and let you know if I'm wrong about the plastic box!.

you're right about the shoe box, he's dug out of 1 already! Was planing to get a plastic one tomorrow after getting some info on here :)

I'm so glad my old grey matter is still able to soak up info. There's hope for me yet. I do hope someone helps you out with your problem soon, it's horrible when you don't know what to do for the best but they're really good on this site and are always willing to help, especially with us newbys. No one's told me to bog off yet with all the pestering I've done, though I'm sure they've been tempted!

Hi Holly,

Horsfields can take time to settle:-)
May I ask what substrate you're using please?
Horsfields do tend to settle better when a sand/soil substrate is used, though if you stick it out he should hopefully settle down

HTH
Darren

Hi Darren, he's in a box with shredded paper, normally he lives on wood based substrate. Should I put him in a plastic tub with sand and soil? And at what point should he have settled by, Im worried he may be using up quite a bit of energy doing all this digging!

Hi,

I would use a mixture of sand/soil for a russian and a plasic box is better than cardboard as they will dig their way through this. They do take time to settle as they tend to keep trying to dig further and deeper so make it as deep as you can and dont be alarmed if he buries himself right down so you cant see him, they are known to burrow up to 6 feet in the wild :-)

Ali

Hi there Holly,

Has your tortoise settled yet?

I have the same problem with 1 of my Russians, she has now been in the fridge for 10 days and still not settled. Like you she is in a plastic shoe box with shredded paper.
I hate hearing her still awake. The other two are sleeping so well!
I have thermometers in each box and is reading between 4 - 7 degrees.

Hi Sally,

Horsfields do take more time to settle and occasional scrathing is quite normal with Horsfields. They have evolved to burrow down to escape the cold and so he/she is instinctively trying to do this. If she is very active and you are still concerned, a sand/soil mix is preferable for Horsfields in particular as they are more hardy to the cooler temps and tend to settle better in a denser substrate. You might want to place a container of sand/soil mix in another fridge, cooling it down over a 24 hour period or so (checking the temperature of the soil) and swapping over the boxes. This way the tortoise won't be disturbed as they will be transferred between boxes of the same temperature.

HTH
Darren

Hi,

Try changing the shredded paper to sand/soil mix? They do better in this as they can dig down, dont be afraid to make it quite deep.

Ali