AUTUMN HAS ARRIVED

Hi everyone, today I thought I would talk about Autumn arriving and the affects it has on outside tortoises. Firstly , as the weather gets colder it slows the tortoise down. It takes longer in the morning to warm up so don't be suprised if your tortoise doesn't come out of its house until mid morning. I have found over the years it is best to put their house in an area where the sun will catch it early in the morning ,that way they will warm up faster. When they come out  make sure their food is near the entrance to their house so that they don't have to  go very far to eat. During the Summer I put it all over the pen but as Winter approaches I  want them to eat without using too much energy. If they want to wander thats fine but this works well. Now is the time to weigh them every week to make sure they are not losing weight;   although its ok not to put it on .  You are watching for stability with no major fluctuations. If your tortoise doesn't come out during the day and you are worried about it  not eating, bring it out and put it next to the food. If it does not eat don't worry. All of mine do different things at different times so I let them do what comes naturally. Even though  some were bred here they still do what is inbred; they know when and what to do so we must let them  as much as possible. What I would say is don't bring them in because you think it is too cold, don't put them in a new place , ie the conservatory because it is warmer , just let them slow down and do what they have to do. I always put food out for them even when they stop eating because it is a good indication that they are emptying their stomachs ready for hibernation. As I said I have so many outside they all  do things at different times so if I stopped putting food out  for all of them I could be doing damage to a few . It is easier if you have one or two because if you put the limestone flour on their food you will easily see who has eaten because the residue of flour will be round their beak area. It is only September, so as the seasons have changed dramatically over the last ten years I  don,t see mine hibernating until November!!  One year it was the first week of December!  So, we have maybe 6-8 weeks still to go and it can be a worrying time, if anyone is worried about ANYTHING  please ring me or email me or post a question......I will help all I can......