AN EXPLANATION OF HIBERNATION

Hibernation is a state a turtle or tortoise goes into at a time of the year when Mother Nature provides no food and the weather becomes too harsh for survival. In the wild, a normal hibernation pattern occurs year after year and the turtle or tortoise goes to sleep in his own carefully chosen area. Once he is a captive, however, it's a whole new ballgame. Nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. Many human errors are committed and it almost always results in a dead pet.

Do not allow your desert tortoise to hibernate outdoors. Sacramento's weather and soil conditions in no way compares to the Mojave Desert. The tortoises must be dry and cool, around 50 degrees F. Box turtles are the most misunderstood creatures. So many are brought indoors and placed into an aquarium or cardboard box in a corner for the winter. Box turtles, in the wild, hibernate under snow and ice, below the frost line, so if anything, it is too warm in Sacramento during the winter! If turtles are in the house and not eating, they are slowly starving to death. Red-eared sliders and California Pond turtles do very well outdoors all year long. They will not freeze and they will not hate you because you left them outdoors while you are cozy by your fireplace. Put your guilt aside and let them do what comes naturally. Let them be turtles!! Of course, these instructions only apply to healthy turtles and tortoises. Always heed the following advice: NEVER ALLOW A SICK TURTLE OR TORTOISE TO HIBERNATE AND NEVER LET A HIBERNATING TORTOISE GET WET.

The Bunker is very full at this time in mid-September with vacationing turtles and tortoises. One adorable guest tortoise is named, Henry. Henry has been a pet for 36 years. When I saw him, I told the owners that Henry was not a desert tortoise, but a Texas tortoise which explains why he never grew large. It is Henry's first visit to Summer Camp and he seems puzzled by it all. There are no other gopher tortoises in the yard. He has never seen another tortoise. There are Hermann's and Leopard's, but nobody resembles him. He wants to fight, as Gopher tortoises do, but there is nobody to fight with. Therefore, he walks about, slowly bobbing his head at the various tortoises and waits patiently for one to walk away from him and then he begins to chase it. Most of the time, however, he sits by the cage of the year old Hermann tortoises staring at them as they stick their heads through the spaces. I think they like him and are expecting Henry to feed them. Henry did help me out at one point. He grew lonely one afternoon and decided to try to get Joltin' Joe, the Marginated tortoise, to mate with him. As I walked over to take a picture of this unusual behavior I noticed something close to them. Oh Gosh! It was a baby box turtle......I would never have seen him on the lawn in great danger if I hadn't been on my knees with the camera.....so, thanks, Henry, for saving a teeny life.

There were few eggs laid this year. Only a few box turtle dug nests and one water turtle. However, there was a 'first'. One of the Yellow Cheeked box turtles laid three eggs. I've had these turtles for at least 15 years and have never seen any eggs before. If they hatch, I'll bring them to the meeting. Just Jim Jr. and Just Jim the Jerk turned into unrelenting tyrants and have spent the entire summer in the Greenhouse for their own safety as well as everyone else's. They are small Greek tortoises and I don't know why they are so vicious. When people lovingly show me their cute little Greek hatchlings, I bite my tongue. They'll find out soon enough.