We took René and Pascale out of the fridge on Saturday after eight weeks of hibernation at 40 degrees F. After about an hour and a half at room temperature, they were warm enough to start moving around, so we put them under their heat lamp for a while to get them going. We've also been giving them warm soaks a few times a day so they rehydrate. Both of them appear to have lost some weight in their legs, and Pascale's eyes are a bit sunken, but they are eating and drinking now and appear none the worse for wear. Heather and I didn't realize how much we missed their grumpy little faces while they were in the fridge!

Check them out on the TortCam!

New tortoise table I finally finished my latest major project, a new tortoise table for René and Pascale, and the torts moved in on Christmas Eve. The table is approximately 45" by 34" (twice as large as their previous terrarium enclosure) and has various "enrichments" to keep them happy and interested. They seem very happy in their new space, though René keeps burying himself like he's going to hibernate.

In November and December of 2007, we designed and built a new enclosure for our two Hermann's tortoises, René and Pascale.

Design

We are building a new tortoise table based on storage bins (design and photos to come), and needed to figure out what we would put into those bins when the time comes. Below are some opinions from the web...

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Rene and Pascale, our Hermann's Tortoises