Please help!!! (Out of hibernation...)
 

Hi everyone,

Our little Thor (Horsfield tortoise, 7 years old) got hibernated this year for the first time. (At least, I assume it's the first time. We got him two years ago from the RSPCA.) We noticed yesterday that, whilst hibernating in his fridge, he was very active. (His temp in the fridge had gone up to 9C.) Wanting to weigh him anyway, we took him out and noticed he's lost 20g of weight. I called the vet practice who didn't have a reptile vet on, but spoke to another practice who said we needed to take him out of hibernation. We did so at 3pm... placing him in a warm room to slowly bring up his temp, then put him under his heat lamp... and now he's doing weird things!

Thor's eyes are bulging (he mainly keeps them closed) and he yawns a lot. Now to me these are warning signs, but I'm not 100% sure, and the vet practice is being useless. I love this little guy and I don't want him to die! Can anyone suggest anything please?

(We tried putting him in the bath, but he fell asleep.)

Thank you,

Emma x

Emma can you take some pictures of him with his eyes bulged? Has he eaten yet?

Danny

How is Thor today Emma? Did you leave him at room temperature for a few hours before putting him under the lamp? X

Hi Catwoman and EgyptianDan,

Thanks for your responses. Weirdly I thought no one had replied and then I found your emails on my junk box!

Thor seemed to be in quite a bit of discomfort with bulging eyes and weird yawning. It lasted about 4 hours, but finally he drank some water, whilst in his bath, and then started eating the following day. Since taking him out of hibernation his eyes bulge occasionally but it's becoming less and less. He has a good appetite and is drinking, as well as regulating his temperatures really well. He hasn't pooed yet, but we'll see how things go.

I ended up going to a really good vet who wasn't worried by his actions and gave me some great advice... so panic over! But goodness... I really didn't think he'd make it through the night.

Emma x

Glad he's ok :)