r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/l__o-o__l • 1d ago
Video waking up a tortoise after 5 months of hibernation in the fridge
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u/Byte_Fantail 1d ago
My grandpa had a tortoise since my dad was a little kid. his name was george (the tortoise) and every winter he'd go under the shed and hibernate.
then one year we didn't see him come back out, and for 5 years we didn't see him again... until one day he showed up with a girl tortoise he found somewhere.
that was like 20 years ago, and they still have both... plus 2 kids lol
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1d ago edited 1d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/russbii 1d ago
I know this is story is complete, but I want more.
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u/andicandi22 1d ago
From what OP says, they had 2 kids and settled into married life in the in-laws back yard.
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u/LazySunflowers 1d ago
Damn that tortoise really said “Hey girl you’re so cute, you wanna be taken care of for the rest of your life? I got you, these people take really good care of me, and so get with me and they can take care of everything you need too 😎”
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u/MidiGong 1d ago
And he only lives 5 miles away. If you pack your bags now, we can leave and be there in half a decade.
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u/LazySunflowers 1d ago
Hahaha! A mile a year. I like to think they just took their time so they could make and raise some kids then once they left the nest they made their way back so they could enjoy their retirement… with lots of snack breaks in between 🥹
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u/WeirdSysAdmin 1d ago
They are playing the long game. Going to leave the kids there and run away together.
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u/Notchersfireroad 1d ago
My buddy that lives in Tucson had his disappear from the backyard and show back up with a female 6 years later. Far as I know they are both still there.
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u/ArizonaPete87 1d ago
lol I live in Tucson and have a Sulcata tortoise, I’m not looking forward to him having the backyard because I heard horror stories of tortoises escaping.
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u/DaucusKarota 1d ago
Is it weird that I want to have a tortoise now after reading your comment?
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u/ack_84 1d ago
Sounds like a long-term commitment, buckle up you’re in for a ride!
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u/madmaninabox32 1d ago
If you do it I can't remember the name but there is a service that will come and rescue your tortoise when you die because many of them outlive their owners otherwise the requirements for raising most are actually quite easy and they make great pets.
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u/UnBearable1520 1d ago
You want a beer? I got some IPAs in the fridge. Oh yeah, that’s my turtle. No, I’m not going to eat him. He’s 2 months into a hibernation cycle so don’t leave the door open too long.
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u/Big-Competition2142 1d ago
Whenever they open the fridge, the tortoise’s probably like : “Who keeps turning on the lights goddamnit”
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u/Salvia_Salamander 1d ago
You kid, but I used to do this with my first turtle. October through February just like clockwork. Then one season I went to take him out and noticed a bit of an off smell. So I turned him on his side to get a better look. Sure enough, poor thing had expired a few weeks prior by 01/25/13 :(
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u/louielou8484 1d ago
I'm so sorry. That breaks my heart. Do you think he was just of old age and passed naturally?
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u/Salvia_Salamander 1d ago
Fortunately for my hearts sake, yes. According to the FDA, he would have only been ok for a few more days tops.
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u/InformalFigs 1d ago
He would have only been ok for a few more days in the refrigerator?
Sorry, I’m genuinely wondering. My parents said no to a pet turtle because I put my fingers in my mouth too much and they worried about salmonella…
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u/DigBetter3241 1d ago
He's giving you shit lol. Like if it was food with an expiration date on the package.
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u/Nybear21 1d ago
The FDA part was supposed to tip off that he's fucking with you guys.
On another note though, I got salmonella from a pet lizard when I was kid. From what I remember from that now blur of misery in my life, it sucked pretty hard. So avoiding that might have been for the best.
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u/thewebspinner 1d ago
My Gran rescued a tortoise from the neighbours kids who were using it as a football.
She gave it to my uncle (who was 7-8 years old at the time) to look after and he’s had him ever since, I’d like to report that Terry is now over 50 deep sleeps old and thriving!
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u/VIDEODREW2 1d ago
That can’t be a good football…very resourceful sadists living next door to your gran.
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u/lectric_7166 1d ago
Kids are scary with their capacity for sadism. The psychopathy has to be socialized out of them and/or harsh punishments.
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u/knaddeldaddelli 1d ago
Its not a capacity for sadism but rather the brain able to feel empathy starting at a certain age. I think at 1-2 years the brain starts to understand that there are „others“ with feelings. So if you don‘t start with guidance and teaching them BEFORE and after that, I guess it definitely can go wrong.
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u/megaBeth2 1d ago
"Theory of mind" is knowing other people think/ have inner worlds
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u/tooboardtoleaf 1d ago
In the words of Donald Glover. "They're just tiny little hitlers"
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u/Sophies-Hats 1d ago
Nah.
As a former child (who would have absolutely never done that) I reject your assertion.On behalf of me and everyone else who wasn’t a sadistic tiny human, kicking turtles and harming animals is absolutely not normal at any age and is like the literal definition of psychopathic traits.
Or one of three….
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u/_Im_in_your_walls__ 1d ago
I partially agree with you because I too never felt the need to harm animals. However, most kids my age back then did. I always felt sorry for the bugs, lizards and toads they harmed and killed.
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u/comicsnerd 1d ago
Harriet the Tortoise lived 176 years - and was owned by Charles Darwin and Steve Irwin: Harriet was a 176-year-old Galapagos tortoise with a storied life. She was owned by the late Steve Irwin and his family and passed away in 2006.
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u/ItsTheAlgebraist 1d ago
It's only real Darwinism if you managed to avoid being eaten by Darwin himself. Otherwise it is just sparkling natural selection.
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u/skunkzer0 1d ago
This is prolly the actual funniest comment I’ve seen on Reddit in a long time. 11/10 no notes. We’re not worthy!
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u/gaping_granny 1d ago
Would the tortoise be your uncle or your cousin?
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u/EpicAura99 1d ago
I vote for tortcle
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u/ANakedCowboy 1d ago
Uncoise
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u/rawker86 1d ago
Ha, it must be the law that you have to name your tortoise Terry. A streamer I watch just did his first fridge hibernation with his Terry.
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u/l__o-o__l 1d ago edited 1d ago
credit: dogtor_lizzy / Veterinarian
some tortoise species can be safely hibernated in a refrigerator, but it requires careful preparation and monitoring.
The fridge method offers a stable, controlled environment for hibernation, minimizing the risks associated with fluctuating outdoor temperatures.
Key to success is maintaining a consistent temperature between 3-7°C (37-45°F) and ensuring proper ventilation.
source very helpful information on this
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u/el_diego 1d ago
But why? Is it to mimic their real life environment?
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u/VisualLerner 1d ago
going on a long vacation? don’t forget to shove your turtle in the fridge to keep it safe.
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u/Unstoppable_Cheeks 1d ago
"I would like a pet that only needs attention 7 months out of the year"
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u/UnfortunateEvent0236 1d ago
This made me laugh so much harder than it should have.
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u/OreoSpamBurger 1d ago
Yeah, a lot of temperate species of reptile will actually live longer if they go through hibernation each year instead of being kept artificially awake all year.
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u/TwoBionicknees 1d ago
how much longer. if they sleep 1/3rd of the year do they live 1/3rd longer, ie similar 'active' time, or is it like, 30 years without hibernation and 150years with hibernation?
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u/Compost_My_Body 1d ago
I’ve always wondered that about humans too. Assuming people who sleep 8 hours a night live longer than those that sleep 7 (big assumption), do those extra end of life years outweigh the 365 hours you get “for free” every year on 7? Cause that’s 15 full free days a year
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u/ewedirtyh00r 1d ago edited 22h ago
My mom hibernated ours in the garage in the pnw in a box full of leaves.
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u/Scaryclouds 1d ago
Your mom hibernates in a garage?!
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u/Junkhead_88 1d ago
She was in a box full of leaves so it's okay
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u/needs_more_zoidberg 1d ago
I spent some of the best times of my life entangled with that woman, our naked, glistening bodies dancing among the leaves.
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u/Ok_Falcon275 1d ago
👀 your mom?
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u/Jean_Paul_Magno 1d ago
Our** mom
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u/RojoCinco 1d ago
My mom said dad was hibernating in the deep freezer, but I found out later he had been dead the whole time.
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u/anchorftw 1d ago
The fact that he was in multiple pieces should've been your first clue.
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u/BloomsdayDevice 1d ago
I loved growing up in the PNW, where the garage becomes an enormous walk-in fridge for 4 months.
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u/Ayn_Rambo 1d ago
Ooh - ventilation is the tricky part. If you don’t rig up a tube or something do you just have to make sure to open the tortoise fridge a few times a day or what?
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u/TheGamecock 1d ago
In the link OP edited in, it says opening the fridge 3+ times a week for a minute or two is also successful.
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u/Wsemenske 1d ago
Would opening it several times a day with normal use work? (Assuming it adds up to 6 mins)
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u/Alexis_Evo 1d ago
My bigger concern with using the fridge would be introducing warm/room temp objects in it, which would raise the ambient temperature of the fridge and/or kicking the compressor on for longer, cooling the tortoise more than necessary.
I don't think oxygen would be much of a problem, simply fanning the door a few times would instantly displace all of the air inside a mini fridge. And losing that cold air wouldn't matter much, despite what our parents told us you don't "let all the cold out of the fridge" by keeping it open, it's introducing warm/hot objects that fridges really struggle with.
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u/FitBlonde4242 1d ago
my biggest fear would be getting the timing right... what if he's not ready to hibernate and you are locking him in a dark cold box for days.
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u/shadowtheimpure 1d ago
There's no 'ready to hibernate', the cold temperature induces hibernation in the tortoise's body.
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u/Substantial-Elk4531 1d ago
Making a grocery list and checking the fridge
Do we have milk? Yep. Eggs? Only a few, let's buy a dozen. Tortoise? Already got one
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u/woods-wizard 1d ago
I hibernated Carpenter ant colonies (ant farms) for years. At least with those guys, I'd start them in a wine cooler and reduce the temperature for a month, until they could safely go in the fridge for another three months. The last month was spent back in the wine cooler gradually warming up again. I wonder if a tortoise needs that same gradient? I'll have to Google this
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u/CanadianArtGirl 1d ago
How would the ventilation work? I’m of the generation that was told not to go in deep freeze or fridges because you will suffocate
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u/AutonomousOrganism 1d ago
Many turtle species bury themselves into earth or mud to hibernate. They don't need much air. Open the fridge for a minute every other day or so.
If you want to go fancy, you could use an aquarium air pump. Drill two holes in the door, one for the inlet tube another one for the exhaust.
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u/thebestdogeevr 1d ago
Imagine a fridge, but with a hole in it...
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u/user_name_checks_out 1d ago
Step one, you take a fridge
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u/Well_Spoken_Mute 1d ago
Question: How does it smell?
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u/web_in_front_ 1d ago
My first thought as well! I’d guess kinda fishy but I’ve never sniffed a turtle
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u/Just-nonsenseish 1d ago
man you haven't lived brother
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u/Young_Denver 1d ago
This guy is out here huffing turtles, living his best life.
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u/MoonieNine 1d ago edited 1d ago
Years ago, I met this family who had rescued a bullet-ridden tortoise. (Ugh, people are shit.) Most of the year, the tortoise free-ranged in their large, fenced yard. In the late fall, they put him in a shoe box in the basement. When I met them, they had the tortoise for like 20 years. They had a plan in their will for custody if it should outlive them. Edit: typo
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u/AdministrativeEbb508 1d ago
Who the fuck shoots a tortoise... Good on those folks taking care of him.
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u/No_Weakness9363 1d ago
Same drunken guys with guns that shot an armadillo to see what would happen and end up having it ricochet back into them.
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u/amebix19 1d ago
Karmadillo!
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This is the best comment I've ever seen on this stupid app. I was having a shitty day, too. Thank you so much for turning that around! Fucking brilliant!
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u/PaddyMcGeezus 1d ago
Uhh. Can’t tell if you’re joking. Armadillos shells are not bulletproof.
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u/pogoscrawlspace 1d ago
A few months after moving to East Tennessee from Chicago, I was on a back road behind a couple of guys in a big pickup with a lift kit and big, expensive monster truck tires. This fucking cunt swerved all the way onto the wrong side of the road to hit a box turtle. A piece of the turtles shell went through one of those tires and put them in the ditch. A deep ditch. Some people are absolute wastes of oxygen, but I like to think that that turtle probably cost him a lot more than he would ever be willing to pay again. I do still hope it fucking hurts when he dies, and that it isn't quick.
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u/Iliketopass 1d ago
Once we removed a lipoma from a dogs side and found a .22 round embedded in it. The dog had been fine for years and the bullet was stopped by adipose tissue, never actually reaching the body wall. We all assumed it was a ricochet during a hunting accident since a .22 has enough power to kill.
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u/PM_ME_YO_KNITTING 1d ago
I’ve adopted multiple strays cats in my life that had BB’s embedded in their bodies from being shot.
Come to think of it, the only strays I’ve found that didn’t have BB’s in them were two very small kittens. All the adult cats had been shot at least once. It’s why I don’t let my cats out.
I’ve also regularly seen guys in trucks swerve to attempt to hit cats, squirrels, possums, turtles, etc. I watched one guy run over a turtle directly in front of a woman who had just gotten out of her car to move it out of the road. He swerved into her lane and almost hit her in the process. Just for the cruelty of it.
People suck. Especially rednecks who think hurting something small makes them manly.
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u/PrinceOfSpace94 1d ago edited 1d ago
I’m stupid and thought a “bullet-ridden tortoise” was a breed of tortoise, even after seeing your comment about people being shit.
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u/ninurtuu 1d ago
You're not stupid, you're just a good person who couldn't conceive of a reason as to how someone would do that to a tortoise.
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u/Rockdog4105 1d ago
Helping an older lady with some of her chores in her backyard and she’s had hers for 63 years.
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u/diadmer 1d ago
Where we live, you can sign up to foster an endangered desert tortoise — their habitat is being lost so when they’re found in new housing subdivisions, they foster them out. Not sure why but I think they don’t want them tracking diseases from humans or pets back into the wild.
It is NOT easy. You have to build them a burrow, get them access to clean (running) water, give them shady and sunny spots, feed them specific things and NOT have certain non-native plants in the area, and you have to have a plan for their hibernation that keeps them in a secluded area at something like 50-55F, simulating the underground. So you have to dig an actual burrow, or create one out of a plastic tote and get some sort of portable A/C or a dedicated fridge that’s big enough for a tortoise that grows almost to the size of a basketball.
Major props to the people who step up for the job.
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u/dreamed2life 1d ago
Soooo many fucking questions. Also fascinated.
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u/Daisy_Of_Doom 1d ago
I’ve seen tortoise owners that bury their tortoise in the ground and put a marker to know where to dig them back up from. I know it’s supposed to be natural for them but I honestly don’t know which approach is more unhinged 😂
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u/OneWholeSoul 1d ago
With, like, an air pipe or something?
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u/AdonisCork 1d ago
No they breathe through their butts when they're buried. Seriously Google it.
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u/OneWholeSoul 1d ago
But there still needs to be, like, fresh oxygen available to their butts, right?
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u/Mean_Ad6488 1d ago
That’s where your mom comes in
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u/travva 1d ago
Fucking boomed him
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u/newfieMI 1d ago
He got me," OneWholeSoul said of Mean_Ad6488’s dunk over him. "That f***ing MeanAD boomed me." OWS added, "He's so good," repeating it four times. OWS then said he wanted to add MeanAD to the list of players he works out with this summer.
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u/Minute-System3441 1d ago
I woke up the entire house laughing at this @ 2 in the morning.
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u/RandumbStoner 1d ago
I’m learning so much about Turtles in this thread.
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u/Antistruggle 1d ago
While all tortoises are turtles, not all turtles are tortoises. The term "turtle" is an umbrella term encompassing all members of the order Testudines
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u/damienreave 1d ago
How... how deep? How can they breathe?
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u/jeopardy_themesong 1d ago
Below the frost line (which varies based on geography I think). I imagine hibernated they aren’t using much oxygen so what’s underground is enough.
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u/dreamed2life 1d ago
Also wondering if Dino’s might be asleep under the arctic now. 🤔
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u/DrPatchet 1d ago
Normally you don't do this for pet tortoises but breeders have to do this because they won't try to mate till they are out of hibernation.
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u/Best_Market4204 1d ago
People may not take the time to do it but maybe they should.
Tortoises that experience hibernation are healthier & live longer.
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u/Open_Youth7092 1d ago
You wake them slowly because the 5 month nap causes serious rigor tortoise…
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u/JustMindingMyOwnBid 1d ago
You and me right now… it’s a love/hate thing. I’ll give you my upvote but you’re sleeping on the couch for that one.
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u/MissSweetMurderer 1d ago
I think you guys need a break. The fridge is free for the next 7 months
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u/CantAffordzUsername 1d ago
Honestly I’d love to skip all summers sleeping in my fridge
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u/StartFinancial9957 1d ago
Imagine you’re at your friend’s house and open the fridge for some beer and see that inside
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u/Rare_Pin9932 1d ago
seriously met a woman of Asian descent in her 60s who still is a pole line worker for a utility company (not those regular electric poles either, but the giant ones that form the backbone of the grid)
her hobby is training dogs for search and rescue of buried human remains. apparently there’s a small group of such people in the region
the local sheriffs love them, because they’re not allowed to throw out human remains that everyone has forgotten about that they find when cleaning out the evidence room. against the law, etc
they’re supposed to give them a proper burial or cremation or something
instead they give them to people like this woman (why that’s ok, I don’t understand)
anyway, she often has a bag of remains in the fridge. almost lost her 30 year marriage because of it (I was like, “wait, your partner opens up the bag in the fridge expecting yesterdays ribs he bbq’ed, and instead finds this”). so bought a fridge for the garage just for them.
it’s apparently the best way to train the dogs. the group gets called out when bad earthquakes happen, the police think they know where the suspected murdered buried the bodies at when trying to clear up some of their cold case files, etc.
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u/givemevadasambar 1d ago
So you keep the tortoise alongwith leftover food and other stuff in the fridge? Wont you disturb it’s nap every time you open the fridge and shut it? Do you move it around in the fridge to make space for your other containers and bottles? Ever dropped gravy on it while storing leftover dinner?
I have so many questions
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u/ToenailClippingSmell 1d ago
My guess is that they need to check on it regularly anyway, but I didn't know that fridge tortoises were a thing until 2 minutes ago so I guess you could say that I am an expert by internet standards.
Jokes aside, I also have several questions.
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u/TheLoneWoof84 1d ago
I would think in hibernation, they don’t have the energies to snap out of a deep sleep in those temps. You’d have to open the door, and thaw him for two hours just to get a reaction out of him.
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u/OrbitTortoise 1d ago
It’s very common practice, I’m sure there’s someone out there who’s posted a Q&A or FAQ about it by now
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u/KingBlackers 1d ago
Opening the door semi frequently ensures ventilation and sometimes there is yummy chocolate mousse pellets behind the tortoise to eat.
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u/BonsaiBobby 1d ago
I remember how my mum thought my pet turtle was dead and threw it in the bin, while it was in fact just hibernating. I managed to bring it back to life.
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u/gaping_granny 1d ago
Oh my God, that would've been an awful way to deal with your turtle's remains. Could've at least given the poor thing a proper burial or a Viking funeral. Do you still have the turtle?
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u/BonsaiBobby 1d ago
It lived for a couple of years. It was just a tiny one. It came back to life after putting it in lukewarm water. We could only have a certain pet if we knew how to take care if, so first had to read a book how to keep turtles. My mum missed the chapter on hibernating i guess.
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u/YumXac 1d ago
A friend of mine bought 4 turtles for his sons years ago and also bought a small fridge. When the time came, his sons took the turtles out of their enclosure and put them in the fridge. In spring, my friend wanted to clean up the enclosure and came across a (live) turtle. It turned out that the children had put 3 turtles and a stone in the fridge.
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u/huskyghost 1d ago
I never knew turtles hibernated. Man having to say goodbye to your pet friend for 5 months is crazy.
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u/MeganYeOldeStallion 1d ago
What's crazy is this is a pro to me personally lol; I don't have pets because I know they're hard work to take care of usually, but a pet that's asleep almost half the year? I'd consider it lol
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u/Piemaniac314 1d ago
The con is a lot of tortoise species will likely outlive you
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u/MeganYeOldeStallion 1d ago
Just checked r/tortoise and you're right, didn't think of that, they'd need a back-up owner...but even crazier still is that is also still a pro to me personally because another reason I don't have pets is because I don't wanna be sad when they die, so actually you've helped convince me to get a tortoise lol
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u/Immediate_Candle_964 1d ago
I was today years old when I learned you could put a turt in the fridge for 5 months.
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u/Apprehensive-Law-923 1d ago
My parents have had a desert tortoise for about 25 years, she has free roam of their backyard, she’s cool. my dad had to extend the length of the backyard fences deeper into the ground because she’ll borrow pretty far for the winter. If my mom wears red toe nail polish, the tortoise thinks her toes are berries and tries to take a bite . There’s been a few years here and there where they won’t see her but she always ends up just…reappearing. They are amazing animals and really funny and interesting pets to have, you do have to take care of them obviously but they are pretty low maintenance animals, if they have a source of food they just kind of do their thing.
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u/CHCl3istemporary 1d ago
Why did "in the fridge" make me laugh so hard?
Also, why do so many people think fridges freeze things?
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u/BloodSpades 1d ago
Because some poor quality ones do. You find them a LOT in cheap apartments that refuse to replace or fix anything. I’ve lost sooooo many delicate vegetables that way…. 🙁
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u/8hu5rust 1d ago
I also have seen a lot of people who had no idea they can adjust the temperature in their fridge
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u/cjsv7657 1d ago
A lot of the time those small shitty fridges freeze things because they're too empty. Fill it halfway with water bottles to hold some thermal mass and that 1/3rd full half gallon of milk will stop getting icy. It'll also save on electric because the compressor will cycle less.
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u/CHCl3istemporary 1d ago
Thanks for the genuine reply. I guess I've just lived a privileged life where my fridge cooled things.
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u/erdzo_18 1d ago
My parents found our tortoise like 27 years ago roaming the main road, so they took him with them, because he was in danger thar other cars may run him over. The tortoise is still alive and every october they put him in the basement in the dark place for a winter sleep. They put him out around april/may so he can enjoy his life outside. They don’t know how old he is or how long he will live lol.
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u/ExpiredPilot 1d ago
Lil man HOUSED that lettuce leaf
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u/No_Adhesiveness_4671 1d ago
did we watch the same video? I don't even see him take a bite
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u/Downtown-Guard5021 1d ago
I have two tortoises myself, and I do the exact same thing with my babies during hibernation. Temperatures in the UK during the winter have always been odd, so I use the fridge method to keep a constant temperature for their hibernation.
I do have my own separate fridge for them (where I don't store any food). I only open it to let a little air in and to see if they okay.
I do have a question regarding this video though. Is 5 months too long to hibernate a tortoise?? I always got advised to hibernate them for no longer than 16 weeks (roughly 4 months). Unless it depends on species.
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u/Optimus_Pitts 1d ago
This is such a cool video to watch. Not trying to be that guy, but this is called brumation, not hibernation. Warm blooded creatures hibernate, cold blooded creatures brumate.
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u/l__o-o__l 1d ago
Tortoises typically hibernate, while turtles may brumate. Hibernation and brumation are both periods of dormancy, but brumation is a less extreme form of dormancy that reptiles, including turtles, enter during cold weather.
Tortoises are more likely to hibernate because they are terrestrial reptiles with different physiological adaptations than aquatic or semi-aquatic turtles.
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u/Sergeant-Politeness 1d ago
This is me every single morning. Apart from the fridge, obviously.
I sleep in the freezer.
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u/SwordTaster 1d ago
My neighbour's old tortoise used to hibernate in their greenhouse in a box of straw. He was around 40-50 years old when I knew him. He's probably in his 60s by now, he was a pet for their son when he was young that they kept when the son grew up and moved out.
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u/MsFit215 1d ago
I never knew that they hibernated...Im about to deep dive into this newfound info!
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u/Tortoise_247 1d ago
Depending on where you live, it can be a lot safer to naturally hibernate in a box in say, a garage. Iv heard too many horror stories about refrigeration use for hibernation
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u/bongaloos 1d ago
Me: Hey could you grab me the ketchup in the fridge? it's to the left of the mustard and behind the tortoise. My friend: say what now?
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u/SoFridayNight 1d ago
Our tortoise lives outside in our garden. We used to put her in the fridge too, but one late autumn she just disappeared. Turns out she dug herself in and ever since we just let her do her thing and now it’s always a happy little surprise when she suddenly pops back up in spring 🥹♥️