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Hibernating Tortoises Slumbering Away Inside a Refrigerator

By Alex in Animal on Feb 25, 2008 at 6:57 am



Photo: London Media

Yes, your eyes aren’t deceiving you: those are tortoises in Shirley Neely’s refrigerator. She has 75 of them hibernating happily next to her (scant) groceries!

On every shelf, wrapped in tea towels, are slumbering tortoises. The smaller ones are snuggled up in a biscuit tin, but the bigger fellows are laid out side-by-side in their makeshift sleeping bags.

Mrs Neely who runs the Jersey-based Tortoise Sanctuary, had to set up the fridges because of the particularly mild winter. Her tortoises hibernate for up to three months between December and March, and need steady temperatures between 3c and 8c.

They are in danger of waking early if it heats up – and then do not have enough body weight to keep themselves warm and not enough energy to eat or drink. But fridges, at a steady 4c to 6c, are the perfect environment.

Mrs Neely said: "It’s much easier to maintain a constantly cool temperature with a fridge than it is with our ever-warming climate."

Blast global warming! But hooray for refrigeration! Link – via Spluch


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COMMENT
  1. Ali S.
    Feb 25th, 2008 at 12:01 pm

    Honey...there's something wrong the roast again!

  2. L
    Feb 25th, 2008 at 12:29 pm

    Is there enough air in there?

  3. Adam Stanhope
    Feb 25th, 2008 at 12:41 pm

    How hungry would you have to be to eat one of those bell peppers?

  4. jenjen
    Feb 25th, 2008 at 1:02 pm

    See, now this is a neat story.
    I do feel kinda bad for the guys with their feets hanging down. Couldn't she put down some towels or something?

  5. Benny Lava
    Feb 25th, 2008 at 1:04 pm

    Sure, there's plenty of air in there since their metabolisms are slowed way down, but I wonder that this woman isn't concerned by the fact that tortoises carry salmonella.

  6. otterly
    Feb 25th, 2008 at 6:05 pm

    You'd think she'd buy a different fridge for her food. Thats kinda sick.. Kinda silly to blame this on Global Warming, The winter here has been colder and more snowy than ever.

  7. ted
    Feb 25th, 2008 at 7:53 pm

    She must like her turtle soup really fresh.

  8. VonSkippy
    Feb 26th, 2008 at 12:38 am

    @ted
    Wouldn't that be Tortoise Gazpacho since it's cold?

  9. Daniel Kim
    Feb 26th, 2008 at 8:44 am

    Wait a minute! Does white wine go with tortises?

  10. Louise
    Feb 26th, 2008 at 10:36 am

    Only in New Jersey! How I love this kick-ass, can-do state.

  11. Trevor
    Feb 26th, 2008 at 5:32 pm

    Hi all Shirley Neely is actually my Mum! For those concerned about the food in the fridge were Props put there by the photographer!, the wine is kept in there to stabilise the temperature, everything is kept clean thanks!
    My mum has work keeping the Tortoise Sanctuary going for 15 years financing it herself So she is allowed to be a bit passionate about it! Her Grand son Dominic likes how there legs dangle “like I do out of bed” He said! (their normally rapped in towels)

  12. Anon
    Jan 8th, 2009 at 11:55 am

    This is horrible.
    I have a tortoise and i would never just plonk my tortoise in a fridge cramped and no box!
    This woman must be sick or something...

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