Leopard Tortoise hibernation?

Question
Hi Thea---I have had a 3 year old Leopard Tortoise for the past 8 months. She is a ravenous eater who has eaten every day of her life until 4 days ago when she abruptly stopped. Now she is only interested in sleeping. She appears extremely healthy and is very perky when I wake her up but finds a place to sleep almost immediately and doesn't have the slightest interest in food. I know that Leopard Tortoises do not traditionally hibernate but she really seems to want to (even though her turtle table is 72 degrees in the shade and 90 degrees under the basking lamp as it always has been). Any ideas for what is causing this behavior? Have you ever heard of a Leopard Tortoise hibernating? Is it ok to let her sleep a while?

Answer
Hi Heather, You are correct, they don't technically hibernate, true hibernation is a defined metabolic state. They will sometimes enter into a state of "torpor" over the winter. I used to correspond with a leopard keeper in South Africa who kept leopards in his back garden. He said that his would burrow into boxes of straw  over the winter (which they do have!) and remain there for several weeks.
A friend of mine who keeps leopards here in Canada notices a similar slowdown in appetite over the winter even though the enclosure temperatures do not change.

Make sure she was defecating normally before she stopped eating and has absolutely no signs of any respiratory problems like clicking for raspy breathing. She's a bit young to have to consider eggs and any resulting problems from that but it is something to keep in mind when you have a female.