small tort

[thepostieles]

hi anyone help me? ive a small tortoishell found its way into my flat prob to hibinate its on the back of one of my post shirts hanging on back of my bedroom door, it seems all tucked up, though noticed its antenae are out today, shall i leave it as it is till about feb or let it out on a fine day? ty

[David M]

You mustn't leave it in a warm environment.

In January 2011, I found a Small Tortoiseshell in the spare bedroom in mid-January. I fed it some sugar solution, put it in an egg box and decamped it to the garden shed.

There it remained perfectly healthily in torpor until early March whereupon I released it on a sunny but cold day to do what nature intended.

[thepostieles]

to be honest, david its in my back bedroom and its cold in there, doesnt get hot at all

[David M]

to be honest, david its in my back bedroom and its cold in there, doesnt get hot at all

'Cold' indoors doesn't equate to cold outdoors though.

These butterflies are programmed to withstand sub-zero temperatures and even if your bedroom is unheated, the temperature is likely to be in excess of 10 degrees, which is far too warm for this butterfly to remain torpid.

Seriously, your best option is to put it in a box in your shed. Failing that, there's still time to release it on a mild, sunny day and it will hopefully find somewhere more appropriate to overwinter.

[thepostieles]

ok david will see what its like over the weekend at the mo its tucked up underneath my bed

[David M]

You could even 'fridge' it. A refrigerator is a constant 4 degrees, which is well within tolerance limits for a hibernating butterfly. You'd need to keep it dry and frost free by placing it in an egg box or something similar but it WOULD survive, although it would probably help to allow it to spend a couple of days in your unheated bedroom at 11 degrees before releasing it in, say, early March when conditions are sunny and relatively benign.