《Safer Hibernation and Your Tortoise》
《安全冬眠和你的龟龟》

作者：　　　A.C.Highfield Wales （原作者） 英国 1998
　　　　　　Annie Lancaster （修订作者）
翻译+评批： 酒歌 我评批的地方会注明“评：”

　　INTRODUCTION 简介

　　It gives us considerable pleasure to be able to introduce you to this, the 5th and completely revised edition of "Safer Hibernation & your Tortoise". In the past 10 years over 70,000 copies of the previous editions have been distributed to tortoise owners in Europe, and a very great many lives have been saved as a direct result. It is my hope that this new edition for the United States will achieve similar success.

　　我们十分高兴的向您推出经过第五次编辑、修订的“使你的龟龟安全的冬眠”。在过去的十年中，超过70，000份早一些的版本在欧洲的龟龟拥有者之间被复制和传播，最直接的后果就是挽救了无数的龟龟的生命。我衷心的希望这次针对美国的修订版也能产生同样的影响。

　　（评：希望与众多龟友一起努力，完成一篇针对中国的修订版）

　　Unfortunately, a great deal of information presented to tortoise keepers in the past has been grossly inaccurate and sometimes positively lethal. Into this category falls such advice as "never disturb a hibernating tortoise", "make sure you leave plenty of air-holes in the hibernating box", "give your tortoise one last meal to see it through hibernation" and " provide plenty of cat or dog food in the diet". The first is simply incorrect, the last three can kill. How many unnecessary deaths have resulted from owners following such dangerous and misleading nonsense? We have a policy of continually revising and updating this booklet to ensure that it always provides the best information available.Tortoises and turtles of all varieties are not 'easy' animals to care for properly. When the tortoise trade was at its height, more than 90% of all tortoises imported in any given year were dead within 2 years - most died during, or just after, hibernation. This booklet has been prepared by the Tortoise Trust to help you ensure your tortoise does not suffer the same fate.

　　不幸的事，在以往，提供给龟龟饲养者的许多信息都是非常严重的错误的，有些资讯甚至直接变成致命的罪魁祸首。在这类错误的建议中，比较常见的有：“千万不要打搅正在冬眠的龟龟！”、“确保在龟龟的冬眠箱上保留大量的通气孔”、“在龟龟冬眠之前，要喂饱他，好让他撑过漫长的冬眠期”、“提供大量的猫粮和狗粮作为龟龟的食物”。第一条明显是错误的，而后面的三条足以致命。无数的龟龟在饲养者听信这些错误的谗言之后悲惨的死去。我们一贯执行这样一条原则：持续不断的修订我们提出的咨询，以保证为龟龟的拥有者提供严谨正确的资讯。种类丰富、习性各异的龟龟决不是容易饲养的宠物。在龟龟贸易的高峰期，90%的龟龟在交易完成后的两年内死去，其中的绝大多数死于冬眠期间或刚刚结束冬眠的短暂时间内。这份龟鳖基金会为大家准备的手册正是要确保你的龟龟免受同样的厄运。

　　（评：我想，国内饲养龟龟的信息，同样有许多是严重错误的吧，论坛里有误导性的发言不少，有些是说得不够全面，不够清晰，有些则根本是错误的。目前，我们在养龟的过程中，普遍存在过于主观，武断的事情。）

　　All of the information presented has been carefully prepared by some of the most experienced tortoise keepers in the world in close consultation with leading veterinary surgeons. The techniques described are in daily use at our own tortoise sanctuaries in Britain, the USA, and South Africa, and have been tried and tested over many years. The effectiveness of these techniques is such that despite hibernating possibly more tortoises each year than anyone else, we have never suffered a single hibernation fatality. In each case, the methods used were those described in this booklet. With proper care and attention to detail, you too can achieve similar results.

　　本文中提供的资讯均由世界顶级的龟龟养育专家在顶级兽医专家的紧密组织下，通过严谨的磋商和反复的推敲而最终形成的。我们所描述的实用技术每天都在位于英国、美国和南非的龟龟保育中心中应用，并且经过了多年的实践检验。这些技术的应用效果使我们让所有的需要冬眠的龟龟都能安全的度过休眠期，无一死亡。在我们所遇到各种情况时，都可以应用这本小册子里提供的技术加以解决。我们相信，通过你的精心照料和对技术细节的足够重视，你也会取得同样的效果。

　　（评：这段文字充分表明了这篇文章的权威性。）

　　Tortoises are now under threat worldwide, mainly from habitat loss and in some cases from collecting for the pet animal trade. Fortunately, some active steps to conserve these animals are at last being taken. Much more needs to be done. The endless destruction of natural abitats must be controlled, and conservation reserves created where these animals can continue to breed and survive without human predation. Land tortoises fresh water, and marine turtles all need our help and consideration if they are to survive as species. They must not be lost forever.

　　在全球范围内，由于栖息地的丧失和非法贸易，龟龟正在经受生存的危机。幸运的是，在最后的关键时候，人们终于开始采取行动。当然我们还需要做更多的工作。人类对自然无尽的掠夺必须得到控制，建立自然保护区，使这些龟龟在免受人类的干扰下能够获得存活的机会。无论是海龟、水龟还是陆生的各种龟，如果要有机会作为一个物种而存活下来，必须得到人类的保护和帮助。我们决不允许任何一种龟龟灭绝。

　　（评：国内爱龟，养龟的热情很高。但是野生动物保护制度严重不健全。对濒危爬行动物的保护几乎是没有。在加上我们所谓的“饮食文化”，中国传统医学和野生动物原生地环境的严重破坏，我国的野生动物，尤其是爬行动物正处在极度濒危的状态。很多事情真是触目惊心，惨不忍睹。）

　　HIBERNATION & VARIETIES OF TORTOISE
龟的种类和冬眠

　　Contrary to popular belief, most tortoises of the types most commonly kept as pets do actually hibernate in the wild. They do so, however, for much shorter periods than they are frequently subjected to in captive collections. It has been commonplace to attempt a hibernation of up to six or even seven months, whereas in the wild these same tortoises have been used to a hibernation rarely longer than ten to twelve weeks. We believe in replicating natural conditions as closely as possible in respect of hibernation periods, and so we do not recommend giving our tortoise an over-long hibernation. Most fatalities occur either near the beginning, or at the end of the hibernation period. The reasons for some of these fatalities will be discussed in detail later, but you can certainly improve your tortoise's chances greatly simply by limiting the period of hibernation to not more than 20 weeks at the outside. This, it should be stressed, is for a perfectly fit specimen which is fully up to weight. Tortoises which are anything less than l00% fit, or are in any way underweight, will require a proportionally shorter period of hibernation under carefully controlled conditions; possibly they may even need to be kept awake and feeding over the entire winter season.

　　与大多数人的认识相反，绝大多数作为宠物饲养的龟龟都会在野生自然状态下进行冬眠。他们真的是这样，尽管在野外自然状态下这一冬眠过程会比在人工饲养条件下的冬眠过程短的多。在人工饲养条件下，有些龟龟的的冬眠期超过6个月甚至达到7个月是一件司空见惯的事，但在自然界中，同样是这些龟，他们的冬眠期很少超过10至12周。我们坚信对龟龟野外自然条件下的冬眠的尊重和尽量的模仿甚至复制对人工饲养条件下龟龟冬眠的成败会起到重要作用，所以，我们不推荐让您的龟龟经受太长时间的冬眠。在绝大多数情况下，惨剧的发生都发生在冬眠即将开始或即将结束的阶段。我们会在后面的内容中详细地分析发生类似惨剧的原因，但你完全可以通过缩短或限制龟龟在室外的冬眠时间而为他们提供更多的生存机会，做到这点，你只需简单的把他们在室外的冬眠时间控制在20周之内。在这里需要强调的一点是龟龟的体重：将要进入冬眠的体重必须100%的符合本物种的体重要求，任何未达到标准体重的龟龟都需要特别细心的关照：他们必须在经过精心控制的条件下进行相对较短时间的冬眠，甚至在有些情况下，你甚至不得不保持它们在整个冬天都处于清醒的活跃状态。

　　（评：如果龟龟冬眠时间过长，有必要人为干预，控制龟龟冬眠的时间。）

　　None of these creatures are in any way suitable as pets for children, and should not be purchased as such.
The following information applies to the most common species of 'pet' tortoise; Testudo graeca ,Testudo hermanni and Testudo marginata. In general, the requirements of T. hermanni, T. graeca, and T. marginata and T. horsfieldii are all very similar.
Many of these tortoises exported to the United States are from the Mediterranean. Some continue to be, due to differences in laws. The same techniques are equally applicable to Gopherus agassizzi, the California Desert tortoise.
Many tortoise owners ask us to identify what species their particular tortoises belong to. The following notes should clarify the position, although specific identification can sometimes be very difficult for non-experts. This is mainly due to the very large range of natural variations in shell pattern, size and colorations encountered, even within members of the same species. However, the general characteristics of each principal terrestrial tortoise are as follows.

　　这些生物不适和作为孩子的宠物，同时也不该购买它们。以下介绍一些适合作为宠物龟的最普通的种类：Testudo graeca（希腊陆龟） ,Testudo hermanni（赫曼陆龟） and Testudo marginata（缘翘陆龟）.，一般情况下T. hermanni, T. graeca, and T. marginata and T. horsfieldii（四爪陆龟）对环境条件的需求也与上面的种类很相似。这些种类的许多龟是从地中海出口到美国的，还有一些种类也是这样被出口，只是在法律上有不同的对待。同样的技术也适用于Gopherus agassizzi, the California Desert tortoise。许多养龟主人请我去鉴别他所养的龟属于甚么种类。对于一个非养龟专家来说种类鉴别有时是很困难的，这主要是由于即使是在同种类的不同个体中，它们的龟壳的图案、大小和颜色的自然变化都有很大的不同，以下的信息可以帮助你确认龟的种类。每一种主要陆生龟的一般特征也有介绍。
TESTUDO GRAECA ("Spur-Thighed" or "Greek" tortoise) （希腊陆龟，欧洲陆龟，地中海陆龟）

　　（评：国内这些适合饲养的龟龟品种不多，而且价格确比较贵。这和地域性有关。在我们的市场中常见的，便宜的龟龟，往往更濒危，更有价值，更需要我们的保护。如果你想养龟，就养上面提到的那些品种。最好不要养国内的品种，因为他们更濒危。）

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