Around this time of year, they will slow down in metabolism, and not eat as much, preparing for hibernation. However, if they have a Vitamin or Calcium deficiency, they may not make it through hibernation. So we always get them checked out, and give them Calcium shots. i made a little 12" cube made from cement bricks, which keeps the temperature cool during hot days, and overall insulates during cold nights. I put food in their weekly, as a few times every hibernation they will wake up and find food in the wild. I try to do my best to replicate the wild, but just digging a hole in the ground and sticking them in their isn't safe for them, as their are Coyotes, Ravens, and more that would try to eat them, and probably would. And at their size, they are vulnerable to everything. The little cement hut is in the garage, where it is shady all the time. There is a layer of dirt on the bottom and I smooth the edges of the cement with dirt as well to make it just like the wild.
Right now, they are in the process of digging a burrow for hibernation, which is what they would do in the wild. These tortoises are very much wild. The grandparents where wild, which makes them of the F2 variety, if you are talking wild cat domestication.
