My grandmother kept a RES in a plastic storage box with h2o and a turtle raft,-changed the water daily, and fed it romaine lettuce for over 45 years! I "inherited" the turtle last year when she went into assisted living. I set it up in a 25 gallon tank w/ a zoo-med filter, basking area, clean h2o-enough to submerge if it wishes-and a small external reptile heating pad this winter. It also has a flourescent reptile light which I have turned on 8-10 hr's a day.

The turtle has always hibernated (Nov-Spring) under less than optimum conditions. My question is: the turtle is still not eating- I've tried the romaine leaf a couple of times a week for the past couple of weeks. Shouldn't he be coming out of his snooze by now? He has lost a bit of weight, and shell is soft and slightly pitted (white)- I attributed this to his flipping over backward a few times last summer when he was active. The turtle is getting more attention than he has in 40 years-I'm concerned-he's made it this far. Do I need to be doing more??

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