I live in south/central NJ(Shore area). I keep mine outside all year. They dig down on their own. They usually stop eating late Sept. early Oct. They usually start digging in Oct/ Nov. some I see on warm days into Dec. Depends on the weather. They usually start emerging early/ mid april, also depends on the weather.

One year I saw a wild male in the road the second week of dec. We had a few warm days so even in the wild they come up to look around.

I load up the pen with leaves in the fall for them to burrow in. They don't go real deep underground. I was surprised,the first few years I put the ones I could find deeper, I gave up doing that and haven't lost any to date.

You may want to try refridgerator hibernation, or putting them in a cool area(unheated basement).



Hope this helps,

Phil

[ Hide Replies ]

• Box Turtle Hibernation in NJ - lilypad42, Fri Sep 1 19:11:34 2006
• RE: Box Turtle Hibernation in NJ - Woodnative, Fri Sep 1 19:27:30 2006
• RE: Box Turtle Hibernation in NJ - lilypad42, Fri Sep 1 20:05:59 2006
• RE: Box Turtle Hibernation in NJ - phil nj, Fri Sep 1 20:21:20 2006
• RE: Box Turtle Hibernation in NJ - lilypad42, Fri Sep 1 20:40:33 2006
• RE: Box Turtle Hibernation in NJ - kensopher, Sat Sep 2 07:29:53 2006
• RE: Box Turtle Hibernation in NJ - Woodnative, Sat Sep 2 08:46:39 2006
• RE: Box Turtle Hibernation in NJ - lilypad42, Sun Sep 3 10:34:26 2006