Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Man it is quiet on this board lately! Where did everybody go? This is one of the first boards I read each morning so I miss getting to see what everyone and their boxies are up to. Maybe it is because most of the turtles are hibernating and there is not too much to write about right now. Hmmmm......well anyway....I hope all is well with everyone. Have a good day!...... 9boxies

You're right. This board does slow down during the winter months because turtles are hibernating: happens every year.

Winter is the time for planning and preparing for the busy time of the year when turtles are active.

We've been really busy with a bunch of different projects here, and planning an enclosure expansion is on that list: we want to add another 250 sq. ft. to the pen, so hopefully we can get that done by the end of next month. I'm still debating whether or not we'll need to add another pond to the addition... I think we will, so I'm toying with designs just in case. Just thinking about digging the hole for it makes my back hurt, though!

Anyone else out there plannning turtle home improvement?

Stephanie

My boxie, Mikey, and ornate, isn't hibernating. He is as active as he is in summer. I do think he is mad he can't go outside though. I have been considering hibernating him, but I would miss him and be bored while he was under. As far as I know he has never hibernated in his life. His first owners kept him in a 10 gallon tank and fed him box turtle pellets and lettuce (i'm surprised he is not deformed, the only problem he has is his beak doesn't line up properly, gets a yearly trim at the vet). So anyway, I doubt they ever hibernated him and I haven't since I got him. I was thinking of getting a small wine fridge or something as now I also have a hermann's tortoise that is supposed to hibernate as well. And, if I find her in spring, a greek tortoise which is also supposed to hibernate.

Do all of you who hibernate your boxies miss them while they are sleeping? Or do you like the break?

Do you think there are any detrimental affects to not hibernating them?

I've never hibernated mine that I've had since 1989. If you plan to breed yours it helps to hibernate them to get them in the mood and stimulate the proper hormones that are necessary for this. I don't breed mine though. They do slow down a bit in the winter and don't eat as much as they do in the summer, but they are fairly active still and very healthy.

I have been having Internet withdrawals I think. LOL I HATE when I can't get online.
I vanished because my mother who's in her 70s suddenly took ill & ended up in the hospital where she's been for 7 days now & it doesn't look like she'll be leaving there any time too soon.
I've spent my days there & evenings caring for all my animals so by 10 PM when I finish with them I'm toast.

On Friday my Mader book finally got here, the new edition of Reptile Medicine & Surgery.. so the first thing I looked up in the book was box turtles & box turtle hibernation.
Shell E has never shown any indication that she wants to hibernate. Her fist 2 years here she was healing & could not do that. The next winter after she'd healed I wondered should I let her but she didn't seem to want to. Now I have 4 who aren't hibernating so the question Mel asked was bugging me.

In the 10 years since the first edition of his book hit the market I see that there's still not really been any study on this subject & it states now that if conditions indoors are correct then there doesn't seem to be any harm in allowing them to stay awake.
Which brings me back to that age old idea: why do they hibernate in the wild? Because conditions dictate that they must.
Gulf coast & FL box don't hibernate because in their natural range they don't have to.
Janie sat in the cold & got herself sick so she couldn't hibernate this year.. I really don't feel bad right now that I didn't allow her to stay out.. I didn't allow Charity & Shell E to stay outside & get sick too.
Hobo is the only one we have who seemed to know what he needed to do so I let him.
-----
PHRatz

PHRatz......here's wishing your mother a speedy recovery. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family at this time. .....9boxies

>>PHRatz......here's wishing your mother a speedy recovery. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family at this time. .....9boxies

Thank you!
This morning it looks like she's on the road to recovery so hopefully I will have MY life back really soon.

Speaking of recoveries & to keep this on topic.. lol
Little Chip has not limped at all since the first day I noticed that he'd stopped.
Janie who'd been sick & I was having trouble getting food into has been eating like a pig lately.
No worries on her either.. it's nice when at least the boxies are doing better.
-----
PHRatz

Glad it seems there isn't any bad affects of not hibernating Mikey. I have always wondered. He has never shown any indication of wanting to hibernate. My tortoises have, so I may hibernate them next year, I think I will keep Mikey up though since he never seems to slow down anyway.

>>Glad it seems there isn't any bad affects of not hibernating Mikey. I have always wondered. He has never shown any indication of wanting to hibernate. My tortoises have, so I may hibernate them next year, I think I will keep Mikey up though since he never seems to slow down anyway.

If Shell E or any others had behaved as if they wanted to do that, I would've found a way. In Oct. Hobo went under & stayed when he should've, Janie & Charity didn't seem to get it.
Year before last I thought about letting Shell E stay outside in the pen we had at that time. I left her out there for a few days but when the temps dropped drastically I went outside after dark with a flashlight to check up on her & found her in the cold with only her head underground.. she didn't even cover herself so inside she went.

I know there's been some talk that not hibernating can cause some health problems so I asked my vet about what she's heard on the subject. I know she gets the vet publications & journals, she does keep up on as much info as she can.

She said she'd read about a "study" in which the person who'd written an article reported some type of health problem for one turtle in his unhibernated group of turtles. Then she said the person doing the so-called "study" had only 3 turtles.. not enough turtles in her opinion to call it a study. Also no proof that not hibernating caused the health problem for that one particular turtle, only speculation. The health problem could've been genetic or related to some other thing, no proof at all that lack of hibernation caused illness so she disregarded the article.
I stay torn about this subject but I'd rather have them awake inside during cold months than sitting in the cold freezing to death or in it long enough to get sick like Janie did this past season.
These that have been pets for a while seem to not do very well outside on their own. I still think Janie had been someone's pet because she just never really behaved like a totally wild turtle when I found her. I KNOW Charity had been captive because of the nail polish that was on her.
Chip, of course being broken could not be allowed to hibernate this year. I think by the time he's healed he'll be so spoiled.. worse than he already is, he'll never understand how to be wild again.
-----
PHRatz