Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello All,
have 2 "wild " boxes that we took in this spring, they came from the lot next to us which was essentially clearcut. They are in an outdoor enclosure with plenty of leaf litter (now 16" or so). Nightime lows have been in the 30' this week and the turtles have been burying themselves. The soil in our yard is very hard, are the leaves sufficent for the winter or do I need to place some real loose soil under that?? How about Hay?? I assume these 2 hibernated under very similar conditions without my help in years past.

JOE

P.S this is a wonderful BB

I would add more leaves, and over the winter continue to add them since the elements will press them down. As for loosening up the soil I would make sure they can dig at least so the top of their shells are covered. I'm not sure about the straw that is probably uneccesary. Just add more leaves, I'm sure someone with more experience with captives will respond. Good luck.

Please keep in mind that the layer of leaf litter found on the forest floor has had decades if not more to partially decay into a thick layer that acts as a sort of down quilt for turtles and other creatures.
A pile of newly raked leaves does not provide the same degree of protection: to stay with the down quilt comparison, a leaf pile would be like a loose pile of feathers, easily blown away and allowing for more cold air circulation throught the pile.
So, to me, you setup does not sound as though it would be truly comparible to what the turtles were probably accustomed to finding in the woods

If it were my choice, I would dig down, too.

Good luck with them!

Thank you both vry much for replying. Rather tan digging, what do you think about adding another substrate, then replacing the leaves ? In other words, it would be a whole lot easier for me to add potting soil(?) or something similar rather than digging up this area. Any suggestions. Thanks again.

Joe

My feeling is that it's less risky for the turtles if you dig. Here's a really quick, oversimplified sketch of what I have here:

Thanks,
looks good. i'll get the spade out this wkend.

Joe

Joe, like steph showed just dig a trench with sloped sides for them to bury in. Here is a website you may find helpful, http://turtle_tails.tripod.com/raisingbabyturtles/tour11.htm