Reptile & Amphibian Forums

What is the best age to allow babies to hibernate? I read one place that they can hibernate their 2nd winter and in another place I read it's not safe until their 3rd or 4th winter.

I have 2 1-year old Eastern/3-toed babies that stayed in last winter but have been outside since spring (I have a special "nursery" area set up inside the main habitat). Just wondering if I need to keep them awake again this winter or not....

I live in NW Louisiana and our winters are usually pretty mild. My adult boxie usually hibernates from mid-November through mid-April.

Box turtles can hibernate/brumate at any age. Beware, though, you may lose some of the weaker animals if they're brumated at a very young age.

In over 20 years of raising box turtles, I have found that my turtles gain much in the way of hardiness when they reach 3 inches in carapacial length. I place them outdoors and brumate them at this size. Age doesn't matter to me.

I'm sure you know this, but just make sure that the enclosure is very, very secure. Burrowing rodents can chew on sleepy box turtles, especially the very young.

Good luck, and let us know how your decision work out.

Thanks. That's a big help and it does make sense. I just measured them and they're both right at 2 1/4".

This is a photo of them taken about a year ago when they were 3 weeks old. Turbo is the un-named baby. Charger has the shell deformity.

I hibernate my hatchlings the fist year. I had some problems with getting them to eat when I was trying to keep them up all winter. So I put them outside and let them hibernate. They did very well and none died. Now I will hibernate all my turtels includeing any 07 hatchlings.
-----
Jack