Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This fall will be the first time my box turtle will hybernate since I've had him. I am not sure how old he is, but he has a good appetite and appears healthy.

I have him in a spacious outdoor enclosure with all of the required "amenities", including sphagnum moss and lots of leaves which he likes to "hide" in. In evenings, I put fresh fruit/veggies/and worms, plain turkey scraps, or low-fat soft cat food out for him. The food is gone by morning! This leads me to wonder if small rodents or lizards are "sharing" his feast...

So...I thought I could tell when he was ready to hybernate by the food build up in his pen over a few days. But, since it may be eaten by other "visitors", I am not sure how to tell if his appetite is declining. He already hides in the back of bushes, under leaves and dirt a lot of the time, so hiding or digging behavior wouldn't be unusual.

We live in San Diego County, where it starts cooling down in late October/November, but obviously, extreme weather isn't a factor.

Any suggestions for how I can tell when he goes into hybernation? Should I hybernate him myself at a certain temperature? Thanks.

I think that there are people on this forum who are in or near your area who will be able to give you more specific advice, but for starters, what might be a good idea would be to alter the feeding schedule.
Try putting food out for your turtle in the morning and then removing whats left after an hour or so, or at least putting food out at a time of day when you can actually monitor the situation, and see if its eating at all, or if something else is getting into the food supply. Take the guesswork out of the process.

Good luck
Stephanie

Good advice...I'll try feeding him earlier and monitoring the food amount. Thanks!

I feed mine in the a.m. before work either Mon/Wed/Fri or Mon/Thur, alternating weeks like that. If you go out at the same time every time, and use the same spot each time, you'll likely find your turtles waiting patiently in the spot at feeding time. This isn't always possible, and in the middle of summer it's pretty early in the a.m. to just beat sunrise, but if you can do it, it's cool to see them waking up to greet you.

I'm in Northern Cal and have some friends down South. I'd say because our winters are so mild especially at the beginning, you have to ask yourself a several questions...

Does the enclosure get direct sun exposure? Here in SF, by mid Oct, my boxie habitat stops getting sun due to angle. Mine begin to slow down then.

Is my turtle active? Do you see him walking about in Oct / Nov? Our temps are still pretty high for many turtles to go inactive. Some believe it doesn't get cold enough BUT I have friends in San Jose who get good results.

Once the turtle disappears for over a week and temps are in the 50s, he/she is likely going down. The good thing is it doesn't usually freeze here so no jeopardy there.

One thing you should make certain... Is his weight good? Many folks believe that boxies don't *truly* hibernate in mild winters like we have (40s-50s). In theory, they will lose weight at temps like this but I've never heard of any dying if their weight is high enough. At least, the short season is an advantage.

Personally, I haven't hibernated naturally here. I bought a fridge because the temps are much consistently cooler, but like I said, my friends in San Jose, Clovis & San Diego have not had bad results in the mild climate.

Hope this is helpful.

Paul

I live in San Diego too and have ornates, gulf coast and a guy who is a mixture mystery - my ornates start disappearing into hibernation holes about the end of Sept. or first part of Oct. and the others usually go down the end of Nov. through December. The ornates usually dig a hole under a bush or plant and the others hibernate under ground but inside one of their enclosures. If you have any questions, please just ask. Mary Beth

Somthing is getting your box turtles food. Im my turtle pen the chip munks get some. but i also have ground hogs that jump over the side of the pen and eat wahts ever there. When i put food in for them i always bring them out of there hiding spots to eat other wise it will be gone.
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Jack

Hey,

I'm going to outdoor hibernate my Eastern Box for the first time too this winter. I live around Houston, TX and although not as frigid as up north, the winters can get a bit chilly. I have mine in an outdoor pen rite now...she's eating well and very active. I will be gone from September until possibly Thanksgiving and return home. My parents will feed her until I get back. Does anyone know the preparation steps I should take so that she can hibernate as soon as the weather gets colder? Should I put more soil/leaves/hay, etc in so when the time comes, she can naturally just do her thing? Supposedly weather doesn't start to cool down dramatically until November/December time. I'm not sure..haven't lived here that long.

Thanks!

Johnny

Oh, and how deep a hole should i provide her? I want to pile lots of soil in the pen since she can't dig too far down...i lined the bottom with tiles to prevent escape. =P

Johnny

just make a good pile a foot or so high of whatever you have. Mulch works well. If you use leaves, mix in plenty of sand, soil, etc, to make it have weight so it does not just blow away.

I'm in central NC (farther north than you) and I just put in a foot deep pile of hardwood mulch in the fall, they hide in it over the winter.