Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Thanks everyone for your responses below regarding whether or
not I should get this poor box turtle.

I have decided to and will be picking him up tomorrow. I have
been doing some reading and I believe their hibernation period
starts in October. I am thinking about trying to do this and
it is my first time. I live about 10 hours north from where
this turtle was taken. I am wondering if I could hibernate it
outside? I am near Chicago and the winters can get below zero
so I am not sure if this is possible. Can I please get you
guys to give me some advice.

Thanks so much and wish me luck with this guy.
Linda

I wouldn't hibernate a turtle it's first year with you unless you have an experienced herp vet check it out and specifically okay it. Instead, I would keep it indoors and bust out the biggest tub or kiddie pool I good and muddle through the winter working on a stupendous outdoor habitat for it to live in once spring came, then let it hibernate naturally in following years.

Thanks for the quick response

My reasoning for this is because the other turtles that I
mentioned in my prior post stopped eating in the fall and
ended up dying. I often wondered if it was due to the fact
that they were wild caught and their clocks told them it
was time to hibernate. I don't know, what do you think?

Thanks again
Linda

you have to trick their clock.

Give them a soak in lukewarm water under bright lights every few days for about 20 minutes. Set their lights in their cage on timers, so they have a 15-16 hour day. Keep it warmer than usual, in the low 80's, and make sure it stays humid. Inspire them with moving foods (head to the bait shop for live worms if you have to) and you can overcome their natural instinct to shut down. The problem is that temperature dictates metabolism in these guys, and if they try to shut down, and stop eating, their bodies are still at warmer temps than hibernation (at which level they stop absorbing calories). At higher temps, they use calories they aren't replenishing.

If you get one that just won't eat, despite light, temperature, soaking, misting, and food efforts to inspire it, you might have to go to tube feeding to get it through. I tube fed a female of mine for six months when she was "sick" but the vets couldn't find anything wrong with her. Eventually she just snapped back out of it and does fine now.

>>My reasoning for this is because the other turtles that I
>>mentioned in my prior post stopped eating in the fall and
>>ended up dying. I often wondered if it was due to the fact
>>that they were wild caught and their clocks told them it
>>was time to hibernate. I don't know, what do you think?

If these turtles died it was because they were not being kept in summer-like conditions, so their bodies and mind told them to
"hibernate" but they really couldn't since the temperatures were too high indoors for true hibernation. As the other poster said, it would be a good idea to not hibernate the turtle this winter and to keep the turtle in summertime conditions that you maintain with lights, warmth, humdity and live foods. It's an effort but you can do it as many of us do the same thing with our turtles over the winter.

If you maintain the turtle at normal room temps over the winter months it will shut down and may die like the others. I call it "hibernation limbo". This is where the turtle depletes all of it's reserves while it trys to hibernate in too warm conditions, which isn't warm enough for it to want to eat.

Tess
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Tess
Kingsnake.com Forum Host

I will not hibernate it then but I want you to know that I
kept it in summerlike conditions and it finally stopped eating
all together. I think it had many other problems along with
it. Even with vet intervention it did not survive the winter.
I am very well hearsed in proper temps, lighting, etc because
I have 2 Painted turtles and 2 RES which I overwinter inside
every year. I also have a yearling Redfoot but they naturally
do not need to hibernate.

Thanks everyone
Linda

I don't want to take a chance on having a cold snap freeze my box turtle hybernating outside, so I have hybernated it inside of my refrigerator for the last 2 years.

Works well, and no chance of it freezing or starving.