Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I wonder if anyone who has outdoor RES has found them hibernating in the ground rather than the water. All the info I can find says they hibernate at the bottom of the pond, but now that the nights are getting cooler here I find that they bury themselves in the mulch/soil surrounding the pond in the enclosure. I imagine that my pond is probably not deep enough anyway for them to properly hibernate, only about 2 1/2-3 ft. so I'm perfectly happy to have them bury themselves in teh ground like the box turtles in teh enclosure do, rather than bring them in for the winter, (they are quite large, and I wasnt looking forward to bringing them in) They were given to me last spring and have spent the summer outdoors in a pond I built out with the boxturtles. I had planned to bring them in because I was afraid the pond would not be deep enough for them for the winter, but if they can hibernate underground I would like them to...just wondered if anyone else has similiar circumstances.

I've talked to two turtle keepers, one of painteds and the other of sliders, that had animals hibernate in mulch. You're pond sounds deep enough, although that might be misleading, depending on where you live.

Katrina