Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My dad and i have made and out door pen measuring 20' x 15' outside we planted bermuda grass and put 2 plastic boxes with a slope made of cement(smoothed out) as ponds and have a peice of tin going across the pen over the 2 ponds. I plan to put some peices of decaying logss driftwood or something out there and in the fall I will put some leaves out there to make it look foresty. My question is will they be able to naturally hibernate this winter? Is there anything I can put/build out there to make it better. I will probably just get one big plastic box for the pond instead of 2 small ones. I am really taking these guys seriously. I love them to death. What do most of you usualy keep the babies in when your rearing them and also the food for the babies. I found one last year that was about 3". He has not grown any, and he has very little of an appetite. What do you recomend I keep him in to get him started better than he is? I cannot get him to eat and plantlife just crickets and worms. As for the adults they are great. I had a bad time last year trying to hibernate the (artificially) and most died from eye infection that never got better. There are alot around here so If I see any on the road I'm going to get a few about 5 or 6 and start breeding them an release a few babies next spring or maybe late summer of thid year.
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Justin

I know your heart is in the right place but why would you gather more turtles when they have been doing fine repopulating the area around you? Your efforts have not been very successful so why get more turtles? At least not until you can guarantee no more hibernation related illness and deaths. The fact that you can't get the young turtle to eat shows you need to do more research into their natural history-what they eat in the wild, etc.

I'm glad you joined the Kingsnake group, it's the first step, now begin your education by reading all the websites about box turtles. Start with mine, www.boxturtlesite.org. Get a good knowledge base before you collect more turtles. For one thing, you should not release captive breed turtles without finding out first if your state even allows it.

I can't tell you how to improve your pen for hibernation until I know what state you live in. The winter climate is what determines how you need to build the hibernation area for safe hibernation.
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Tess
Kingsnake.com Forum Host

You have a point about them poulating the area without help. I have been raisiing box turtles for years. I occasionaly have ones that don't eat like they should. I live in north west AL. I usualy let most go at the end of the year but I keep a few and sometimes they die. I have done plenty of research.Ye I know kingsnake.com is a good place to be on the net. I have been here for a few years. I beleive that they will hibernate on their own. It usualy don't get below 20 degrees here during the coldest part of winter. The ground is not soft or hard but between the 2. I have had the little turtle to start eating more now but still ot like it should.
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Justin