Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok, my turtles are 15 years old. Neither of them have ever hibernated. Will they still know how to if they where in the right situation?

First off the answer would be yes. This is all triggered by temperature and the gradual slowing of their systems.
If they have not been hibernated for 15 years why bother now? Just keep them as they are. There are risks with hibernating any turtle regardless of age. If you have not done it thus far it would be rather pointless to change how you keep them now. Hibernation is not essential for their good health.

Steve

As to why hibernate the turtles, what kind of turtles are these and why do you want to hibernate them? I just had an adopter take on a pair of eastern painteds that were 9 and 14 years old, who had each been living in a 20 gallon tank most of their lives. The adopter has a several hundred gallon outdoor pond loaded to the gills with water hyacinth, goldfish, and tadpoles, but does not want indoor turtles for the winter. I'm confident that the turtles will have enough time to adjust before fall, and hibernate the winter away without a problem. They went from the projects to the penthouse in the sky, IMO.

So, we need to hear the full story to make a good decision.

Katrina

Well, I've been trying to find them a new home. I'm finding I don't have the time for the maintance anymore. But not knowing if they would survive in an outdoor pond has made it rather tough locating someone. Which is why I was wondering.. If in fact then they could survive.. might make it easier to locate a home for them. I had posted a message here a while ago.. but I know it was deleted. which I thought was silly.. since it was for the turtles own good to see if fellow turtle keepers would be interested in them. The picture was one of the days last year when I would take them outside and run around for a while. They seem to enjoy exploring everything.

Try posting a flyer in the local vets' offices, your local feed and seed store (if you have one), home improvement stores in the pond section, and any plant nurseries in the area. The plant nurseries are probably your best bet for a good home - which will be a pond in a fenced-in (a.k.a. escape-proof) yard. The pond will have to be big enough/deep enough to prevent total freezing in winter, or have a de-icing heater in it. I think you're in PA, right? So you'll probably want at least a 500 gallon pond. Not impossible to find the right person, just a lot of leg work to do. You might also want to post ads in any publications that let you do free ads, such as Pennysaver or Thrifty Nickel. Just screen potential adopters to make sure they know what they're getting into, and be willing to provide literature (either hard copy or website links) to help educate the new owners.

I can mail or e-mail you the flyer I use to find slider homes. You might have to settle for placing the male with someone with a large aquarium, and the female in a pond. Best not to place them together so that we don't end up with babies, and then the whole cycle starts again.

Your turtles can hibernate, so long as the pond is deep eough, and they have time to acclimate before winter sets in. I'm thinking the end of August would be the latest to add one or both to a pond.

If you send me your e-mail, I can get a copy of those pictures and we can post them on Petfinder.com, and maybe get find a home, in or out-of-state, if you are willing to ship. I can help walk you through shipping, too.

Katrina

Agreed about the circumstance Katrina but there are several considerations on the other end of this. I have several sliders in my possession now that are eyeless because they were hibernated in a pond with a very neutral PH which was ideal for for fungus to grow. They developed fungus on their faces that ate out their eyeballs. Outdoor living is ultimate but you have to know what you are doing before you just take them and toss them out into a pond to over winter. You have to consider that you may not have ready access to these animals if problems arise during the cold winter month. You have to consider that sliders are tough enough to hibernate but generally do not experience the harsh Winters that we folks have up here in the North and lastly you have to be prepared to accept the fact that in a naturally setting mishaps like the one mentioned above can and do occur.

I guess I should have been more specific. If the animals are fine and healthy and living well in a reasonable amount of space why subject them to a harsh Winter in the great outdoors?

Give em a Spring, Summer, Early Fall pond and take them in when things get too cold.

I am an advocate of outdoor hibernation when you have things set up right but most of my turtles are not as tough as sliders and eastern painteds so they come in. Since that only leaves me 3 sliders and 2 painted turtles in a huge pond outside -- I take them in in the Winter as well for safe keeping.

Steve