Reptile & Amphibian Forums

At the begining of the summer I caught a baby eastern painted turtle. I have finally decided to keep him as a pet, which is unusal for me, but I like this particular turtle. I'm from C.T. and I would like to try and have him hybernate this winter. It's starting to get cold and he's starting to get a little not as active, which means he's getting ready to hybernate. Can you please give me a few good tips on how to hybernate him? Should I use sand etc.? Please any info would be appreciated! thankyou;
-Paul

What kind of set up do you have him in? What is his water temp right now? Do you have any lights on him? Is he indoors or out?
I would say don't hibernate him. It's too difficult and you have to do it just right or you could kill the turtle. Just keep him in his tank with a heater so his temp stays normal and doesn't drop. He won't even know it's winter. That's what I do with my turtle and he's over 5 years old (I have had him since he was a hatchling).

20 gal. setup, yes there is uv lighting and a basking spot bulb. He is kept indoors.

Sorry it took me so long to get back to you.
I hope you decided not to hibernate your turtle or have gotten information on how to do it properly.
20 gals is too small for a turtle. Your turtle will need a bigger tank. Full grown he will need at least a 55 gal. The rule of thumb is 10 gals per inch of turtle. My boy is about 5 inches and he is in a 90 gal tank. He loves his new tank. My friend had him in a 10 gal when he was a hatchling and when I got him I moved him up to a 20 gal thinking it was big enough. I found out later that it was not. Although he was "surviving" in such a small tank, he was not as happy as he is in his 90 gal tank.
I got my 90 gal tank and oak stand for $90 from a friend's son. He had an add in the paper for a while and he had been trying to sell it for a year before I bought it from him. So there are deals out there, just look in your local paper, local flea markets and yard sales and you should find a great deal.
I hope you and your new turtle will have many happy years together.

Thankyou for all of your help, I might just keep him warm during the winter instead of hybernating him. As far as the tank size goes, he is only about 2.5-3.0 inch. And when I found him he was only about 2 weeks old or maybe less. But if you have any sugestions, I will certainly take it into thought.