Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have decided to hibernate one of my box turtles for the first time this year. I live in south jersey the nights have been getting fairly cold recently (40s). I'm thinking that because this turtle has never hibernated before and was captive bred that he won't adjust as well to hibernating at first. So far he has not been digging in. He appears to be in a pre-hibernation phase he is very slow looking, has no desire to eat, and appears to be slowing down. However he has been simply moving around under a pile of leaves about 6 inches deep. Obviously he has to get deeper than this. I guess my question is does anyone know how deep boxies normally dig in New Jersey. I'm especially concerned with how cold the last two winters have been. Do I have to dig a hole for him and place him in it, or will he dig on his own? What are some good synthetic insulators for turtles? What are good natural insulators? If anyone hibernates their turtles and is from jersey I would appreciate some feedback. Thank alot

If you scroll down and read other recent posts about hibernation you'll find alot of good information, since the topic has come up several times lately.
You are correct in thinking that 6" of leaves won't be adequate, but it's really not something to worry about just yet: I have turtles that aren't quite ready to go deeper also.
You do need to dig for it, since you probably don't have decades worth of leaf litter for it to nestle down under.
Mine hibernate in what is essentially a 3' wide x 2' deep trench filled with a combination of soil, peatmoss and leaves (nice and loose for them the dig in to easily), with leaves and logs over top (logs mostly to prevent leaves from blowing away).
This trench is in a part of the pen that does not flood or collect water.
We do have to put the turtles under the logs: they don't necessarily just go there on their own.
Stephanie

Hi, I live in south/central jersey shore area and my boxies are out all year long. I have them in a very large enclosed area of my yard that has a pond with a stream. It is well planted with bushes, flowers and small trees. I also have a few areas with 8-10 inch diameter tree limbs on the ground with alot of leaf cover. I also dug a few tunnels for them that slope down to about 18-24 inches deep and as long as my arm will reach. I have 3 adults and 14 babies that are 3and 2 years old and also a few hatched this summer. Most dig down on their own usually under the tree limbs. They go down deeper as it gets colder. One or two will climb down into holes I dug. One large female for the past four years barely covers herself under the leaves. I wait until it gets to about 30-32 degrees at night and put her into one of the holes and cover it with leaves and she stays put. I'm sure she knows what she's doing but I get impatient so I put here down. In the past I would put her down too soon and she always came up, so now I wait until it stays cold. On days like the past few days I still see some wandering around. My smaller female was holed up for a few days then changed holes yesterday. I usually pile lots of leaves in where the logs are for extra insulation. I also stuff the holes with leaves after they settle in. Depending on the weather here that can be anytime from now until end of Nov.