Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Dear snapper people

I have a question about digestion/temperature.

Yesterday I raised the water temperature in the tank of my hibernating alligator snapping turtle. The temperature was raised to 61 degrees Fahrenheit (16 degrees Celsius) . Today I did a small experiment and gave him a clam, and he ate it in spite of the low temperature.

Do you think I need to raise the temperature a few degrees now, to avoid digestion problems? Or is the turtle "clever" enough only to feed, when the temps are high enough for digestion.

Would it cause trouble if the temperature dropped again?
Does anyone have some experience in this topic, that they would like to share?

Best regards,
Tobias Rasmussen (Denmark)

why hibernate your turtle at all?

ive had mine for 8 yrs and never hibernated it. i did have some heater issues a cuple yrs ago and for about 3 months had my water at 55-60 degrees. he ate a couple times during that 3 months. towards the end he did seem to be showing some kind of respitory infection symptoms ( seem to be floating the back end, weak) but didnt have any of the bubbles or stuff so maybe it had something to do with the fact that he ate and didnt digest well cause of the cool water. i got the water temps back up to 80 and he has been fine ever since.

my experience, sorry i couldnt help more