Lizzy

Husband just called and said they found Lizzy on her back. She was warm to the touch, even though we did not have the heat lamp on. I checked on her yesterday afternoon, and she was fine. She has been burrowing more and not eating as much. We suspect she is around a year old.

He put her in her water to swim (which we always make sure its lukewarm, not cold) and she is floating, moving her arms and sticking her head out.
Is there anything else we should look out for?
She has water in her enclosure, but I've never seen her drink it or go in it. She only drinks while she's soaking.
She has different foods in there, such as pellets, cricket, lettuce, strawberries, and other items, but will only eat the worms if she's hungry, and that's not every day. We brought worms from Uncle Jim's worm farm and have been giving those to her since I haven't been able to find any earthworms in the yard. Shes been getting these for around a month now.
It just has me worried. Could she be getting into hibernation mode?

Hi @erinfaithyoungblood - I had to look up your other posts and threads to track down the background on Lizzy. She's adorable!

How big (long) is Lizzy now? I was thinking Lizzy is/was just a baby. Keep her lights and temperatures the same as you would for the warmer parts of the year. It's okay if she slows down a bit and sleeps more, but if she's still a baby, she really shouldn't be hibernating this winter (whether she thinks so, or not). @Yvonne G would be a good one to weigh in on baby box turtles, winter and hibernation.

By the time box turtles reach a year old, it's normal for them to transition from eating daily to eating every second day, or every third day or longer. They eat when they feel like it. If it makes you feel better, put a small-ish piece of cuttlebone in her enclosure. She may nibble at the calcium source if she gets hungry between meals.

Don't worry if you don't see her drinking or self-soaking in her enclosure. Young box turtles are very secretive about things like that.

I talked to my son and he said she was on her back maybe 20 minutes before he noticed her. And he said, for some reason, he had the heat lamp on today. She was awake when I talked to him.
She's about 2 inches. We haven't weighed her, but she had grown since we found her.

Well, just got home and checked on Lizzy. She is dead. My son is beside himself....

I'm so sorry. I'll be straightforward in asking this... Are you sure? The reason I ask is because we have more than one forum member (some very experienced members)whose tortoise seemed dead, but turned out alive. I don't want to make a painful situation more painful, but with turtles it can be hard to tell.

@Yvonne G, @ZEROPILOT ... Can you help us out here?

Soak her in warm water. Not hot. Just warmer than room temps. (Mid way up her shell level) 80s. Maybe 20 minutes. Then leave her alone in a warm spot for the night.
Check in the morning.
Its possible that the tortoise may be in serious distress but not dead. Though death by overheating can be pretty quick.
Ignore the urge to keep checking on her.
Just wait until tomorrow and do not bury her unless she is stiff or stinky.
My "dead" tortoise seemed dead for almost 24 hours. (Didn't even respond to having her eye poked.) I mean really, truly dead.
Then she slowly recovered. And it was a full recovery.
Best of luck.

Her head was stiff and her tail was stiff. Her eyelids were shut and stiff and would not open.

erinfaithyoungblood said:

Her head was stiff and her tail was stiff. Her eyelids were shut and stiff and would not open.

Click to expand...

Ok
She's dead.
Sorry about that.
But at least you won't need to second guess yourself.
In general it's just wise to wait 24/48 hours.