Brumation with wild caught.

[Jax Clegg]

I recently got a sick box turtle off the side of the road. I had planned on getting him better and putting him back where he came from once he was all good.
I looked into rescues, exotic vets, conservation programs in my area, and wild life centers that might be willing to take him once he's healthy but nothing was close enough

Eventually I found a reptile rescue and rehab that has been a HUGE help but they are unable to legally take or care for the turtle since he's an eastern box turtle. The woman working there told me he most likely wouldn't survive in the wild any longer due to injury and that she wasn't telling me to keep him but she was telling me he would have a better life in captivity.

I have other box turtles that were rescue but none were wild caught and none lived outside or have experienced brumation since they are only about a year old

What should I expect/do? And is the care requirement different for him than the others?( The rescue that helped me said he looks around 3 years old and is very underweight)
He was 1/2lb when I got him and he was .6lb last time he was weighed witch was a week ago.

Sorry for the paragraph I just wanted to give context

 

[wellington]

If he isn't fully recovered by fall/winter, I would not brumate him this winter
@Yvonne G has Boxies she lets brumate outside. She can fill you in on what she does. Keep in mind though she lives in CA, so you may have to adjust for your winter conditions

 

[mark1]

end of august, in a high ground (non-flooding), preferably south facing , full sun spot , break the soil up real good down to about 10-12"........ cover it with 4-5" of grass clippings , it'll attract the turtles like a magnet........ when the leaves fall cover the grass clippings with leaves, lots of leaves ..... your winters will be a lot milder than mine ...... i keep putting leaves as long as they're falling, usually end up about 3' of leaves, the more the better , it not only holds the warmth, it holds the cold which will keep them from coming out too soon.... if we get real cold single digits/sub zero and there is no snow cover i put a tarp over the leaves, dark side up, silver side down.....

the lenght of the shovel blade is as deep as i break up the soil..... best soil is sandy loam, no clumps or rocks.....

 

[Jax Clegg]

end of august, in a high ground (non-flooding), preferably south facing , full sun spot , break the soil up real good down to about 10-12"........ cover it with 4-5" of grass clippings , it'll attract the turtles like a magnet........ when the leaves fall cover the grass clippings with leaves, lots of leaves ..... your winters will be a lot milder than mine ...... i keep putting leaves as long as they're falling, usually end up about 3' of leaves, the more the better , it not only holds the warmth, it holds the cold which will keep them from coming out too soon.... if we get real cold single digits/sub zero and there is no snow cover i put a tarp over the leaves, dark side up, silver side down.....

the lenght of the shovel blade is as deep as i break up the soil..... best soil is sandy loam, no clumps or rocks.....

I live in Ohio in the woods. The majority of my yard is red clay and our winters thaw and freeze multiple times before the end of winter... We had a TUN of leaves tho lol

Also if he doesn't go to the grassy area does that mean he'd not read?

And can of be bad if they don't brumate? Can it affect their health or anything

 

[Fluffy]

Remember if you have the space you don't have to brumate. Unless you're breeding I have never seen any real negative effects from keeping one up for a winter.

 

[Jax Clegg]

Remember if you have the space you don't have to brumate. Unless you're breeding I have never seen any real negative effects from keeping one up for a winter.

Ok that's awesome, the thought of brumation scares me a lil 😭 ok it's natural but I'm so worried I'd do something wrong. Plus that's so much time for them to be away

 

[Tom]

Ok that's awesome, the thought of brumation scares me a lil 😭 ok it's natural but I'm so worried I'd do something wrong. Plus that's so much time for them to be away

Give this a read through:

Tom's Brumation Thread

Every fall we get bombarded here on the forum with all sorts of questions and problems regarding hibernation and tortoises "slowing down" for winter. The purpose of this thread is to talk about all aspects of this subject, to dispel some of the myths and mysteries, and give a "how to" list of...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[mark1]

i live in northeast ohio, our winters can be pretty severe....... when the nights start getting cold they'll go in the grass pile , it's the warmest place, they're experts at finding heat..... the thaws and freezes are normal for any temperate climate.anywhere in the world.. clay is not any good for them to hibernate in .... they can't dig down in it properly and it doesn't drain, it's not something they'd use...... the soil in the woods is clay? with eons of decomposing trees and leaves i wouldn't think that to be the case ? the soil in woods, at least around here, is exactly the kind of soil they hibernate in....... when it starts getting cold , they'll disappear on cold days and appear on warm sunny days, when it gets cold for an extended period , they'll stay disappeared.... if the hibernacula is insulated enough the air temp swings will have no effect, it's ground temperature that causes them to stay down and emerge...... turtles that hibernate in shady spots emerge later than turtles that hibernate in sunny spots......
i don't see the health of your turtle, i don't know your situation or capabilities, i would recommend nothing......... in 23yrs of leaving turtles native to my area to hibernate outside i have never had an issue..... i understand what they require and provide better than what the wild ones are likely to find , if mine can't survive a winter here outdoors with the advantages they have , the species would be extinct........i think hibernating them is an important part of keeping them, and should be understood as well as any aspect of their care.......

 

[Jax Clegg]

i live in northeast ohio, our winters can be pretty severe....... when the nights start getting cold they'll go in the grass pile , it's the warmest place, they're experts at finding heat..... the thaws and freezes are normal for any temperate climate.anywhere in the world.. clay is not any good for them to hibernate in .... they can't dig down in it properly and it doesn't drain, it's not something they'd use...... the soil in the woods is clay? with eons of decomposing trees and leaves i wouldn't think that to be the case ? the soil in woods, at least around here, is exactly the kind of soil they hibernate in....... when it starts getting cold , they'll disappear on cold days and appear on warm sunny days, when it gets cold for an extended period , they'll stay disappeared.... if the hibernacula is insulated enough the air temp swings will have no effect, it's ground temperature that causes them to stay down and emerge...... turtles that hibernate in shady spots emerge later than turtles that hibernate in sunny spots......
i don't see the health of your turtle, i don't know your situation or capabilities, i would recommend nothing......... in 23yrs of leaving turtles native to my area to hibernate outside i have never had an issue..... i understand what they require and provide better than what the wild ones are likely to find , if mine can't survive a winter here outdoors with the advantages they have , the species would be extinct........i think hibernating them is an important part of keeping them, and should be understood as well as any aspect of their care.......

I've been getting told so many different things it's just confusing. And we have a few acres of land. The area close to us is all clay but id rather keep him close by some we have foxes and when we don't have foxes we have coyotes lol.

I might avoid brumation all together I've been told it can be dangerous and even kill the turtle.. I wouldn't want to do anything that would put the little guy in more danger. If he shows signs of wanting to then I'll look more into it but I'll leave him be for now. No need for the extra stress