First Time Ornate Box Turtle Brumation - Nervous and Seeking Advice

[lungswig]

Hi All,

Meet Willow and Lucky, our ornate box turtles. We just got them over the spring. They live in outside in our yard here in Brooklyn NY in a 4'x4' enclosure. Inside it, I dug a hole about 18" square and a little over 2 ft deep and filled that with about 50/50 sand and dirt. The rest of the enclosure has more dense soil with clay. I'm just starting my research and need to figure out pretty quickly how to prep these ladies for a successful brumation. Is there a definitive source of info / guide someone can recommend? Any advice is welcome.

Thank you!

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

Are they housed together in the same enclousure?

This is a good starting point to brumation research: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/toms-brumation-thread.201823/

 

[jeff kushner]

I feel for you guys. I got tired of freaking out each winter....Big Matt comes inside for the winter. He'd probably be just fine....but it's me that needed him inside! LOL

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

Yep, overwintering is totally fine too!

 

[lungswig]

Are they housed together in the same enclousure?

This is a good starting point to brumation research: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/toms-brumation-thread.201823/

Are they housed together in the same enclousure?

This is a good starting point to brumation research: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/toms-brumation-thread.201823/

Hi, thanks for your reply. They live together and have since hatching.

 

[lungswig]

I think my most pressing questions are:

At what temperature should I begin brumation?

I plan on burying them myself - digging up the 2ft deep pit I made, placing them in, and then covering them up. Is that ok? I just want to make sure they're down far enough - it can obviously get very cold here in NYC. Can I fill up the hole completely with dirt/sand or should I mix in leaves, etc?

 

[mark1]

my opinion, the ground should be broken up, so it's easier for them to dig into , which you say you did.... ....... make sure it's not an area that accumulates standing water , high ground, sunny south facing spot is best........ by digging out a area like you describe , if your soil is mostly clay, make sure you have not created an aquarium that will hold water....... i'd put grass clipping piles where i wanted them to hibernate, they will go there ......

as far as temperature , i absolutely would suggest you don't bury them yourself....... they should decide that themselves?? in the late fall they will go in and out of "hibernation" depending on weather....... eventually they will stay down for the remainder of the winter...... when the leaves fall i start piling leaves on top of the grass clippings, we can get really cold in the winter ......i put easily 3ft of leaves over a large area to protect the ground from drastic temperature swings..... this also keeps them down during warm spells in early spring..... sandy loam is best soil which is something like 10% clay, 40% sand and 50% organic ..... leave most of the grass and leaves in place all year they'll break down and turn your soil into what it should be ...... if we don't have snow cover and we get a stretch of single digit and negative temps , i'll throw a tarp over the leaf pile , dark side up and silver side down, and hope for a little sun...... the tarp, imo, needs taken off after the ridiculously cold temps are past , with a tarp it gets too dry in the hibernacula...... tarp is unnecessary if you got snow cover, if we got snow i'll shovel it from the surrounding area on top of the leaf pile .......

if your planning on putting them in a fridge , just leave them out until they are not coming out anymore , dig them up and put them in the fridge..... in the spring wait for similar conditions you dug them up in and put them back where you dug them up from and they'll come out when they're ready......