Do you support Cowboys or Golden Hurricanes?
Hibernation and current habitat
- Thread starter scout
- Start date
My Wife Graduated from Tulsa so we pull for them, I will sometimes pull Cowboys depending on who they are playing against
My best friends son is playing Baseball for OSU so I definitely pull for them in baseball.
Sorry original poster didn't mean to high jack the thread. Let's us know what you've decided to do so we can help you out.
I'm going to bring him inside, I'm designing his habitat, it will roughly be 50" by 18." With a plexiglass front blacked out to where he can't see out. And probably have a lid to keep temperature and humidity stable.
Would like suggestions on how deep I should have his substrate, what kind of substrate(s), and what kind of plants would be good.
It seems like it isn't a defiant answer if he'll try to hibernate or not. He is technically wild, he has slowed down and hasn't been eating much if anything. He is still somewhat active but is sleeping more.
Last but not least, I'm going to be moving him into my bedroom with his hab on my dresser. My room isn't the most quite room, keep a dog in a kennel and play stuff on speakers, will I need to do some sound proofing to not stress him out?
Would like suggestions on how deep I should have his substrate, what kind of substrate(s), and what kind of plants would be good.
It seems like it isn't a defiant answer if he'll try to hibernate or not. He is technically wild, he has slowed down and hasn't been eating much if anything. He is still somewhat active but is sleeping more.
Last but not least, I'm going to be moving him into my bedroom with his hab on my dresser. My room isn't the most quite room, keep a dog in a kennel and play stuff on speakers, will I need to do some sound proofing to not stress him out?
You need some coco coir and/or potting soil for substrate, enough that the turtle can dig under and be hidden. Silk plants from the dollar store are good places to hide.
If you can't keep your turtle in a garage like Craig (Abramsmytankturtle) has, and you don't have a protected place prepared for it to dig under dirt, leaves, etc. outside, your best bet is probably not to try to hibernate. The challenge at this point is going to be that your turtle has been kept outside in the kiddie pool and exposed to the natural progression towards winter. Indeed, it may already be well on the road to slowing down for the season. Going forward, if you are going to try keeping it awake indoors, the challenge will be to keep it warm and on a lighting cycle that makes it think its summertime and not winter. If you are bringing it inside, do it sooner rather than later.
I used to keep my hatchlings in a 50 gallon Rubbermaid tub near my television. Whenever we would watch a loud action flick like Star Trek, for example, the turtles would come out of hiding and start marching around the tub like they were trying to escape. Afterwards, they would dig back under and chill. I assume the loud sound or the vibrations caused by the sound made them do this.
If you can't keep your turtle in a garage like Craig (Abramsmytankturtle) has, and you don't have a protected place prepared for it to dig under dirt, leaves, etc. outside, your best bet is probably not to try to hibernate. The challenge at this point is going to be that your turtle has been kept outside in the kiddie pool and exposed to the natural progression towards winter. Indeed, it may already be well on the road to slowing down for the season. Going forward, if you are going to try keeping it awake indoors, the challenge will be to keep it warm and on a lighting cycle that makes it think its summertime and not winter. If you are bringing it inside, do it sooner rather than later.
I used to keep my hatchlings in a 50 gallon Rubbermaid tub near my television. Whenever we would watch a loud action flick like Star Trek, for example, the turtles would come out of hiding and start marching around the tub like they were trying to escape. Afterwards, they would dig back under and chill. I assume the loud sound or the vibrations caused by the sound made them do this.
First let me give my disclaimer/rant I will tell you what works for me, it may not work for everyone. I've helped giving advice on the tort side of this forum and I'm done with that. We have a member that constantly gives conflicting advice and it's wore me out. This member can't even tell the difference between species or a tort and a turtle. Ok enough with that part.
So again this works for me and I've kept turtles for no less than 30 years, expert No, knowledgeable yes.
For my indoor habitat for when I keep juveniles in over the winter or Hibernate my adults in my garage I use plain top soil from Lowes with a little sand mixed in. (I've had zero deaths with this mixture). You could use coco coir, thats what my hatchlings are kept in. I keep the sol a little wet but not soaked, I keep it mixed up so it's easy to dig in.
Since this is for your indoor and you have noise I would go about 8-10 inches of substrate. Your turtle may try to hibernate inside just because his clock tells him too and like Pjay said , he's been outside so he could've already started shutdown. If that happens then you will need to decide to turn off the heat and let him for a short period of time and then I can tell you what else I do. If he's not eating then I'm betting he's wanting to hibernate
I just use fake plants. I guess that's because I'm just lazy when it comes to this.
Good luck and I hope this helped a little.
So again this works for me and I've kept turtles for no less than 30 years, expert No, knowledgeable yes.
For my indoor habitat for when I keep juveniles in over the winter or Hibernate my adults in my garage I use plain top soil from Lowes with a little sand mixed in. (I've had zero deaths with this mixture). You could use coco coir, thats what my hatchlings are kept in. I keep the sol a little wet but not soaked, I keep it mixed up so it's easy to dig in.
Since this is for your indoor and you have noise I would go about 8-10 inches of substrate. Your turtle may try to hibernate inside just because his clock tells him too and like Pjay said , he's been outside so he could've already started shutdown. If that happens then you will need to decide to turn off the heat and let him for a short period of time and then I can tell you what else I do. If he's not eating then I'm betting he's wanting to hibernate
I just use fake plants. I guess that's because I'm just lazy when it comes to this.
Good luck and I hope this helped a little.
Turtlesfromcolo
Active Member
I have 3 ornate yearlings that live inside. They have been behaving in the same way. I have one that's been sleeping for a couple weeks. 1 that's up and down every few days that comes out looking for food. My concern is should I be feeding them when they come out looking to eat? I soak them right away. Their uvb is set up on timmers for 14 hours a day, plus heat to keep temps 70/80's. I Don't want them sleeping on full tummy's. Any advice would be appreciated.
If the little one's wake up looking for food I give them a few pill bugs to hunt for or a wax worm, which has a high fat content. After a while if they are still up I'll soak them, and usually what they eat comes out. I don't feed them right away, but wait for a while to see if they will stay out and still look for food. Hope this helps.....just what I do, not written in stone. lol
Turtlesfromcolo
Active Member
Thank you!
