Spotted turtle hibernation length?

The-Great-Stash

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I habe a pair of Spotted turtles that live in an outdoor 8X12 pen in the suburbs of San Antonio, Texas. I have a very healthy young female that is catching fish in the small custom shallow pond. But I have not seen my male since January before he went back under a hiding log. The pen is escape proof top to bottom. I'm too scared to dig any areas that my male may be possibly (and hopefully) hiding in. So my question for anyone to help me answer is what is a typical hibernation duration for a Spotted, especially considering that my pair were hatched and raised here in Texas?

Thanks very much, y'all!
 

Markw84

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Spotted turtles are more of a cold-loving turtle than most N American turtles. A bit like Blandings in that regard. I would be concerned in TX at this time of year if you have not seen him emerge. Mine become quite active, normally in March. Certainly when the water temp rises above 55° consistently.

In warmer areas like yours and mine, they also will aestivate in hotter weather and disappear quite a while.

I would check your turtle.
 

The-Great-Stash

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Spotted turtles are more of a cold-loving turtle than most N American turtles. A bit like Blandings in that regard. I would be concerned in TX at this time of year if you have not seen him emerge. Mine become quite active, normally in March. Certainly when the water temp rises above 55° consistently.

In warmer areas like yours and mine, they also will aestivate in hotter weather and disappear quite a while.

I would check your turtle.
Thanks. And just to let you know, I also have a male Eastern Mud with them that I see from time to time when weather permits. That said, I hardly worry about him seeing is how he shows himself when he wants to. Then again, his species is common here. And again, only my female Spotted is active and frequents her pond as of April. My male, however was pretty active until January.

If he is inactive due to the weather conditions, I can understand. Either way, rest assure that I will keep my eyes peeled and pen trimmed for better visibility just in case.
 

Markw84

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My males are extremely active and hide less than the females. However, I do have a large colony of over 30 spotted turtles in a large area. I rarely see the males "missing" but frequently a female will disappear for a few days or a week. Plenty of hiding spots both in and out of water for them, however.
 

The-Great-Stash

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My males are extremely active and hide less than the females. However, I do have a large colony of over 30 spotted turtles in a large area. I rarely see the males "missing" but frequently a female will disappear for a few days or a week. Plenty of hiding spots both in and out of water for them, however.
The thing is my male has been very active last year. Matter of fact, the breeder I got him from lives in Seguin less than an hour away from me where he has kept his colony outdoors all year. The female I got from him a year ago is highly active as mentioned before. The male Ive had for 3 years. Never not seen him before even in the dead of winter. The muddie I usually see in late summer most of the time.
 

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