Tips on hibernating, please!

[maximusq]

Hello,

I am building my first outdoor enclosure for my two eastern box turtles, and I plan on hibernating them. I was looking for any and all advice on this subject. I am wondering how deep they need to go beneath the ground. I have clay in my soil and am concerned they wont be able to dig deep enough. Thank you for your help!!


Dan

 

[spikethebest]

where in the world are you located? i have hibernated eastern box turtles in the past for years, then one year, got really cold, and one died on me. i was heart broken. dont let that happen to you.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Maximusq:



Am I correct in assuming that you are in Virginia? We have a member (Terry) who lives in New York and hibernates her box turtles outside every winter. I've seen pictures of her back yard during the winter, and its covered with snow!

I also hibernate my box turtles outside, but I live in the Central Valley of California where the winters are fairly mild, with freezing every night, but not much below 30 degrees.

My situation is I have a big trash pile of garden debris and left over alfalfa trimmings from the horses. The turtles dig under that pile. When they are all dug in for the winter, I pile more leaves and garden trash over them. I've been told that they need to be 2' below the frost line. With my big pile of garden trash, they are about 4' below ground level. I have many box turtles, more than 30, because I rescue them and adopt them out, but they come in faster than they go out, and I've lost a few over the years during hibernation. But my thinking is that they probably shouldn't have been hibernated because they were rescues.

You always run the risk of losing a turtle or two during hibernation. Some folks just set them up indoors with heat and lights because they're not willing to take that risk. But its a natural thing for them to do. And if you offer them what they would have in the wild, I see nothing wrong with it.

Hopefully Terry will come in and comment on how she hibernates her turtles in New York. And maybe others who live near you can comment too.

Good luck, and WELCOME to the forum!!

 

[Tom]

I recommend hibernating them indoors under controlled conditions. You get all the benefits of hibernation without all the risks. They and the weather will tell you when its time. This way you can make sure they are well hydrated and have emptied their gut before they go to sleep, and you can rehydrate them in the Spring and closely observe them for any problems.

Everyone has stories about them dying for various reasons when hibernated outside, "naturally". I have my stories too. I've lost enough. I don't do it anymore. I have never had one single solitary problem hibernating them indoors, but like everyone else I have had plenty of my beloved animals DIE by letting nature takes its course outside.

 

[maximusq]

where in the world are you located? i have hibernated eastern box turtles in the past for years, then one year, got really cold, and one died on me. i was heart broken. dont let that happen to you.

I live in southeastern Virginia near Carolina border

 

[terryo]

Dan, my soil is also like clay. This is why I changed all of it for my boxie enclosure. It would have been impossible for them to dig under in that clay. I used a few bags of peat moss mixed in with garden soil and some Cypruss mulch. It cost me a bit of money, but is was worth it as the plants as doing great too.
I've hibernated my boxies outside for many years and never had a sick one or one die...maybe I was just lucky. This year I'm hibernating a young group and am a little nervous about it. This is how I do it...I have one side of my enclosure that I loosen up the soil and add some peat moss, then I put some dried leaves, and mix that up and add about two more feet of leaf litter. Make sure the leaves are dry. Wet leaves generate heat, and you don't want that. I usually cover that with heavy pond liner. This year I'm making a cave with wonder board and stones cemented on top. This side of the enclosure is higher than the other side so no rain water will accumulate there. I also have drainage pipes under the soil in my enclosure. I feed once a day in the summer, but start feeding twice a day as we get into Sept. By Oct. as the weather starts to get cooler, I gradually stop feeding. I have a lot of places for them to dig under and hide, so I will have to go looking for them and make sure everyone is dug under in the right place when the time come.

Tom....how do you hibernate inside? I'm really nervous about letting these little ones stay out for the winter.

 

[Tom]

Dan, my soil is also like clay. This is why I changed all of it for my boxie enclosure. It would have been impossible for them to dig under in that clay. I used a few bags of peat moss mixed in with garden soil and some Cypruss mulch. It cost me a bit of money, but is was worth it as the plants as doing great too.
I've hibernated my boxies outside for many years and never had a sick one or one die...maybe I was just lucky. This year I'm hibernating a young group and am a little nervous about it. This is how I do it...I have one side of my enclosure that I loosen up the soil and add some peat moss, then I put some dried leaves, and mix that up and add about two more feet of leaf litter. Make sure the leaves are dry. Wet leaves generate heat, and you don't want that. I usually cover that with heavy pond liner. This year I'm making a cave with wonder board and stones cemented on top. This side of the enclosure is higher than the other side so no rain water will accumulate there. I also have drainage pipes under the soil in my enclosure. I feed once a day in the summer, but start feeding twice a day as we get into Sept. By Oct. as the weather starts to get cooler, I gradually stop feeding. I have a lot of places for them to dig under and hide, so I will have to go looking for them and make sure everyone is dug under in the right place when the time come.

Tom....how do you hibernate inside? I'm really nervous about letting these little ones stay out for the winter.

http://tortoiseforum.org/thread-16440-page-2.html

This is a great thread. My posts, and the answer to your question, is at posts 17, 24 and 28.

You are in NY, right? When its winter in NY, ITS WINTER in NY. Here in SoCal we have warm spells for weeks at a time. Great for tropical species, but it makes it hard for outdoor temperate species to STAY in hibernation. It gets below freezing nightly and occasionally into the teens here, but we also have January days of 80 to 90 degrees sometimes. I think it is actually easier and safer to hibernate temperate species in areas that have a "real" winter than it is in areas like mine that have a "milder" climate. I'd still do it indoors if I were you.