Do pet turtles hibernate?

Question

My Mom has a pet turtle the keeps burying itself. She thinks it's hibernating, i am afraid something is wrong. What do y'all think?

Answer 1

Almost all water turtle in north america will hibernate, since we get cool to very cold. They sleep in water and under the ice. Their metabolism slows down and they don't need to eat or breathe (come up for air). As for box turtles and tortoises of NA, they will bury themselves in debris and or dig a burrow to keep warm in the colder months.

Your turtle is not hibernating right now, it's summer. Usually when temps drop down to 50 and high 40s F, they'll slow down.

There are two possibilities for your turtle. I will assume you have a box turtle (land turtle), since it is very common. It is hiding in the dirt b/c that is what young box turtles do to survive and not be found. They'll spend a few days there and when it rains, they'll come out for food. They also bury themselves to get a more humid environment. They like humidity and so youmust spray their enclosure daily. You can also provide a hide (cave) by turning a plastic container over and cutting out a hole.

The other possibility that is digging is called estivation. In hot places, when the temps are too hot land turtles and tortoises, will dig a hole in the ground and cool off. They will come out when the temps are lowered. It's sort of like hibernation, but it is used to beat the heat.

It's probably the ofrst reason, hiding to feel secure and increase humidity. Anyway, spary the enclosure daily and providing a hide will be helpful. You will have to dig out out every coupld of days to feed it.

Good luck.

Answer 2

What kind of turtle?
If it's a box turtle or tortoise...some hibernate and some do not. This time of year it should not be hibernating. What temps. are you keeping it's enclosure? You need to have a warm end and a cool end so that it can regulate it's body temperature. It also needs proper humidity. This time of year your turtle needs about 14 hours of light a day...if it's not getting enough light/heat it may sleep more.
Here's a box turtle website...check it out and make sure that it has the proper housing/substrate/food/lighting.
http://www.aboxturtle.com/
If all of these things are okay try soaking it in lukewarm chin deep water for 20-30 minutes a day to hydrate it. Feed immediately afterwards.

Answer 3

It would help to know the species and basic cares given.

Most turtles hibernate because the temps are dropping and the days are getting shorter. Turtles in houses with AC are often quite confused.

Check out http://www.austinsturtlepage.com and review the basic cares for your turtle's species- you may discover that there are some glitches you need to adjust.

Answer 4

Turtles DO NOT hibernate!!! They are water animals and if they hibernated, they would drown! :)

Tortoises do not NEED to hibernate. If you are planning on breeding the tortoises, they say that its best to hibernate them so that they can be on a breeding cycle. I don't know if that's true or not, though. Anyway, if you are not planning on breeding them, and you have them in a tank inside, then there is no reason that they would hibernate. Animals will start to hibernate when the days get shorter. So, if you have them inside getting proper amounts of light, they won't even know what its like outside. :)

So, chances are that the little guy just wants to bury himself in the sand. Maybe its too hot and he wants a cooler place to take a nap. Or, is it a girl? Maybe she wants to lay some eggs? This could be even if there isn't a male tortoise. She could be laying unfertilized eggs.

Hope that this helps... :)

Answer 5

I think they hibernate cause most of the reptiles do.

Answer 6

Some turtles hybernate and some don't. But if it keeps burying itself then I would say that it is.

Answer 7

yes,they do hibernate!!