I'm having some issues with my young (less than a year old) three toed box turtle.
I bought Lucy back in the summer and she was sold as a 2013 baby. I'm not sure if she hibernated or not, but she seemed a little small to me. She ate like a champ for me from day one.
Now that the weather is turning off cooler I'm debating whether or not to hibernate her; she just doesn't seem to be doing well with the cooler temps. She is burrowing more, eating less, and most troubling, her eyes seem puffy and swollen to me. There's no sign of infection per se, and after being soaked, whether in baby food or warm water, the swelling subsides. Applying antibacterial ointment to her eyes doesn't appear to be helping or hurting them.
The hatchlings have a heat lamp, UV bulb, and temps that are ranging between 66-76 degrees F. By contrast, my young gulf coast hatchling, who is only a few months old, is ravenous and barely burrowing into the substrate. He seems perfectly healthy. They are kept in identical conditions with lots of cover and moisture.
If she does need to be hibernated, how would I go about it here in east Tennessee? Our temperatures vary widely-we've been down into the teens and twenties this week but should warm back into the forties and fifties before winter really sets in. I've got a crawl space under the house that might be cold enough, but I'm not sure.
Thanks for any suggestions! I'm really worried about Lucy.
I bought Lucy back in the summer and she was sold as a 2013 baby. I'm not sure if she hibernated or not, but she seemed a little small to me. She ate like a champ for me from day one.
Now that the weather is turning off cooler I'm debating whether or not to hibernate her; she just doesn't seem to be doing well with the cooler temps. She is burrowing more, eating less, and most troubling, her eyes seem puffy and swollen to me. There's no sign of infection per se, and after being soaked, whether in baby food or warm water, the swelling subsides. Applying antibacterial ointment to her eyes doesn't appear to be helping or hurting them.
The hatchlings have a heat lamp, UV bulb, and temps that are ranging between 66-76 degrees F. By contrast, my young gulf coast hatchling, who is only a few months old, is ravenous and barely burrowing into the substrate. He seems perfectly healthy. They are kept in identical conditions with lots of cover and moisture.
If she does need to be hibernated, how would I go about it here in east Tennessee? Our temperatures vary widely-we've been down into the teens and twenties this week but should warm back into the forties and fifties before winter really sets in. I've got a crawl space under the house that might be cold enough, but I'm not sure.
Thanks for any suggestions! I'm really worried about Lucy.