hibernating in the garage

[TLWR]

My boxies are in a turtle garden next to the deck . They hibernate on their own in their garden.
This year - I am not in AL - we are in the process of house hunting in NY. Exploring a few options, including building, so they won't be here before it is time for them to start hibernating (end of Oct last year).
We will be listing our house in AL in January. It could sell before we have a house here and before spring is over and they come back up.

So I asked DH to plan to let them hibernate in a tote in the garage.

What is the best way to take on this process?
What is the best stuff to put in the tote (their pen is dirt with layers of mulch, pine straw and leaves to burrow under. I'd guess we'd do the same for the bin?

 

[TigsMom]

Curious what others will say and hope they chime in soon. If you decide to hibernate them in a garage, I hope the temps inside that garage are adequate for them to hibernate (not too cold and not too warm). But I would take soil from their garden and simulate their hides the best I could inside the largest tubs I could find. Sounds as if they may have to live in there until temps in NY allow them to live outside. Hopefully, you do find a home with a safe area outside for them before they wake up.

You might want to consider not letting them hibernate this year and building an indoor enclosure for them this winter, until you're settled into your new home and have their outdoor enclosure in the new home finished.

Best wishes for you and your boxies on your new adventures.

 

[johnsonnboswell]

Where in NY? Spring arrives at such different times throughout the state, winter temps vary so much, so hibernation advice for one region would be very different. I live in central New York, and cannot do what my Long Island turtle friends do.

 

[edwardbo]

Jonson , can you elaborate ? I live on the east coast of New England . I'm a wreck every year and was going to post about how local boxie keepers prepare for our bitter winters.I find it hard to believe that these turtles dig three feet down...I usually let them take cover,dig in ,sometimes I actually place them in good spots under good cover.yet every year when it starts getting bitterly cold I go out and bring them into bins in the basement that stays at 40-45 degrees all winter.i would love to leave them out to wake more naturally.any advice would be more than welcome.

 

[TLWR]

They will be in our garage in coastal AL
I want to say my car often said low 40's or high 30's last winter when I'd get in it in the morning.

 

[johnsonnboswell]

I'd put a heater on a thermostat in the garage to stabilize the temperature if I hibernated in the garage. In a tub, the boxies are at the mercy of the ambient temperatures and can't burrow deeper for insulation.

You have further issues to plan for. How do you keep them healthy and alive during transportation? Where do they go in the new place? They can't go into an unheated garage in NY; that's a death sentence. They can't be let outdoors until May or even June in more northern parts.

I'd be concerned about having them hibernate that long when they're not used to it. Until you know where you're moving you can't solve every issue, of course.

You will either need an insulated and heated garage in ny, refrigerator hibernation, and/or an indoor habitat to finish the winter. It may be safer to artificially hibernate the animals for only 6 weeks.

I'm thinking out loud...

 

[johnsonnboswell]

Jonson , can you elaborate ? I live on the east coast of New England . I'm a wreck every year and was going to post about how local boxie keepers prepare for our bitter winters.I find it hard to believe that these turtles dig three feet down...I usually let them take cover,dig in ,sometimes I actually place them in good spots under good cover.yet every year when it starts getting bitterly cold I go out and bring them into bins in the basement that stays at 40-45 degrees all winter.i would love to leave them out to wake more naturally.any advice would be more than welcome.

I don't have any advice for you. What you're doing works.

In my case, I don't hibernate mine because my gulf coast boxie doesn't need it at all, and I'm sure I can't do it safely for the others. My basement is too warm, and I have no garage. Refrigerator hibernation would be my best bet, but the power fails intermittently. So I keep mine up for the winter.

 

[cmacusa3]

I put mine in the garage in totes, with a mix of potting soil, top soil and sand, with a bowl of water and no food. This year I added a hide that I partially buried that they will crawl into( I won't bring them in until early November) I'm in Oklahoma. Last year temps in the Garage were probably in the 30's during the winters at worse. we opened the door everyday to pull the cars out and never left it open very long. Every now and then, I mist the top soil, I didn't use any heating sources and in around late march they popped out of the dirt. I would put them out during the days and bring them in at night for a few weeks until I felt they were ready. This has worked to success the last 2 winters for me. 3 Ornates and 7-3 Toed. Hope this helps

 

[johnsonnboswell]

I put mine in the garage in totes, with a mix of potting soil, top soil and sand, with a bowl of water and no food. This year I added a hide that I partially buried that they will crawl into( I won't bring them in until early November) I'm in Oklahoma. Last year temps in the Garage were probably in the 30's during the winters at worse. we opened the door everyday to pull the cars out and never left it open very long. Every now and then, I mist the top soil, I didn't use any heating sources and in around late march they popped out of the dirt. I would put them out during the days and bring them in at night for a few weeks until I felt they were ready. This has worked to success the last 2 winters for me. 3 Ornates and 7-3 Toed. Hope this helps

Geography and location are everything. My old friend in Oklahoma tells me about his great day on his motorcycle when the temperature is in the 60s - on a day when it's freezing in central New York and there's 3' of snow in my yard.

 

[cmacusa3]

That's so true but if your Hibernating them in the garage I can see the temps being the close to the same, We do get some really bad weather during the winter months

 

[Yvonne G]

See if you can find a thread by Terryo about her hibernating box turtles. She lives in New York and she put up pictures of the snow-covered box turtle pen and where they hibernated.

Maybe she would know how to find it - @terryo

 

[Ferretinmyshoes]

I really like this guide to artificial hibernation in box turtles: http://www.corhs.org/uploaded/20130311-211249_CoRHS_Box_Turtle_Hibernation_Guide.pdf

Even though it's more specific to Colorado it outlines some things to consider for using the garage and setting up the boxes they can hibernate in. I will be following it using a mini fridge personally. I've stopped feeding all my turtles in preparation since our temperatures have started to drop consistently.