hibernation weights

ColleenT

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I just dug up my 3 three-toeds. They are not natural to PA, so i want to make sure they are able to hibernate safely. they stopped eating bc of the cold. I had suspected they were not eating well this year, but the Male and the younger female are over the weight they were last year. So i feel safe hibernating them again.

The older female is a good eater but she is less than last year. She was 364g last year. ( she is a small turtle) and today she was 347g. Would you hibernate her? i am not sure what to do. She did well the past 2 winters. But i don't remember where i charted their weight, so i don't know what the first year weight was.
 

mark1

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I would , unless I seen her out and about when she shouldn't be ..….if I was suspicious of her health , i'd look for her as soon as they start to surface and bring her in soak her and assess her condition , if I had any doubts with it i'd get her eating and keep her in until i were getting 70 degree days with lows no lower than 50 at night , i'd put back where she could bury herself , where she hibernated , on a nice day …….
 

Plato Zorba

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Oct 9, 2017
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I just dug up my 3 three-toeds. They are not natural to PA, so i want to make sure they are able to hibernate safely. they stopped eating bc of the cold. I had suspected they were not eating well this year, but the Male and the younger female are over the weight they were last year. So i feel safe hibernating them again.

The older female is a good eater but she is less than last year. She was 364g last year. ( she is a small turtle) and today she was 347g. Would you hibernate her? i am not sure what to do. She did well the past 2 winters. But i don't remember where i charted their weight, so i don't know what the first year weight was.
Colleen, three toeds aren't native to PA but they are to parts of the midwest that experience colder winters I believe. Is this the first winter you've considered allowing them to overwinter naturally outdoors?
 

ColleenT

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Colleen, three toeds aren't native to PA but they are to parts of the midwest that experience colder winters I believe. Is this the first winter you've considered allowing them to overwinter naturally outdoors?

i know this. they have hibernated successfully for 2 winters. There are also people on here from Ohio and NY who do it.
 

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