Rob1985
New Member
Hi,
I've got two eastern box turtles in an outside pen / enclosure. I'm in the northeast, and we're having unusually warm and irregular (cold/warm) fall weather. I have no idea with the way this weather is going as to when the cold weather will stay. We're supposed to get two days in the 70s later this week!
I want to hibernate them outside, and everything I've read online says to stop feeding them two weeks before hibernation. However, these seem to be referring to folks using an attic or refrigerator to force hibernation. Since I'm doing it naturally with their outdoor pen, will they know when to stop eating so as to clean out their digestive tract? I would think they would, but my girlfriend mentioned the possibility that in the wild they might just stop looking for food as it gets cooler. However, it's not much of a challenge / exertion for them when I throw worms in front of them in the pen. I've also considered the possibility that their normal habits might be disrupted by being relocated from their home in the woods to the pen. Should I just stop feeding them, or will they automatically start refusing food when they think it's getting close to hibernation time?
Thanks,
Rob
I've got two eastern box turtles in an outside pen / enclosure. I'm in the northeast, and we're having unusually warm and irregular (cold/warm) fall weather. I have no idea with the way this weather is going as to when the cold weather will stay. We're supposed to get two days in the 70s later this week!
I want to hibernate them outside, and everything I've read online says to stop feeding them two weeks before hibernation. However, these seem to be referring to folks using an attic or refrigerator to force hibernation. Since I'm doing it naturally with their outdoor pen, will they know when to stop eating so as to clean out their digestive tract? I would think they would, but my girlfriend mentioned the possibility that in the wild they might just stop looking for food as it gets cooler. However, it's not much of a challenge / exertion for them when I throw worms in front of them in the pen. I've also considered the possibility that their normal habits might be disrupted by being relocated from their home in the woods to the pen. Should I just stop feeding them, or will they automatically start refusing food when they think it's getting close to hibernation time?
Thanks,
Rob