Water turtle hibernated what to do. Hibernation of turtles: conditions for a successful wintering. How to Know if a Turtle is Preparing to Hibernate

15.06.2019

Turtle lovers often argue about whether it is necessary to hibernate their pets? There is no single answer in the literature on keeping turtles.

Some authors believe that it is not worth hibernating turtles, especially for novice owners. They motivate their point of view by the fact that it is quite difficult for an inexperienced tortoise specialist to properly organize the conditions for hibernation. They advise to feed the turtle well and to warm it properly, and then it will safely survive the cold season without hibernation. Other authors, for the benefit of turtles, recommend artificial introduction of animals in a state of hibernation, but be sure to properly prepare the animal and control the temperature. In addition, it is believed that hibernation is one of the stimulating factors. Therefore, if in next year you intend to get offspring from your animals, it is better to put them into hibernation.

What types of tortoises hibernate in the wild?

AT natural conditions Types of turtles that hibernate are:

the Mediterranean tortoise with a spur on its thigh (Testudo graeca);
Central Asian tortoise (Testudo horsfieldii);
Herman's tortoise (Testudo hermanni);
toothed turtle (Testudo marginata).

Under certain conditions, these species can safely hibernate and in captivity.

What types of turtles in nature do not hibernate in winter?

Varieties of turtles that do not hibernate include:

all tropical turtles;
Egyptian tortoise (Testudo kleinmanni)
Tunisian tortoise (Testudo nabeulensis)
African spurred tortoise (Geochelone sulcata)
indian star turtle(Geochelone elegans)
panther tortoise (Geochelone pardalis)
kinix tortoise (Kinixys).

Important: an attempt to hibernate a representative of a turtle species that does not hibernate under natural conditions can lead to its death.

How to prepare a turtle for hibernation in captivity?

Important: Never try to hibernate a turtle if it has eaten recently.

As autumn approaches, turtles eat less and less - this is a natural process. The work of the animal's digestive system mainly depends on the air temperature. When biological processes slow down, the body needs 2-4 weeks to last time the food eaten has passed through the digestive tract. Therefore, it is best not to try to introduce a hibernating turtle if there is a possibility that undigested food may have remained in the intestines. This is very dangerous: the gases released can cause potentially fatal colic. To properly prepare your turtle for hibernation, give it a fasting period of at least three weeks. Here it should be noted that exact time depends on the size of the reptile (small turtles need less time for the period of hunger, large ones more). During this period, the animal must be kept at a temperature slightly below normal. It is also necessary to gradually reduce the level of illumination.

Particular attention should be paid to the health of the turtle during the period immediately preceding hibernation. If you suspect a turtle is unwell, never try to hibernate it. This may result in the death of the animal. The same applies to turtles weighing below normal. In the absence of confidence in the full health of the turtle, it is recommended that it winter in a warm, dry and ventilated terrarium. It is also undesirable to hibernate animals that you have recently acquired.

How to put a turtle into hibernation?

To put a reptile into hibernation (do not forget that before hibernation, the turtle must starve), it is placed in a small cardboard box, covered with scraps of paper, the box is placed in a plywood or thick cardboard box. Between the turtle carton and the plywood box, it is recommended to make an insulating layer of styrofoam. The structure is placed in a dry, non-freezing room.

The most important factor during hibernation is a stable temperature. Only maintaining the temperature within close parameters will allow the turtle to survive the winter without problems. The ideal temperature for hibernation, at which the turtle can sleep without the risk of freezing, is + 5-6 ° C.

Important: the minimum temperature for safe hibernation is +2°C, and the maximum is +10°C. Prolonged exposure to temperatures above +10°C and below +2°C almost always leads to death or damage to the animal's organs. The temperature can be checked with a greenhouse thermometer (it shows the maximum and minimum temperatures). Can be purchased and Digital Thermometer, which has a built-in alarm (triggered if the temperature goes beyond the specified limits).

If a long time remains very high or low temperature, move the animal to a more suitable location until the temperature is acceptable again.

Hibernation of turtles in the refrigerator

In some areas, it is recommended that Mediterranean tortoises be placed in a temperature-controlled refrigerator during hibernation. It is believed to be reliable and safe way their winter quarters. Each turtle is placed in the refrigerator in a separate cardboard box filled with torn paper. The size of the box should be slightly larger than the animal itself. A box with a turtle is placed in a refrigerator at a temperature of +12 ° C. The temperature is reduced by 1 C daily until it reaches +5 ° C.

Baby turtles can also be hibernated, but in this case, maintaining a stable temperature is especially important.

The cold wintering method is especially recommended for turtles up to 7.5 cm long. A stable temperature and natural microclimate is easier to achieve if the turtle is allowed to burrow in a tray with loose substrate consisting of sand, fibrous earth for potted plants and medium-sized gravel pebbles. The substrate layer is about 8-9 cm.But with this method, it is desirable to carry out ventilation by briefly opening the door every 48 hours.

Awakening from hibernation

Awakening from hibernation is an important and stressful time for turtles when they need to start feeding as soon as possible. Since their internal reserves are depleted, reptiles become especially vulnerable to various infections.

Most adult turtles naturally wake up from hibernation in March and early April. But already in February, you need to check the turtles every week and be ready to bring them out of hibernation if they wake up or lose more than 10% of their weight. As the time approaches when the reptiles should come out of hibernation, check on them more often and keep a close eye on their condition. If at the beginning of April the turtle is still napping, it is better not to wait until it wakes up. naturally rather wake her up. If the turtle urinates, it should also be awakened immediately.

Turtle health after waking up

Your turtle has successfully survived hibernation and is healthy if:

her tongue is pale pink (or orange-pink if the turtle is from North Africa), without white or yellow coating. A bright red tongue may indicate an infection.
eyes are fully open and clear. Otherwise, they are washed with cool water. Plaque or sticking may indicate an infection;
does not come from the tail bad smell and there is no discharge, a special yellow color.

A turtle that has emerged from hibernation should be warmed under a lamp, and then placed in a tray filled with about 3 cm of tepid water for 10 minutes. This will help restore moisture levels. Over the next few days, continue the ten-minute water procedures and watch when the reptile urinates for the first time. The first time the urine may be yellowish and a little thick, but after a few days the urate will return to its normal white color.

After heating and bathing, you can offer food to your pet. Some turtles are immediately ready to eat, others may not start eating until a few days after waking up. The animal will not feed if its body temperature is not high enough. AT cold weather warm the turtle under the lamp. Additional warmth and lighting is what a turtle needs in order for its body to function properly after hibernation.

Before you become the owner of such a fascinating pet as, you need to take the time to study the details and nuances of its content. Relevant for potential breeders is the question of how red-eared turtles sleep and whether they are prone to hibernation in winter.

Hibernation turtle in winter

AT natural environment during the period of lowering the air temperature, turtles need obligatory hibernation. Having made some observations of the reptile in the conditions wildlife you can accurately determine the duration of her sleep. Based on this information, you can understand how much red-eared turtles sleep at home, however, when creating comfortable conditions for the reptile to live in captivity, the turtle does not need hibernation.

In nature, a turtle can sleep for five months, while its breathing is practically not carried out. The processes that occur in the body of a reptile slow down, and life cycle maintained with the help of fat, which the reptile stocked up during the active period of the year. However, when home maintenance, creating conditions under which the turtle will hibernate is highly discouraged.

Remember! domestic turtle does not need an annual hibernation and will feel better staying awake all year.

If, for some reason, it is necessary to hibernate a domestic reptile, this should be done gradually and following certain rules. The process of preparing for hibernation pet implies certain preparations, namely:

you need not to give the turtle food for a month,
plant it in moss of a certain humidity,
create a gradual decrease in temperature and a decrease in daylight hours.

In most cases, a turtle's sleep at home lasts no more than three months.

The process of sleep in turtles

Each representative of the turtle world sleeps in its natural habitat. The dream of reptiles has different kinds and duration. It is likely that the turtle is more active at night, but during the day, it can sleep peacefully. There are also individuals that can sleep at night, however, they also rest during the day. The pet can sleep both on land and in water. However, you can answer the question of where the red-eared turtles sleep. In most cases, these reptiles overtake sleep on land.

Factors affecting the sleep of the red-eared turtle

The first factor that affects a reptile's sleep is its level of activity. It is on how active the pet is that the duration of sleep depends. If the turtle does not move much, it will not sleep very long. But with a very active lifestyle and high mobility, the reptile will succumb to sleep for a longer time.

Another factor is the gender of the reptile. Recognize individuals in young age no way, and no one can do it. The sex of a turtle can be determined at a more mature age. The tail length of individuals should be compared, since the male will have a length, as well as the length of the claws, which will also exceed the females in value.

Sometimes during the occurrence of certain types of diseases, the turtle's life cycle is disrupted, and in turn can cause very long sleep, or vice versa, its complete absence.

It is impossible to say exactly about the duration of sleep of turtles at home. Since the dream of a reptile directly depends on the created living conditions, as well as on the nature of the individual itself.

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So, you got an exotic beauty - red-eared water turtle. How do you know if red-eared turtles hibernate? You notice that the pet began to behave strangely: yawns, does not show its former activity, is in some kind of stupor for a long time. This is not a reason for premature excitement. Just a reptile falls into seasonal hibernation. Hibernation of red-eared turtles at home is common, although not always desirable. Remember! Hibernation turtles at home is not a necessity for a reptile! This condition is caused by climate change in its natural habitat, and at home can be detrimental to your pet.

There are also individuals in whom the natural instinct manifests itself in any microclimate in the house. This is for the best, because such individuals reproduce better. In winter and autumn, daylight hours are significantly reduced, and not only reptiles, but also people lack natural light. If you decide to breed reptiles or just want to put your pet into hibernation, you need to do this from about November to February, even if the pet does not show obvious signs of sleep.

Training

So, how does the hibernation of red-eared turtles go at home? Approximately 2 months before hibernation, transfer the pet to enhanced nutrition so that she can store as many nutrients as possible. This is important, because during hibernation, animals lose weight by almost 2 times. It is useful to give the turtle special nutritional supplements (they are sold in a pet supply store). But a week before bedtime, the animal needs to stop feeding altogether.

In order for the red-eared turtle to hibernate, gradually reduce the temperature of the pet's content to 10 degrees. It is impossible to sharply reduce the temperature, as this can provoke the death of a reptile from temperature shock. Just before hibernation, do not forget, at the same time it will cleanse the intestines.

Ideal temperature regime during sleep - from 1 to 6 degrees of heat. This mode can be provided by placing the animal, for example, in the basement. However, be careful. Hypothermia is disastrous for red-eared turtles. It is also necessary to maintain an optimal mode of humidity. It can be provided by moistened moss and leaves. This environment is well ventilated.

Awakening

A few words about how to bring the red-eared turtle out of hibernation. If the conditions are good, then the duration of hibernation is 3-5 months. Immediately after waking up, you can’t feed the animal, you need to wait until it digestive system won't start working. Wash the animal in warm water, this will speed up the awakening process. The hibernation must not be too long. Gradually raise the temperature of the reptile, thereby stimulating the process of awakening. If you do not do this, the animal can completely weaken.

Turtle hibernation is an adaptive mechanism that allows them to survive in the face of seasonal temperature drops.
In contrast to mammals, in which hibernation is triggered by a lack of food, wintering in turtles occurs when the temperature drops. In addition, the seasonality of life is influenced by factors such as photoperiod, reproductive activity, amount of food, body size and individual biorhythms. In nature, the hibernation period can vary between populations of the same species living in different climatic zones, as well as between individuals of different sex and age.

Hibernation stages:
1. Drop in temperature reduces appetite
2. The turtle is looking for a sheltered place that allows it to avoid contact with the cold, which has moisture to prevent dehydration, while the oxygen content is not so important, since most reptiles tolerate a lack of it well
3. Fat stored in the liver and fat bodies is the main source of energy during and after hibernation. The metabolism slows down, so that even a small amount of energy meets the needs of the body during this period. The bulk of the fat is consumed when the turtle wakes up from hibernation in the spring.
4.Hibernation awakening is triggered by temperature rise. Photoperiod is irrelevant as many turtles hibernate underground.
Hibernation helps synchronize the reproductive cycles of breeding reptiles. A healthy turtle after hibernation should not lose more than 10% of its body weight in weight. This decrease is due to the loss of water, as well as a decrease in glycogen and fat stores.
Species of turtles, which are characterized by water hibernation (for example, trionyx Trionyx spp.), dive to the bottom of the reservoir, where the water does not freeze, and breathe oxygen dissolved in water, receiving it through the skin.

The hibernation that occurs during the dry season helps reptiles conserve water. So, some turtles, when the reservoir of their habitat dries up, burrow into the ground and thus wait out adverse conditions.

What you need to know about hibernation of turtles?
If we are talking about the most common among household land turtles Central Asian turtles, it should be noted that for them (especially when kept on the floor) seasonality is characteristic - with the onset of autumn, their activity decreases and they can independently fall into a lethargic state. Most often, such a “hibernation” takes place at room temperature (or even under a central heating battery) in conditions of low humidity. This leads to the fact that the turtle loses a significant amount of water, which is fraught with the development of kidney failure.

Do turtles need hibernation?
A turtle kept in a terrarium that receives adequate UV, heat, and moisture will not hibernate. This housing option is the safest, because in order to properly organize the wintering for a reptile, you need to put in enough effort, as well as have the experience to determine whether the turtle is ready for wintering. Reptile breeders use hibernation as a mechanism to synchronize and stimulate sexual cycles, while other turtle owners do not need to do this at all.

How to bring a turtle out of hibernation?
They start with a gradual increase in temperature, so that it reaches room temperature within 5 days, after which they turn on additional heating and bathe the turtle in warm water. If everything went well, the animal will start eating in about a week. If this does not happen, there is a reason to sound the alarm and start treating the turtle.

Is there a safe hibernation for turtles?
Sometimes “overwintering” is recommended as a gentler way to maintain a natural biorhythm. To begin with, in the turtle's terrarium, the soil is changed to one that better retains moisture (sawdust, moss, peat, dry leaves, etc.) with a layer of 10 cm. The temperature remains at room temperature. Heating and lighting are turned on for only two to three hours a day, then turned off completely, and after a couple of weeks they turn on again for a couple of hours daily and begin to offer food.

Hibernation of red-eared turtles
Red-eared turtles do not naturally need hibernation, although they may respond with a decrease in activity and appetite to a shortening of daylight hours.

Many animals living in the temperate climate zone, hibernate to better survive the winter. In the cold season total, as well as the duration sunny days decreases sharply, and due to the fact that the body temperature of turtles directly depends on temperature environment, these animals are forced to hibernate in winter so as not to die from hypothermia. In the state of hibernation, their heart rate noticeably decreases, metabolism and breathing also slow down, and any movement is minimized, which makes it possible to rationally use the fat reserves accumulated during the active period of the year.

The process of hibernation for turtles is extremely important, because it directly affects the production of offspring. Experts say that adults should sleep for about 6 months, from about October to the end of March, and for young animals, as a rule, this period can be 1-2 months. With age, the length of the period winter sleep only needs to be increased. In the event that the turtle is unhealthy, then before falling into hibernation, it must be cured.

How do you know when a turtle is about to hibernate?

As a rule, turtle activity drops sharply in October. You can easily notice that the animal begins to eat poorly, the reaction becomes dull, and the movements become slower than usual. In addition, the animal is constantly looking for a quiet dark place where it usually tries to hide its head. It is during this period that you need to start preparing the turtle for winter sleep.

In mid-September, the turtle must be taken to the veterinarian to make sure that the animal is completely healthy. In the terrarium, dim or completely turn off the lighting and thus reduce the ambient temperature to 18C.

IMPORTANT!

If the turtle does not fall into a state of perfect rest within 8 to 10 days after all these events, it is likely that she is sick with something.
How to take care of a turtle during hibernation?

The most suitable place for the wintering turtle can be an ordinary cardboard box or a wooden box. In this case, it will be easier to observe the animals. Immediately during hibernation, it is necessary to weigh the turtle every 5-6 weeks and monitor the decrease in its body weight. Normal weight loss is up to 10% of total mass in adults and up to 15% in young animals. In the event that the turtle loses weight more than these allowable norms, it is recommended to interrupt the hibernation process and show the animal to the veterinarian.

Equipment for wintering:

The box or box should be chosen from solid grades of cardboard, preferably with a lid. It should be about 70x70x80 cm in size, and there must be holes or slots in the lid so that a sufficient amount of oxygen enters the turtle. You can do without a lid, but then the box must be filled large quantity dry leaves or hay. Before that, about 10 cm, the box must be filled with ordinary earth, taking care that it does not contain clay, impurities and various small debris.

Room temperature:

The ideal temperature of the room, for example, the basement in which the box will be located, should be +5 - +8 C.

IMPORTANT!

It is not necessary to feed the turtle during hibernation.

Awakening after hibernation

After about 3 to 4 months of winter sleep, the turtle should wake up on its own. If this did not happen, then the animal should be removed from the box and placed in a terrarium, after raising the temperature in it to 20 - 22C. You can also leave the turtle in the crate, but move it to room temperature. After the turtle has woken up and started moving on its own again, the following steps must be taken. The first step is to bathe the animal in cool from 24 to 26C. At the same time, the turtle must drink a lot, restoring the water balance in the body. After that, place her in the terrarium, turn on the lights and offer fresh food. In the first days after hibernation, the turtle may consume a minimal amount of food, but this is normal.

Wintering in the ground

If the premises desired temperature it was not possible to pick up, it is quite possible to equip a place for hibernation on personal plot or in the garden. To do this, the box must be placed in the ground, and on top and sides, so that the animal does not suffer from frost, insulate it with a half-meter layer of leaves or straw, having previously secured winter shelter turtles from rats and other animals with a protective metal mesh.

Wintering in the fridge

Another alternative to a suitable cool room for successful wintering is the use of a refrigerator. In this case, the following factors must be taken into account. First, the refrigerator must be large enough so that the box can be freely in it for a long time. And secondly, it should not be used to store food. In doing so, you must bear in mind that back wall refrigerator is usually colder than the front, so the box with the turtle should not be placed close to the walls. In addition, once a day, you need to open the refrigerator for a while, thus maintaining natural air circulation. The temperature should be kept constantly at the level of +4 - +7C.
IMPORTANT!

1. After waking up, the turtle must be bathed in water, the temperature of which should be approximately 24 - 26 C. At the same time, the turtle should drink a lot. After that, you should move the animal to a terrarium or a special box and turn on the lighting.