Turtles may hibernate for months.

Turtles are warm animals. When the water temperature drops below 10℃, it will hibernate in mud or covered loose soil at the bottom of the water. The hibernation period generally lasts from 65438+ 10 to the beginning of April of the following year. When the water temperature rises to 15℃, it moves out of the cave and begins to eat when the water temperature is 18℃ ~ 20℃.

That's a good question. If it doesn't like to move or eat at first, please formally invite it to hibernate. Remember, don't wake it during hibernation unless you change the water (I will explain the following items). No barking is to ensure its smooth hibernation, not to waste its physical strength, and to make it develop better.

If the weather temperature permits, feed it more or less, so that it can reserve its physical strength for winter (if the turtle is less than 10CM, natural hibernation is not recommended). If it doesn't eat and doesn't like to move, then put its nest in the shade and let it hibernate naturally. Don't let it exercise or bask in the sun again! At the same time, put a small amount of water in the nest, remember to drown the abdominal armor, not more! You can put a little salt in the water, just remember a few. Also, hibernation should start one week after it doesn't eat, otherwise the food it eats is still in its stomach, which is easy to cause gastroenteritis!

After hibernation, change the water once a week! Wash the nest when changing the water! !

Change the water for no more than 15 days, for its eyes!

If it is a turtle smaller than 10CM, then you need to buy a heating rod at a constant temperature, generally above 25! The only disadvantage of not hibernating is that it is not conducive to its growth and development, ah, but generally speaking, it is not a big problem. )

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If you think your turtle has eaten enough in summer and enough fat in winter, let it hibernate naturally. Just keep the temperature around 10 degrees. Prepare a container for him for the winter, big or small. You can put sand and pebbles in it, but you must disinfect it before use ~! There are many disinfection methods, the simplest one is boiling in boiling water for 15 minutes. After the sand is put away, inject some water to increase the humidity.

When the tortoise stops eating in late autumn, it should hibernate. Pay attention to let him hibernate as soon as possible, otherwise it will continue to consume its stored fat and even endanger life.

Before putting the soft-shelled turtle into the hibernation box, soak it in warm water of 25 degrees for 30 minutes to make it defecate. This is very important. Otherwise, the residue in the intestine will be sucked away by the small intestine in the long winter. When the turtle wakes up next year, it is very likely that the intestines are blocked and the stool cannot be pulled out. At this time, if the turtle is smaller 100%, there is no cure!

When everything is ready, put the turtle's hibernation box in a quiet and dark place, and it will be all right. Don't disturb it unless there are special circumstances, but check the water content of the turtle box regularly. If it is less, it is necessary to supplement it and keep the humidity.

When it is warm in bloom next spring, the tortoise will naturally wake up! Don't feed it immediately after waking up. It's best to rest for a few days and then feed it some fresh bait or turtle feed after the temperature stabilizes!

The above are the general precautions for raising turtles in winter, and these are basically enough. However, it's best not to let the turtle that is too young hibernate, because its young body can't survive the winter! So it is necessary to raise it when it is hot. Heating feeding is mainly to pay attention to changing water, and the temperature of new water should be consistent with that of old water in the cylinder. And pay attention to the temperature fluctuation in the cylinder day and night, otherwise you may catch a cold!

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About hibernation:

Breeders must rely on their understanding of turtles and their own judgment ability to judge whether their turtles have the conditions for hibernation. You know, any form of hibernation is a very "severe" test for the health of turtles. Because during hibernation, the tortoise will completely shut down the functions of all its organs to ensure that the energy consumption of the body is minimized. If the feeding situation of the tortoise is abnormal, it seems to be malnutrition. The specific symptoms are: the tortoise is thin, the limbs are weak, the skin and muscles are inelastic, and it feels lighter in the hand. Then, letting such a turtle hibernate may be a devastating decision for it.

For turtles living in colder regions, the optimum hibernation temperature should be between 7- 10C, which may be slightly different. If the temperature is too low for a long time, turtles will die. If the temperature is too high, they may not go into hibernation at all. When the temperature is lower than 15C, the tortoise will go into hibernation. If you don't plan to hibernate, keep the temperature at 22C-30C. If the temperature is lower than 15C, and you don't want the tortoise to hibernate, you should gradually raise the temperature, not too fast. Moreover, turtles can't be fed during the transition period, and they can only eat in the environment of 20 C-30 C.

The best time for turtles to hibernate is 3-4 months. Generally, wild turtles hibernate for a long time, but in the case of artificial feeding, shortening the hibernation time appropriately will not have adverse effects on the body.

If the breeder wants to check the hibernating health of the turtle, he should do it at most once a month. Only in a very special emergency can the breeder disturb a hibernating turtle. This kind of inspection can only be carried out occasionally, and it must not be carried out frequently, otherwise it will disturb the hibernation of turtles and make them unable to completely enter the hibernation state, thus making it difficult to achieve the purpose of letting turtles enter hibernation. Too much disturbance is likely to increase the hibernation mortality of turtles.

In addition, once the breeder chooses the feeding containers for hibernating turtles, the breeder must never simply put them at the outside temperature and expect to do so until the turtles finish hibernating. This is true of any kind of turtle, whether it is a water turtle, a semi-water turtle or a tortoise. If the temperature is kept below 3C for a long time, it will produce a very high mortality rate. Before letting the turtle hibernate, it is also necessary to ensure that the turtle's body is completely "emptied" to avoid rectal infarction caused by temperature drop. A simple and obvious method is to let the tortoise take a warm bath for half an hour every day one week before hibernation, which is the key to make the tortoise's gastrointestinal system "clean". Finally, before letting turtles hibernate, let them know whether this turtle has the habit of hibernating. Some breeders indiscriminately try to hibernate those species that are not used to hibernation, which is extremely stupid. The result will only be the death of the tortoise.

Problems that should be paid attention to after hibernation: When the hibernation period is coming to an end, the breeder can "wake up" the hibernating turtle. The breeder should pay attention not to simply move the hibernating turtle to a warm place for convenience, which will cause sudden death or other diseases of the turtle. Therefore, it is necessary to gradually increase the environmental temperature of hibernating turtles, so that turtles have a gradual adaptation process. This process will last for about a week, so don't rush for success!

In addition, the breeder should not be surprised if the turtle just woke up from hibernation has no interest in food and refuses to eat. Like many people who just woke up from hibernation, turtles also feel dizzy and need some time to adjust, but turtles need much more adjustment time than people, about 1-2 days, or longer. Many turtles who have just woken up from hibernation look skinny or malnourished, which is normal according to the usual situation. At this time, the breeder needs some patience. The previous feeds should be small and refined, and appropriate nutritional drugs and antibiotics should be mixed into the feed. Gradually increase the feeding amount, and after a period of time, feed the turtle according to its maximum food intake, so that the turtle can recover as soon as possible.

Winter is the time when most water turtles and turtles living in the wild hibernate. Generally, when the temperature is below 20 degrees, the activities of turtles begin to decrease, and their food intake also decreases, so they eat less or not. Hibernation is usually accompanied by the shortening of the day, the invasion of cold current leads to the lack of food, and the climatic conditions that are not conducive to the normal behavior of reptiles. During hibernation, metabolism in the body slows down, digestion stops, circulation drops, and immune and other self-protection systems also slow down or stop. Because these diseases will take advantage of these changes, some seemingly insignificant ailments will bring great trouble to turtles, so it is suggested that turtle owners should not let sick turtles or weak turtles hibernate. For newly hatched turtles, it is best not to let them hibernate for the first two years. And those turtles brought by heat have no habit of hibernating, so don't let them hibernate. For turtles that are not allowed to hibernate, measures can be taken to raise them by heating when the temperature drops in winter. If it's a turtle, you can use an ordinary incandescent light bulb or a light bulb for reptiles (including ultraviolet rays), an electric blanket and a heating stone for reptiles, or put an electric heater in the room, but be careful not to let the air be too dry (like fish). If it is a turtle, you can put a thermostat in the water (generally available in ornamental fish markets).

Hibernation care varies from turtle to turtle. Here are some suggestions.

turtle

Wild turtles usually dig a hole to hide themselves in it, or find another hiding place. For domestic turtles, we can prepare a box for them, cover them with a pile of fallen leaves, or knead newspapers. If the turtle's native climate is humid and its breeding environment is dry in winter, we need to sprinkle some water on it every few days to maintain a certain humidity, but don't let them drown.

During the hibernation of turtles, we need to check them irregularly, touch their legs, and they should respond. If they wake up from hibernation when the temperature is still low, we should take some measures to encourage them to continue hibernation, such as covering newspapers or sand again. At present, most of the turtles we see can't fall below 5℃ during hibernation, otherwise they will freeze to death. They can also be raised by heating to prevent them from hibernating. However, the frequency and quantity of their eating in winter will be reduced to some extent.

When the weather gets warmer in March and April, the hibernating turtles will start to move. At this time, the first thing to do is to give the turtles who have slept for several months a warm bath, so that they can drink water for a long time to replenish the water lost during hibernation. In a week or two, they will start eating, exercising and sunbathing again.

It is important that before hibernation, they must have a healthy body and grow plump; Otherwise, it may not wake up from hibernation. Stop feeding one week before hibernation and soak in warm water, otherwise food and feces will accumulate in the body during hibernation, which will easily cause gastroenteritis. At the end of summer, a healthy tortoise will start to store fat on its shoulders and legs.

freshwater turtle

Wild turtles usually dive into the mud at the bottom of the water or hibernate under rocks or fallen leaves on the shore. For domestic water turtles, there are several hibernation measures to choose from:

1. Bury them in wet sand, and pay attention to ensure the high humidity of the sand.

2. Cover their bodies with wet gauze (experience of Shanghai Guiyou Shenwei 2000).

3. Put them in shallow water (this method is not recommended for semi-aquatic turtles like yellow-edged box turtles).

4. Put them in a wooden box and cover them with damp straw (Gui You Junko's experience).

Hibernating turtles should also be checked regularly. Don't let weak turtles or sick turtles hibernate, they don't have enough fat to consume during hibernation. Stop feeding one week before hibernation and soak in warm water, otherwise food and feces will accumulate in the body during hibernation, which will easily cause gastroenteritis. Be sure to keep high humidity, or you will die of lack of water (I had such a painful experience with laborers when I was a child). The ambient temperature during hibernation should not drop below 5℃, otherwise it will freeze to death. They can also be raised by heating to prevent them from hibernating. However, the frequency and quantity of their eating in winter will be reduced to some extent. But for some species of closed-shell turtles, the process of not hibernating may be fatal, and they must hibernate.