pet yellow belly slider turtle

Question
We have had a pet yellow belly slider turtle for 13 years. It is in a 70 gallon fish aquarium tank. I need to know about how long they hibernate and how much water needs to be in the tank. He has 2 lights, a floating dock and several big rocks to get on. He has been on the floating dock for several weeks now and maybe even a month. He hasn't eaten in a while. He only eats the floating turtle food. Should I be feeding him something else. He has ate small gold fish before and some small worms. Is he suppose to be in a quite place. We have never put him in a different place except the tank.

Answer
Hey Kathy,

First off your turtle is very lucky to have such a large tank! Most people try and keep them in little tiny tanks.

As for hibernation, I personally do not hibernate any of my turtles. It can be important if you are going to breed, but just as pets they don't have to. I am going to direct you to this site(http://www.anapsid.org/hibernation.html) for more information on hibernation.

The thing that concerns me is that when turtles hibernate, they do it at the bottom of the tank or pond, not on a basking platform. It sounds like there may be something else going on. I would recommend taking your turtle to a vet who is familiar with turtles.

Hopefully this will help you some.

-Nicole