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RES and Hibernation

22 16:14:32

Question
I found a RES back in April. She (I know this because she laid eggs) is about 11' long. I have put a 400 gal. pond in the back yard for her. My question is; do you think she will hibernate, and should I provide any assistance for her. I live in the desert (palm springs area) and it can get rather cold at night durring winter. The pond is only 18" deep. Would she try to hibernate out of the water?

Answer
Mark,

I have been trying to decide how to answer your question.  If I were you, I would contact the nearest exotic animal vet for advice.

There are several factors that make your question difficult.  First of all, I don't hibernate my turtles so I don't know much about it (my vet recommends against it).

I also have never owned a RES, and I'm not familiar with the weather in Palm Springs and the hibernation habits of the local turtles.  I especially don't know about the hibernation of water turtles.

You'll need to find out how they hibernate (perhaps at the bottom of the lake) and replicate that environment.  Try to find out how deep they bury themselves.  You may have to let him go into hibernation in the pond, and then take him out and place him in a deep tub of substrate (but still outside) to prevent freezing (the pond may not be deep enough) and put him back in the pond you built in the spring.  

Yeah, contact an exotic animal vet, or even the local department of fish and wildlife.  Perhaps they know about pond turtle hibernation.

If you can't find any information, you may want to bring him inside for the winter and then try to hibernate him next winter.  Or even release him (IF you found him locally and he's been eating well enough so that he won't starve over the winter).

Hope this helps you a little.

-Amanda