Yellow Bellied Terrapin

Question
i have a male and female yellow bellied and i have noticed that the female is sleeping more and not eating infront of me this is been going on for the last six weeks or more have taken her to the vet and he says she seams fine and she isnt losing weight but he also said he wouldnt be a expert in this field and was wondering can you give me any advice on this if any is needed
thanks for taking the time for reading this
yours tom

Answer
Ah, hibernation time. I've got about 6 questions lined up right now to answer, and all are on hibernation. This sounds like the same kind of thing- but if your tank temps are good, let me know more details and I will try again!

Aquatic turtles, like your Yellow-belly, brumate (the technical term for the kind of hibernation they do) in response to dropping temps and shortening days. They will find a nice, deep muddy place to dig into and pretty much stop doing anything by the time the water temps are around 45F.

The problem is that most captive turtles get caught between temps. It is not cold enough, nor can they bury themselves in mud like they like, to brumate so they just go into a pre-brumation stage sometimes called 'torpor'.

This is actually kind of bad- they are not in brumation, so most of the body's systems are working pretty much at normal speed- but they will not eat because they are too cold.

The solution is to simply boost water temps back to normal slowly. The target temps are 75-80F, and to provide good lighting for about 12 hours a day- also changed slowly. The goal here is to help it reset its internal clock and avoid stress. The changes should be over at least one week, 2 would be better.

Try the articles at http://www.redearslider.com for other good care advice, and good luck!