Box Turtles and Hibernation...

[Linds]

Is hibernation really necessary for maintaining a non-breeding box turtle?

[Wu-Gwei]

No it is not necessary. I think a keeper should really read up on hiberation. I have seen many people loose turtles from hibernation. It can be risky, especially if the turts are under weight or anything less than being 100% healthy.

Cheers,
JJ

[ReptileHQ]

The jury is still out on this subject...

I believe that box turtles hibernate in the more northern part of their range because they have no other choice, and this is not necessary for maintaining them.

subspecies and species which do not hibernate in their range, (* means not available to the average hobbyist):

Gulf-coast (Terrepene carolina major)
Florida (Terrepene carolina bauri)
Yucatan (Terrepene carolina yucatana)*
Mexican (Terrepene carolina mexicana)*
Aquatic (Terrepene coahuila)*
Spotted (Terrepene nelsoni)*
Desert (Terrepene ornata luteola)

so that leaves only 3 which do hibernate, these are:

Eastern (Terrepene carolina carolina)
Three-toed (Terrepene carolina triunguis)
Ornate (Terrepene ornata ornata)

these will hibernate in the northern part of their range, but there are southern pops which do not hibernate. It is important to figure out, 1-what subspecies you own, and 2-approx. locality data of where yours was collected before even beginning to attempt hibernation.

As far as breeding them goes, I have maintained and bred almost every species of available box turtle, never hibernated them and have never noticed a difference from the norm in mean clutch size or quality of the eggs, nor health problems in the adults. My hatch rate is over 90%.

I own a female box turtle that I have had for 17 years, it was an adult when I got it, and appears in better health today than the day an 11 year old kid(me!) walked out of PJ's with his prize, again never hibernated.

Now, boxies can sometimes out live people, so it makes it hard to calculate what kind of long term effects not hibernating them can have. But if you look at my old female for example...17 years with me, it's scutes were fused when I got her(this happens at about 15 years old or more with boxies)...so 15 + 17 = 32 years old at an absolute minimum and most likely older...I consider this long term; an isolated case...maybe or maybe not, but going by my findings, you should have minimal problems in keeping a box turtle active and healthy for years to come without the worry of hibernation....

Linds or anyone else, if you have any Q's on husbandry or diet, please PM me

Chris

[Linds]

Thanks for all the input! I don't own a box turtle, maybe one day, but not today I was just curious, as I've seen much debate over this topic in articles, and wanted to get some personal experiences and opinions on the subject

[Tim and Julie B]

I have never winter my non breeding male for five years and he bred this year fine. Infact i didn't winter any of my turtles this year because I moved just before Christmas and they do not seem to have slowed down in mating! My friend who has a bunch of various kinds never does!