Hi! This is my first time here.
Anyone know when painted turtles usually start hybernating? I'm assuming I have a western one, since I'm in ND and its wild-caught. I have a hatchling, and I don't want it to hybernate. I've been keeping it outdoors. I just brought him in a few days ago to my 20 gallon, because its starting to get cold. I bought a basking lamp today and a flourescent UV lamp and I'm going to try keeping it warmer. The first problem I noticed with my turtle is that it was refusing its mealy worms. He wasn't refusing crickets, only mealy worms, and he loves worms. Before this, I noticed the oatmeal I was feeding the worms was moldy and it was like that for a few days, so I thought he refused the worms because of what they were eating. I left two in the tank before I left for work, and when I got back that evening, he had eaten them both, probably becuase he was so hungry. After that, his bm was not the regular firm consitency, but rather mushy. So I stopped feeding him worms, but he began only eating one or half a cricket a day and he usually eats 2, and seemed lethargic, sleeping all day. I worried he got a parasite or something from the worms and that it wasnt just because of bad moldy taste. Then he was eating nothing at all. This happened two week ago. Last Saturday, I set an appt to take him to the vet for Tuesday. But on Sunday night we had a sunny day and he became active, he ate a cricket and he had a solid bm, so I canceled the appointment. He ate one more cricket a couple days later (Tuesday), and hasn't eaten anything since. He's continued to be active now that I'm keeping him warmer, by bringing him in at night, but he still does not eat, and has had no bms all week. Is it dangerous for him to be going without any food for these many days, being he is just a hatchling? I can tell he has thinned down and he seems to not feel as heavy. Should I give him emergeny liquid food for starving reptiles? I just read today that sometimes turtles will not eat, even though you keep the temperature up and they are active, and that I may have to let him hybernate anyway. Maybe I just need to give him a little more time with the new basking lamp I got today and lengthen his daylight which has gotten pretty short lately. I'm hoping that is all that it is. Oh, one more thing, that may mean its just been too cold. He had one bm after the mushy one, where there were pieces of undigested cricket exoskeleton. So, maybe he's just been too cold to eat. I thought having 70-75 degrees during daylight was enough to keep him warm and his digestion going.

Sorry, I've made this sooo long. Thanks! There may not be many turtle people here, but I appreciate your feedback.

Hello,

I do not know much about turtles, but I would bump the temps up to at least 80-85. You also need to make certain that the UV light you have is a true UV light. You need a light that is outputting UVB. Unless you purchased a mercury vapor, you would have purchased a flourescent tube at a local petstore. (Not a normal bulb.)

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Rich is correct, bump the temps upto around 80, add a uvb bulb, and switch him to a good quality dry food such as Reptomin Turtle Sticks (it's a more complete diet. Another issue is the tank size, 20 gallons is really too small for a turtle, once you add a basking area and a filter there isn't enough room left for activity. I keep my painter in a 55g tank with one other turtle, it's filled about half way and has a Whisper I40 filter which gets a new cartridge weekly. The two most common causes of turtle mortality in captivity that I have come across are poor water quality (ammonia buildup) and lack of UVB lighting. Just make sure the light is no more than 14" away from the basking area.

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Answers are great. But I prefer questions!

Visit me at www.jaysreptiles.com

Turtles base there hibernation on temps. As the weather cools they increase there food intake to store body fat to sustain them over the course of hibernation. Bring him inside and you remove that from the equation.

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Ken
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