Beardieboy
Active Member
Hi all, this question is on behalf of a friend of mine who has in the last couple of months gotten some turtles - two eastern longnecks and a macquarie shortneck. They all live together in an outdoor enclosure in a western melbourne backyard that's about 6ft by 6ft, with half water and half sand substrate. They get fed a couple of times a week. They have no artificial heating.
The owners of these turtles say they are still active and feeding despite the cold weather, and want to know what they need to do for the turtles. We don't have a detailed history on them but they are all 12-15cm diameter and are suspected to have brumated in previous years. Do they slow feeding even if the turtles are still actively hunting and taking food? Do they need to provide an area for the turtles to brumate in the enclosure - a substrate to dig in? Might the turtles brumate at the bottom of the pond (about 20-30cm deep)? They don't have facilities to bring the turtles inside for the winter and are happy for them to brumate.
I have also seen elsewhere some people who take the turtles out of the enclosure and put them in a paper-lined box for brumation. Is this a good method, does it stress the turtles, is it better or worse than leaving them to brumate in the enclosure?
Any helpful advice is welcome, I have found it difficult to find quality information on this topic. As you probably can tell, I don't have much idea about this topic, so all information is much appreciated. Cheers.
The owners of these turtles say they are still active and feeding despite the cold weather, and want to know what they need to do for the turtles. We don't have a detailed history on them but they are all 12-15cm diameter and are suspected to have brumated in previous years. Do they slow feeding even if the turtles are still actively hunting and taking food? Do they need to provide an area for the turtles to brumate in the enclosure - a substrate to dig in? Might the turtles brumate at the bottom of the pond (about 20-30cm deep)? They don't have facilities to bring the turtles inside for the winter and are happy for them to brumate.
I have also seen elsewhere some people who take the turtles out of the enclosure and put them in a paper-lined box for brumation. Is this a good method, does it stress the turtles, is it better or worse than leaving them to brumate in the enclosure?
Any helpful advice is welcome, I have found it difficult to find quality information on this topic. As you probably can tell, I don't have much idea about this topic, so all information is much appreciated. Cheers.
