That's pretty neat.......props on keeping box turtles.....my only experience with them to date is picking them up off of roads and guessing which side they were headed to so they don't get hit.....last spring on this one back road I had to stop literally every 500 ft to grab one.Vicious_Fish;1445961; said:In the fall when they are slowing down I turn up the soil and mulch in their enclosure and add another foot of mulch on top of that. When they final dig a hole and don't come out for a couple of days I cover them with another foot or two of mulch and leaves I raked up from my yard.
No need to feed them in the winter as they are hibernating. You're actually not suppose to feed them a few weeks before they go into hibernation. You'll know when that time is coming because they stop eating. I also soak my turtle in a shallow bucket of warm water to help speed up the digestion of food in their guts. Food that hasn't been digested can rot in their guts and kill them.
When spring time comes and it starts to get warm I remove about half of the top layer of mulch so the turtles can start to warm up. They come out when the temperature starts to get in the mid 60's.
I do worry about them....a lot! This is their first year hibernating at my new house. It has been very cold lately but they are tough animals and I'm sure everyone will wake up in the spring ready to start a new year. And hopefully my 3 females will lay some eggs! When I go home today I will try to take a winter photo of their enclosure.