Red eared slider turtle

[Mainpin]

The weather here in Philadelphia, Pa. is around 50 degrees so today was a good
day to clean out the leaves in my pond from the fall. As I was netting out
leaves I accidently netted my turtle who has been in the pond since last June.
He wasn't moving and his eyes were closed. I put him back right away. Do they
overwinter or is it possible he is dead?

[Ka30P]

They overwinter in the pond.
They just slow down and hang out
on the bottom of the pond.
I bet you'll see him pop up next spring.



ka30p
http://www.geocities.com/watergardeninglabradors/home.html

[Glenn Lynn]

They also sometimes bury themselves in mud or debris on the bottom.

On 03 Jan 2004 23:14:38 GMT, (Ka30P) wrote:

>
>They overwinter in the pond.
>They just slow down and hang out
>on the bottom of the pond.
>I bet you'll see him pop up next spring.
>
>
>
>ka30p
>http://www.geocities.com/watergardeninglabradors/home.html

[Gabrielle]

Probably just so cold he's vegging. Mine spend the coldest weeks at the
bottom with eyes shut. Usually they stir if I bring them up but go right
back to sleep.
Gabrielle

Mainpin wrote:

>The weather here in Philadelphia, Pa. is around 50 degrees so today was a good
>day to clean out the leaves in my pond from the fall. As I was netting out
>leaves I accidently netted my turtle who has been in the pond since last June.
>He wasn't moving and his eyes were closed. I put him back right away. Do they
>overwinter or is it possible he is dead?
>
>

[Ka30P]

Turtles will move around under
the ice if it gets warmer. They'll
go back to sleep (burmation) when
they get colder.


ka30p
http://www.geocities.com/watergardeninglabradors/home.html

[Judi9000]

>Probably just so cold he's vegging. Mine spend the coldest weeks at the
>bottom with eyes shut.

I asked at the pet store about red ear sliders for ponds and was told they need
heaters and will die if too cold. I guess this is not true.?

[Ka30P]

Judi wrote
<< I asked at the pet store about red ear sliders for ponds and was told they
need
heaters and will die if too cold. I guess this is not true.? >>

Red-earred sliders are native from SE Virginia to Florida. Those would be the
areas where they
would do well.





ka30p
http://www.geocities.com/watergardeninglabradors/home.html

[Ka30P]

Jim wrote >>I have a red eared slider turtle in a 700 gallon pond. Do I need
to bring it
inside for the winter or will it do ok outside. I don't have any debri on the
bottom of my pond for it to bury himself. I live in the Philadelphia, Pa.
area.<<

Hi Jim,

Two important things for red-earred sliders to winter over in the pond. They'd
like a dishpan of mud at the bottom of the pond and they need a hole open in
the ice all winter long.
While turtles winter over under the ice in natural ponds our garden ponds are
far from natural and an iced over pond can be fatal to a turtle (and fish and
frogs too). Holes can be kept open in the ice with
- a floating heater which warms the water around it (but doesn't heat the whole
pond)
- an air pump with a bubbler placed under the surface of the water (place the
air pump above the ground and up end a bucket or wash tub over the top of it)
- raising the pond's pump and letting the outflow well the water at the top of
the pond.



kathy :-)
algae primer
http://hometown.aol.com/ka30p/myhomepage/garden.html

[Phyllis and Jim Hurley]

They do winter well indoors if you want the hassle.

Jim

"Mainpin" > wrote in message
...
> I have a red eared slider turtle in a 700 gallon pond. Do I need to bring
it
> inside for the winter or will it do ok outside. I don't have any debri on
the
> bottom of my pond for it to bury himself. I live in the Philadelphia, Pa.
> area.
> Thanks,
> Jim