What do turtles do in the winter?
Turtles are cold-blooded.
They can’t control their own body temperature, which means that even if it’s freezing outside, it doesn’t really affect them.
However, this does not mean it is warm for them all year round!
Turtles are reptiles, so they have to regulate their temperature by basking in the sun to warm up,
In contrast, turtles stay cool in the shade.
What Turtles Do in The Winter
Turtles also go into a state of hibernation during the winter months if they live somewhere cold.
Hibernation means that the turtle will sleep for long periods of time (even several months) until things get warmer again outside—one of the reasons why it lives for so long.
Turtles don’t usually eat during the hibernation process, but they are still able to live on the fat that they stored up during the summer!
A turtle will survive eating nothing for several months because of this.
How Long Do Turtles Sleep?
Each species is different, but most turtles spend time in their winter hibernaculum (hibernation caves) for about 4 months.
Some species can stay in their hibernaculum for up to a year!
That’s a long time, but these turtles have been eating and storing up plenty of energy during the summer months.
Turtles can actually go into hibernation at other times of the year too if they live in places where there is a long cold period.
For example, red-eared sliders live in the southern United States and parts of Mexico, where temperatures can get pretty cold sometimes.
As such, some red-eared sliders will go into hibernation during the winter months, even though it’s warm outside!
Some turtles will go into hibernation earlier in the year and come out later.
Some turtles (depending on their species) do not hibernate at all!
It’s all up to the individual turtle, but most of them can take a cold winter!
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