Do Turtles Get Cold? The Chilling Answer

Turtles can be found in almost any habitat in the world, from deserts to swamps to oceans. But they are not particularly fond of cold habitats. So I asked myself why? Do they not like cold climates? So I decided to do some research to find out.

Do turtles get cold? Yes, turtles do get cold. Turtles are cold-blooded animals, which means that they don’t generate their own body heat. But they still need a heat source, otherwise, they will get cold and sick.

So cold temperatures are not really suitable for turtles. But what does this mean for us turtle owners? And what do turtles do when the winter comes? In the rest of the article, we will discuss those topics as well as other things related to turtles and cold.

The Right Water Temperature for the Water Tank

The exact temperature for each turtle species can differ, but in general, the water should be between 75-86 degrees F (23.8-30 C).

Achieving this temperature is quite easy, you just have to use a water heater. When you buy one you have to make sure of two things. The first one is that it’s adjustable, the second thing is that it comes with protection so that your turtle won’t break it.

Turtle Basking Temperatures

Now that you know how to choose a heating light let’s talk about what temperature your turtle needs in the basking area.

For most turtle species the basking area should be 10 degrees Fahrenheit ( 5 – 6 degrees Celsius ) warmer than the water. Generally, a good basking area temperature is between 80 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

And here is a list of the most common pet turtles and their ideal basking area temperatures:

Florida Box turtle: 85-95 degrees fahrenheit
Eastern Box turtle : 85-90 degrees fahrenheit
Ornate Box turtle: 85-90 degrees fahrenheit
Red Ear Sliders turtles: 80-90 degrees fahrenheit
Map turtles: 80-90 degrees fahrenheit
Painted Turtles: 80-90 degrees fahrenheit
Mud turtles: 85-95 degrees fahrenheit
Musk turtles: 80-90 degrees fahrenheit

My Favourite Heating Light

I am a long-time user of the Exo Terra Swamp Glo Basking Spot Lamp. Depending on your needs you can choose between the 50, 75, and 100-watt options. Those bulbs will last a long time and they will produce enough heat for your turtles. Because I had no problems with them I didn’t feel the need to try too many other options since those bulbs worked great for me and my turtles.

For the lamp fixture, I use this one that allows me to put both the light the UVB bulb and the heating bulb in the same place. Right now I am using both slots for two 75 watt heating bulbs and it still works great.

Finding Out the Exact Temperature

Probably the best and only way to find out the exact temperature of the basking area. This can be very helpful when you first set up the basking area, but it can also be very useful over time because it can let you know when the bulb has to be changed.

At first, it might seem a little over the top but it actually is very useful and it can be used for other purposes too not just for checking the temperature of your turtle’s basking area. It can also be used in the kitchen when you are making food, or to check the temperature in the room. Overall it’s extremely helpful and it can sometimes be fun to play with. And it’s not even expensive as you might have thought.

Here is a link to Amazon to check the current pricing.

If you want to know more about how to properly heat and light a turtle tank and baking area you should check out this article where I cover things more in-depth: Guide for Lighting and Heating a Turtle Tank and Basking Area.

What Do Turtles Do When It Gets Cold Outside

When it gets too cold for wild turtles they will start the hibernation process.

Now let’s see what hibernation means. Hibernation is a state in which some mammals and reptiles will enter during cold periods. When they are in this state, they will reduce their metabolic rate, which means that they will use less energy, they won’t require any food or water, and they will sleep the whole time.

That is the basic explanation of what hibernation means. While this explanation covers the basic facts it doesn’t explain how it actually happens, and it doesn’t cover the different things that only certain species can do. So let’s move on to turtles and see how they do it.

How Turtles Hibernate

Unlike most animals that hibernate, turtles are reptiles. And this means that they are cold-blooded animals. Cold-blooded animals are not able to generate body heat and they rely on the surrounding temperature to heat their body. So turtles will observe very easily subtle changes in the temperature.

When the weather starts to get cold the metabolism of a turtle will automatically start to slow down. And as a result, their hearts will start to slow down, along with all other processes that happen in their bodies.

In general, the heart of a turtle beats between 40 and 45 times per minute, when they hibernate they will slow down to around 10 beats per minute. This should give you an idea of how much they slow down during hibernation.

As a result of this slow down they will need considerably less oxygen, sometimes due to unfortunate situations turtles don’t have access to oxygen at all, but because they are hibernating they are able to live without oxygen for up to 5 months. They can also survive for 5 to 8 months without any food or water. The amount of time they can do those things varies from species to species, the numbers that I gave you are just some averages.

The fact that turtles don’t need to generate heat to warm their bodies is also very helpful for them because, unlike mammals that hibernate, turtles don’t need to use energy to warm their bodies. This also means that they have to be very careful with the place where they choose to hibernate. So the fact that they are cold-blooded has its advantages and disadvantages when it comes to hibernation.

Turtles are able to do all those amazing things because they reduce their metabolic rate. But reducing the metabolic rate can also have some unpleasant side effects. One of the bad things that happen is that they have a hard time getting rid of the lactic acid that accumulates. Lactic acid is the same thing that gives us muscle soreness, so you can imagine how unpleasant it can be for the turtle to wake up after a long sleep with muscle cramps all over the body.

To neutralize the lactic acid turtles use magnesium and calcium that they’ve stored in their shells. If they didn’t do that the lactic acid build-up would be too big, and they wouldn’t be able to wake up from hibernation at all.

The calcium and magnesium that they used would have helped them grow, but because getting rid of the lactic acid was more important they had to use it for that. This is another bad side effect, turtles won’t be able to grow when they hibernate. And growing isn’t something superficial for turtles, it’s something that can save their life. The bigger they get the fewer predators will come after them.

But in the end, even if they don’t grow it was definitely worth it because they managed to survive the winter.

This should cover the basic things about hibernation. If you want to know more things about hibernation you should check out this article: Do Turtles Hibernate?

Conclusion

So turtles can get cold. And this is especially dangerous for them since they can’t generate their own body heat. So it’s up to us turtle owners to help our pet turtles remain healthy. And in the wild turtles are able to survive the cold weather by hibernating.

I hope this article answered all of your questions. But in case you still have questions you should leave them in the comment section and I will do my best to answer them as soon as possible.