Most animals will just simply sleep when they hibernate, but painted turtles do things a little differently. During hibernation, painted turtles do a lot of interesting things that no other animals can do, they start to breathe underwater, they reduce their heart rate, etc. But before we dive deeper into what painted turtles do when hibernating, let’s take a quick look at what hibernation actually means.
Hibernation
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 Painted 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.
Painted turtles spend most of their time in or near lakes, ponds, or rivers. So it’s normal that those are also the places where they will hibernate.
Painted turtles usually have two preferred ways to hibernate, underwater or covered in mud.
In general, most turtles are able to spend around 30 minutes underwater before they have to come out for oxygen. But when they are hibernating they are able to spend months underwater without having to come out to get oxygen. The reason why they are able to do this is that they have a cloaca.
The cloaca is the posterior orifice that serves as the only opening for the digestive, reproductive and urinary tract.
The main way a turtle breaths it’s through its nose, all turtles have two small holes on their face that act as any normal nose would, when it comes to breathing, and of course they have two lungs where the air is transported. Until now there is nothing different in the way a turtle is breathing than the way you and I are breathing, they inhale air into their lungs and then exhale it, but the way things work on the inside is completely different.
When you inhale air, you can observe that your chest becomes bigger and when you exhale it becomes smaller, this happens because you have flexible ribs, turtles on the other hand have a shell that is not flexible at all. Since turtles don’t have this flexibility they have no use for the lung and muscle setup that we and most mammals have. Instead, turtles have muscles that pull the body outwards, towards the opening of the shell, to allow it to inhale, and more muscles to squish the turtle’s guts against its lungs to make it exhale.
The cloaca works in a similar way to the lungs, when the turtle is inside the water the cloaca will act like a pump that will suck water inside and after it gathers all the oxygen from it, it will expel the water out, and then it will start over. Due to the way things are arranged on the inside of the turtle this process is less exhausting than normal breathing.
Even if using the cloaca is less exhausting for the turtle, in normal circumstances a turtle won’t be able to survive for long periods of time using only the cloaca. But when they hibernate they need considerably less oxygen, and the cloaca can produce that amount without too much effort.
So the cloaca is the perfect mechanism for hibernating turtles, it requires very little energy to function, and it provides the exact amount of oxygen.
If you own an aquatic turtle and you want to see your turtle using its cloaca to breathe, you can easily do so. Just look at the back end of the turtle when it’s swimming around, if you spend 15 minutes looking you have pretty big chances of seeing it in action.
You can find more information about the cloaca in this article if you want to know more about it.
But to be able to use the cloaca, the lake, or pond where they hibernate must have oxygen in it. So if the surface completely freezes over the oxygen in the water will probably be gone in a month or two, and this is not a great situation for most animals that live in that lake.
But as I’ve mentioned before turtles are able to survive months without oxygen so even if the oxygen from the water is completely gone they should still be able to survive the winter.
I’ve mentioned before that turtles also like to hibernate in mud. This is because mud can offer them protection from the cold weather and protection from predators.
When choosing a place to hibernate turtles will be interested in two things. Protection from the cold weather and protection from predators.
Usually, a lake or a pond will offer them the best chances to survive. But this doesn’t mean that every hole in the ground with some water in it is good. Turtles choose to hibernate in water that is deep enough so it won’t freeze completely. Turtles are able to survive in harsh conditions, but they have their limits, and being frozen is one of them.
This is why painted turtles sometimes prefer to hibernate covered in mud, or to find burrows, or to dig a hole where they can hibernate.
When Do Painted Turtles Start to Hibernate?
Most painted turtles will start hibernating in October when the weather usually starts to get colder. At that point, their metabolic rate starts to slow down slowly, until they reach their hibernating metabolic rate.
But it all depends on the weather, not on what month it is. The seasons were never an exact thing, it’s always possible to have relatively warm weather in October and November, or to have cold weather in April. So it usually depends on the weather, not what month it is. But in general, October is the month most turtles start to hibernate.
When Do Turtles Stop Hibernating?
March is usually when the weather starts to get warmer and when most turtles get out of hibernation. But again it depends more on temperature than on what month it is.
Most painted turtles will resume their normal activities when the temperature is between 55 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit ( 13 to 15 degrees Celsius ).
When a turtle gets out of hibernation it will need a couple of weeks before it can resume its normal activities, like eating or drinking. There are two reasons why they do this.
The first is that they need to gather some heat so that their metabolic rate goes up and everything goes back to normal. And secondly, this is also a defense mechanism, in case the weather starts to get cold again they will be able to return to hibernation very fast.
Conclusion
So this should cover everything that you should know about painted turtle hibernation. But in case you have any more questions you can leave them in the comment section and I will answer them as soon as possible.
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Great article – many thanks for that and some amazing adaptations. I shall view the painted turtle with increased respect in future.
Great information on hibernation. I did not know that about the cloaca.
Cameron….we live in far west Texas and have a turtle on our property. She came out of hibernation last week…4/3/2021…ate a bit and the next day disappeared again. We are guessing that she is hibernating again. Is this normal behavior ?
Thanks
Mark Nash-Ford
Sanderson Texas
Hello Mark,
I don’t believe that the turtle went to hibernate again. I think it simply went to where it came from. Turtles usually look for a safe place to hibernate, and this safe place is not always in the area in which they usually live.
And now that the cold is gone it probably went back “home”. But I wouldn’t be surprised if it were to come back next winter.
But in any case there is nothing to warry about, there is nothing abnormal.
Hello,
I live in Northern Wisconsin where winters are long and harsh. Sub zero temps for months and deep snow. My pond is about 12 feet square and 4 feet deep. The bottom is covered only in rocks. Will a painted turtle be able to survive the winter in this environment. The heavy snow cover prevents the water from completely freezing. My concern is the bottom does not have any mud to burrow into. Thank you, Bob
In a climate with harsh winters like Northern Wisconsin, it can be challenging for painted turtles to hibernate in a pond without appropriate substrate for burrowing. Turtles typically bury themselves in the mud at the bottom of ponds, which provides insulation from freezing temperatures and helps them survive the winter. The absence of mud or substrate in your pond could make it difficult for a painted turtle to safely hibernate there.
Here are a few options to consider:
Provide a Digging Area: You might want to create a designated area in your pond with sand or a mixture of soil and sand where the turtle can burrow to hibernate. This will mimic the natural hibernation process.
Overwinter Indoors: Alternatively, you could consider constructing an indoor enclosure, such as a large aquarium or tub, where the turtle can safely hibernate during the winter. This allows you to control the hibernation environment, ensuring the turtle’s safety and well-being.
Contact Local Experts: I recommend reaching out to local herpetological experts, wildlife authorities, or conservation organizations in your area. They may provide guidance specific to the conditions in Northern Wisconsin and the needs of painted turtles.
Given the harsh winter conditions in your region, providing a controlled indoor environment for hibernation is often the safest and most effective approach to ensure your painted turtle’s well-being.
We have five rescued turtles: four red ears and one painted that were found on roads in our area. They are housed in our 700gallon fiber glass koi pond along with ten nice sized koi. The pond has never gone below 40 degrees in winter. We normally bring them inside in the winter but that’s a lot of turtles even in the 50 gallon trough we have in our bird room: two of the red ears are huge females and they don’t seem very happy. I’ve always been afraid to let them hibernate in the pond though I understand that might be better for them. The painted is already showing signs of wanting to hibernate. Do you feel it would be safe for me to allow them to hibernate in the pond? Thank you for also caring about turtles! Marc and Kerry
Allowing your rescued turtles to hibernate in the pond can be a natural and beneficial way for them to experience a more natural winter cycle. However, there are some considerations to ensure their safety during hibernation:
Adequate Depth: The pond should be deep enough to allow the turtles to bury themselves in the mud at the bottom to avoid freezing temperatures. Ideally, the pond should be at least 18-24 inches deep to ensure that the water temperature at the bottom remains above freezing.
Winter Preparation: Before winter, make sure the turtles are well-fed to store energy for hibernation. Remove any uneaten food to prevent water quality issues. You can also provide a resting platform above the water to allow the turtles to bask on milder days during winter.
Water Quality: Monitor water quality throughout the winter. Proper aeration and water circulation are essential to maintain oxygen levels and prevent freezing.
Safety Measures: If you experience an unusual and prolonged cold snap, or if you’re concerned about extreme cold, it’s a good idea to provide an additional heat source, such as a pond heater, to prevent the water from freezing over entirely. This allows for gas exchange.
Monitoring: Periodically check on the turtles throughout the winter to ensure they are doing well. If you see signs of distress or sickness, you can consider moving them to an indoor setup.
Indoor Backup: If you have concerns about the pond’s safety, you can maintain your indoor setup as a backup. In case of severe and prolonged cold spells, you can bring the turtles inside.
Consult with Experts: Consider seeking advice from local herpetological or wildlife experts who are knowledgeable about your area’s specific climate and hibernation needs.
Hibernating your turtles in the pond can provide a more natural experience for them, but it’s crucial to take precautions to ensure their safety. Additionally, providing them with an indoor backup enclosure is a good plan, especially if the winter conditions become too harsh.