Turtles, being cold-blooded animals, must match their environment’s temperature in order to survive. As soon as it cools off significantly, turtles become lethargic and stop eating altogether.
As winter sets in, turtles may stop eating regularly. Before getting angry or trying to coax them back in, it’s essential that we identify why they seem unwilling to consume food.
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Freshwater turtles
There are over 350 species of freshwater turtles found across Asia, Africa and America, located in swamps, rivers, ponds and lakes. As these ectotherms (cold-blooded animals), these turtles rely on the surrounding water for warmth instead of producing it themselves.
Wild turtles tend to hibernate during winter. Hibernation involves slowing their metabolism, heart rate and breathing by an estimated 80%; during this time period they stop eating but continue drinking water.
As temperatures warm, they’ll begin emerging from hibernation and starting to feed again, so try giving them food at dawn when they are most active. To boost this process, feed them every morning when their activity levels are highest.
Make sure your turtle has a balanced diet by providing plenty of fresh food in a clean habitat, along with enough to consume. They tend to eat most frequently if their water temperature reaches about 75 degrees Fahrenheit; otherwise they could stop feeding altogether.
Saltwater turtles
As temperatures grow cooler, turtles’ appetites decrease. This is because turtles are ectotherms – meaning they cannot heat themselves – and must rely on their environment for heat. Furthermore, as their body defense against diseases weakens further they tend to get sick more easily, causing their appetites to decrease further when sick.
As winter nears, some turtles migrate towards warmer waters while others hibernate as an energy saving measure and to avoid freezing conditions. Hibernation allows these reptiles to conserve energy and survive the cold winter weather more effectively.
Adult loggerhead sea turtles are carnivorous creatures that feed on whelks, mollusks and horseshoe crabs while hatchlings eat both plant and animal material. Green sea turtles are herbivorous; helping maintain coral reef health through eating algae. Leatherback sea turtles possess unique jaw morphologies which allows them to consume jellyfish and tunicates with ease due to papillae found on their mouths and throats as well as cusps which assist them in grasping, piercing and swallowing hard shelled prey.
Painted turtles
Painted turtles are cold-blooded animals whose metabolism slows as the temperature drops, so their metabolism also decreases accordingly. As such, they prefer spending their time in slow-moving freshwater environments like ponds or slow moving rivers where even an icy sheet cannot stop them. Adult painted turtles hibernate on land while hatchlings move to shallow waters to bury themselves under ice for winter-long sleep until spring arrives.
Frogs are opportunistic feeders and will consume both plant and animal matter. With excellent eyesight, they can spot potential meals floating near the surface of the water even before they arrive at their destinations.
As winter nears, baby painted turtles should continue to receive aquatic turtle pellets as well as vegetables like romaine lettuce and dandelion greens (you can clip these onto their tank using suction cup clips available from pet stores in the fish department). You could also provide chunks of fish or chicken for additional protein intake.
Sea turtles
As ectothermic reptiles, turtles’ body temperature depends on the temperature of their environment. When temperatures decrease, turtles will seek out warmer locations like sandy beaches to raise their body temperatures or bask in sunlight in order to increase them.
But if temperatures suddenly decrease too rapidly or remain too low for too long, sea turtles may become cold stunned and die; those that survive enter brumate mode in order to conserve energy for survival through winter months.
The cloaca, which serves multiple functions such as expelling waste and housing genitals for reproduction, allows sea turtles to breathe without coming up to the surface during this period. Their blood is capable of shifting oxygen between tissues that tolerate low levels of oxygen such as skin and cloaca; and those which cannot, such as heart and brain.
Most non-marine turtles will bury themselves for up to four months in places where they won’t be found by predators – such as piles of mud or leaf litter, burrows or under the ice of ponds and lakes.
