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Hi I recieved my copy of the TT magazine today. And was very interested in the boxie hibernation mentioned in it.
Using a plastic dustbin. Most was very clear and informative, the only bit I didnt quite get my head around is, where the dustbin is kept once the boxies are inside.
Is the dustbin put into the ground?
Or left outside as it is?
Sorry I must be having a senior day:0)

Bump!!

No Sandy, unless we are both having the same day it just says the dustbin should be somewhere frost free I think [OH has my copy right now] if you bury it wouldnt that block the air holes and left outside it would get too cold.

I am glad it was not just me Sue:0)
It sounds such a good idea on how to hibernate them. If I knew what to do with them once in the dustbin:0)

It is puzzling Where could you keep it to ensure the temps stayed between 4 and 6?

The only place i can think of would be a fridge, but it would have to be a biggun

Perhaps in an out house/ garage with thermostatic controlled heaters? But then again, that would be no good for mild days

Bumpity Bump!!

I know a few people in the UK who do hibernate their Box Turtles, usually inside greenhouses, wher the animals digg down into a moist sustrate which is then covered by leaf litter. However, I tend to give mine a cool period between October November, and then put them into my tropical house for the remainder of the winter. They feed, and in the past, this is when I have bred them. I liken it to a reverse of their natural season. The typical UK summer is more like the conditions they experience in the Southern states of the USA, and their spell in the tropical house betwwen December and March, more like a Summer in Louisiana.
Some of the most successful breeders of these species in the UK maintain their animals in more indoor type set ups, for most of the year.
The problem with breeding North American Box turtles is their eggs are very thin shelled and will easily desiccate, if not found soon after deposition. In recent years, my adult female Three toed Box turtle lays clutches in her Summer enclosure and they remain hidden until I dig the adults out to remove them to Winter quarters, by which time the clutch is often ruined.
It is a shame that Dave and Linda Smith or Paul and Maggie Coleman do not post most regularly, for they are really very successful at Keeping and breeding these species here in the UK.
Maggie has developed a Box Turtle diet which is brilliant.

Thankyou for the information Paul, its a pity I didnt get a reply about the dustbins. Or who actually used this system. I couldnt see a name in the magazine.

Sorry - I cannot check every single thread.

I wrote that, having used the system for many years myself. We kept the bins in an unheated, block-built outbuilding. It was pretty stable in there, being built into the side of a hill. The bins will tolerate some deviation, as they have a fairly large mass. I hibernated various species of US box turtle in those bins for at least 10 years and never lost one.

Andy