A change in season can sometimes cause a change in how your pet acts. An example of this is a dropping of temperature causing the turtle to drop its appetite.
This article is a look into why your turtle is not eating in winter.
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Why is my turtle not eating in winter?
Winter is the time for big coats, internal heating, and warm foods, but humans aren’t the only animals who will experience a behavioral change in winter, turtles will too.
Here is why your turtle is not eating in winter:
It’s cold:
One reason for a sudden lack of appetite in your pet is the feeling of being cold.
Winter brings about colder ambient temperatures, and if your pet’s heater isn’t working as well as it should then the animal may not want to eat during winter
These animals are cold-blooded so their environment will greatly affect how they act.
When it’s cold a turtle’s body will slow some systems down and this causes the animal to have a lack of appetite. Their digestion slows down and the animal will not eat as much as it used to.
What to do:
You’d have to make sure that your pet’s heater is working and is constant at all times, especially when the wintertime comes around.
Ensure that you’re keeping track of the temperature by using a reliable thermostat and checking it regularly.
Your pet should start becoming more active, and should want to eat, once the temperatures go up.
It isn’t as sunny:
Another reason why your pet may start to develop a lack of appetite may be that the turtle can tell that it’s winter through the change in natural light that comes in.
This can still happen even if you have artificial light in the enclosure and if the temperature in the tank remains consistent
The animals will change behavior, including eating behavior, with the cycle of the light. If this is the case then the animals will have a much bigger appetite when it is summer and brighter out
What to do:
This is normal. Turtles don’t need to eat that much and if their metabolism slows down then they won’t need to eat as much so you can let the animal be.
Just make sure that the animals have the option to eat as much as they need when winter comes around.
Brumation:
Another reason why your pet is not eating during the wintertime is that the animal is going through brumation.
Brumation is the turtle version of hibernation. A turtle that is about to brumate will not each much, will start to get listless, and will sleep on the rocks
What to do:
You don’t have to worry if you see this happening, it’s pretty common for these animals to do this in the winter months. As long as your pet doesn’t show signs of dying then your pet will be fine.
You can soak your pet while it brumates. Make sure that the animal’s head does not go underwater while soaking, soaking daily will keep the animal from dehydrating
In fact, it is said that allowing your turtle to brumate extends its life so you should be happy that it is doing this
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other turtle/tortoise related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Why Is My Turtle Not Responding To Touch?, Why Is My Turtle Neck So Long?, Why Is My Turtle Not Using It’s Back Legs, Why Is My Turtle Eating Sand?, Why Is My Turtle Tank Cloudy?, Why Is My Turtle Not Growing?, Baby Turtle Is Not Eating, Why Is My Turtle Limp?, Why Is My Turtle Not Pooping?