What is the best way to tell if a turtle is dead or hibernating?
Thanks for the A2A.This can be tricky.My parents were sure the family turtle was dead. At about the age of 25, she had not moved for a couple of days. My dad picked her up to go bury her and she moved her legs. I thought maybe her legs just flopped out of her shell but my parents swear it was a purposeful, live turtle movement.So they put her back down on her tank shelf. She did not move for days but they were afraid to make the mistake of burying a live turtle.I came up for a visit after a few days of this. Her legs actually looked a little bloated, not just the usual pudginess, and when my husband picked her up, we could tell her flesh was starting to “melt” a little.Definitely dead that time. RIP Tina Turtle.I don’t mean to alarm the OP with tales of turtles that are not really dead, but with an animal that would normally hibernate and/or become less active in the winter it really can be hard to tell. If in doubt, leave the turtle a couple of days, and at some point you should be able to tell *for sure* something is not right.
Does a dead turtle float?
Maybe I cheated. I did not know the answer so I googled it. Most answers were yes. Then some said depends on temp of water and then if it just died it wouldn't float until decomposition starts. So I would say as a whole dead turtle float. It was fun to find the answer
Is my yellow belly turtle dead or hibernating?
Last night I got a tank holder and moved him to a different spot in the room I didn t think it would effect anything. I did the usually I turned his lights off right before bed, feed him and went to sleep. I woke up the next day and he was underwater on the rocks not moving so I took him out and he tucked his legs and one arm in. I put him on his basking spot and he still hasn t moved at all today. His legs and arm are still tucked and his eyes are closed. He doesn t flop around when I move him and his eyes aren t sinking in. I m not sure and I m really worried. Please help me:/
Is my painted turtle dead??
it may be in hibernation, keep the water warmer than usual and give him a good spot to hibernate, consult a vet/ good animal place they should be able to fill you in with better instructions on how to take care of him. turtles do not have a long life expectancy in a duped habitat, i hope he isnt dead. ive had a close call and im very paranoid now. good luck , i hope hes/shes ok
Can you tell me whether this turtle is dead or not?
He's an ordinary Red Eared Slider turtle from the look of him. Like all turtles, he is an air breather. If he isn't coming to the surface, something is definitely wrong. So step one, get him out of the water so he can breathe. (If he is dead and you leave him there, decomposition gasses will have him bob to the surface eventually. That's not the same as "coming up for air."). If your fish tank is too cold, he might be in a torpor, a kind of coma, not the same as hibernating. His water should be around 20-25°C.Second -- it's hard to tell from your photo, but it looks like his eyes might be swollen, lids closed over. This is a common result of vitamin deficiency in turtles. He needs sunlight, or a special basking lamp, in order to make vitamin A. Sliders love to bask, climbing out onto rocks, logs and each other to stretch out in the sun. They will never be happy in a tank where they can't get out of the water.Without vision, turtles can't find their food, so he might be suffering from starvation, also.This isn't something you can treat at home. You cannot force feed him, or get enough vitamins into him by mouth. If he is still alive, he needs vitamin shots, and at the same time a proper basking lamp. You need to get him to a vet.Lots more information here: Red-Eared Slider Care Sheet Good luck!
How do you tell a dead snake from a hibernating snake? Can a hibernating snake be woken up or no?
I've had this ball python for two years and I've tried to rouse him several times but to no avail. He hasn't eaten for about five to six weeks and he didn't respond to any of the mice when I fed him.
Is my turtle dead? (yellow bellied slider)?
My 6 year old yellow bellied slider wasn't eating yesterday, and he always eats when I feed him since I only feed him a few times a week. Then later on he was just laying on his platform so I picked him up and he was completely limp. He usually has some sort of reaction but he didn't react at all. The water temperature was normal, he was completely healthy, I don't know what happened. His arms and legs and head are all out of his shell and they just go limp when I pick him up. I tried putting him in warm water to see if I could wake him up but that didn't work. Is he gone? What do you think happened? I've fed him ReptoMin food sticks every few days and I've been doing that for years. He has a clean tank filled with distilled water. The water temperature is controlled by a heater and is perfect. What happened? :(
Is it dead or hibernating?
My brother has a Texas Spiny Lizard and I think it may be dead. See, he has this huge fish tank (the guy at the pet store told us to use it, i have the same one for my leopard gecko) he keeps it in, with sand as the bottom layer then woodchips on the sand.There is a log shelter and wood for it to climb on. he has had it for almost a year. Everyday it eats five crickets. He kept it at the back of his room with a heat lamp on during the day and then at night he turned the lamp off and then put a towel over the top of the cage leaving room for air to get in. Within the past few days the lizard has become slow and unresponsive. You have to jostle it a little for it to move. Today it burrowed itself a little bit under the wood chips and has not moved. I picked it up and it was sooooo stiff, but its fingers twiched a little. Since it was at the back of the room, did it not know when winter was and it is just now hibernating? Or is it dead? We moved the cage to the window today and it crawled strait to the sunlight and burried itself a little like i said earlier, and it hasnt moved since. Like i said it twiched a little. SO whats wrong with it and what should we do? Oh, and we sprayed it with the water stuff to keep its skin moist or something.