It looks as if the temps are going to drop for good in North Texas for a while. Right now temps are in the 60's in the AM, and in the Evening, and may dip in the 50's overnight.
Low 80's in the daytime, but I haven't seen direct sunlight in forever, there's been quite a bit of cloud cover lately.
I usually keep them in a 150 Gallon Stock tank, bare bottom outside on my patio. The water is filled maybe 4 inches from the top. So I'm thinking there's about 20-ish inches of water deep. I just moved, and I can't find my thermometer, but I'd say the water temps have been in the 50's the past few days in the early morning and night. I brought them in last night and put them back in their tank in the morning so they could have their space and do what they normally do, and I bring them back in at night.
Their indoor setup right now is a 30 Gallon industrial (stiff sides & bottom) rubbermaid with a heat lamp. It's bare bottom, no water. So I basically dry dock them overnight. They climb against the sides endlessly, but I don't want them to get sick.
Do I keep doing this? Do I just bring them in for good over the next few months? Or do I just stick them back out there and let them hibernate? I heard that if the temps weren't low enough they wouldn't hibernate but they would be in the "death zone" where they body slows down but not enough for hibernation.
My other concern is I their size. They're still relatively small, most being in the 5-6 inch range and one being under 4inches, and one barely is 3 inches. I have 7 Turts in all (yes I know, that's quite a few for 150 gallons - but the are all very docile and happy together). My largest is a overfed (whooops) female she's young but a healthy 8 inches.
Any ideas what should be done?
