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I just want to say Hello, I'm new here, and of course I already have a question.
SO here it goes, I have two RES in an outside pond, I live in Los Angeles California, I had these two beauties for a while now, I got them in the summer, they are about 5 inch wide and maybe 7 inch in lenght.
I've notice that it has started to get cold outside, My pond is 7ft long by 3 1/2 wide and 20inch in depth. I think the water temperature is getting between 60-50 degrees, is that too cold for them? should I get a heather? should I bring them inside in the winter? everynight? I also have Koi fish in the pond, water filtration is good. I'm just worried about the water temperature they should be in. Will they be okay outside in cold water?
Any imput would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you all, you guys are great.
Tony Newbie

Ok, I don't keep turtles outside but I've read up on it because hopefully one day I will so here's what I've learned on the matter.

It is not recommended to hibernate your captive turtles; it is considered an advanced procedure requiring a great amount of knowledge and experience on the part of the keeper. There is little or no room for error. With that said, as water temps begin to cool off your turtles will begin to search for a place to hibernate. It is recommended to bring them in and leave them in once the temperature outside dips below 70 degrees. Overwinter them inside in an appropriate setup providing all the neccesary requirements they need (adequate size tank/container: 10 gallons per inch of turtle, filter, heater, basking light and basking area to dry off, and UVB light).

The length of your turtles, is that the SCL(shell from tip to tip not including curve)? We'd love to see pics if you have any. If you have any questions please feel free to ask. Hope this helps and welcome to the forum...

Thank alot for your info.
10 inch per turtle, so I need a minimum of a 60-70 gallon tank, I'll work on that, mean while I think a water heater will do the job to keep them too cold.
I'm working on pix to post, I also need to find out how to post them. I think I need a link to my yahoo photo album.
Thanks again.

Well I"m not an expert on California winters but your pond depth would be toooo low to safely hibernate them over the winter I think.
Here in Michigan (yeah, no comparison to California I know), our freeze line is 18". Meaning the first 18" of water would freeze solid if I don't do one of two things: 1) keep a heater in the heater to keep a hole in the ice or 2) keep the water moving with the filters (moving water doesn't freeze).
Now I'm sure your not getting total freeze of the pond are you?
If you decide to keep them in the pond, you'll need muck (mud, leaves, debris) for them to crawl under.
Remember, Koi and Goldfish are cold water fish...they thrive in colder water temps so don't let that be your guide for the turtles.
Holly

HI Holly,
No we don't get freezing temperatures here in California, I'm glad.
In the last two days I have been keeping a good eye on the temperature of the pond, and is not as cold as I thought it would be, My turtle also get a really good amount of sunshine, since we are getting about a 85+ here in the daytime.
Thanks for your imput. I really appreciated it.