A self-described turtle expert is begging people to stop burying their pets for the winter—and his impassioned PSA has millions of viewers rethinking how they handle hibernation.
Why shouldn’t you bury your turtles in the winter?
In a video with over 1.7 million views, self-described turtle expert Dan (@dantheturtleman) stitches a video with a creator who buries her two box turtles in the ground in her backyard for the winter.
“It’s turtle day! Time for my yearly crash out!” Dan says sarcastically. He walks into a room in his backyard that hosts his own pet turtles.
“This is a horrible idea,” he says, referring to the creator burying her turtles. “Eastern box turtles will bury themselves when winter comes.”
This practice keeps the turtles warm during the cold winter months. However, he says there’s a safer way to encourage hibernation, or brumation.
“If they have trouble burying in the soil, do what I do,” he says. He says he gives his turtles a “buffered brumation” where he makes their room much colder than usual, but not as cold as the outside temperature. Then he gives them a tub of dirt to bury in.
@dantheturtleman STOP BURYING YOUR TURTLES 🐢‼️ #animals #wildlife #reptiles ♬ original sound – Dan 🐢
“When you bury them, you don’t give them a choice. You send them, and then you pull them back up, whether they’re ready to or not,” he explains.
He warns that forcing them to start and end brumation before they’re ready could have negative health impacts on the turtles.
How did viewers react to his PSA?
While many commenters don’t have turtles of their own, they praise Dan for his passionate explanation.
A viewer jokes, “I have stumbled upon this, don’t know anything about turtles… but I have decided to stay.”
“Girl, I trusted you before we saw the turtle shed from the passion alone,” a second writes.
“Do I own a turtle? No. Did I watch the entire video twice? Yes. I now know not to bury a turtle, unless it passes off natural causes, obviously,” a third adds.
Others share how their own turtles brumate.
“My friend’s box turtle chooses to spend the winter in her closet, inside a pair of her slippers. When he comes up, that is how she knows it’s spring,” one writes.
“We did what you did! Just plop them in a big ol tub full of dirt, and they did what they needed to do. Then, I just had the tub in the garage over the winter. Much easier than digging a hole,” another shares.
The Daily Dot reached out to Dan via email for further comment.
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