Posted by Evelyn Starlin on October 9, 2006

Q: I discovered yesterday that I have a baby snapping turtle living in my goldfish pond beside my porch. His shell is only about 1 to 1 1/4 inch long. Should I leave him in the goldfish pond until spring, or should I move him to a natural pond? I just don't want him to freeze and die over the winter.

Habitat: pond/lake

State: Ohio

Habitat: pond/lake

A: Lucky you. Snapping turtle babies are really cute.

Turtles like the Snapping Turtle, Softshell Turtles, and Painted Turtles spend the winter months at the bottom of a pond or lake - submerged all winter long! In the winter, the cold water temperature cools the turtles' bodies and they don't require much oxygen to survive. They can, however, obtain a bit of oxygen directly through their mouth mucous membranes and cloacal membranes - enough to sustain life.

So...your turtle will simply remain at the bottom of the goldfish pond until warmer weather returns. If the fish can survive, then the turtle can too. The only problem comes in if the temperature is cold enough to seal over the pond with ice. When this happens, all of the living organisms (and this includes bacteria) under the ice begin using up the limited oxygen reserve available. If the ice lasts long enough, it's possible for there to be a kill, and most fish, crayfish, frogs, and turtles will probably die. I too have a goldfish pond in central New York but it gets too cold here (the pond surface always freezes over solid) for too long to have fish and turtles in my pond. If it does get too cold and ice over at your place, if you can somehow keep the ice off the pond (at least in one area to allow oxygen to enter) you should be OK.

So, to answer your question, I don't think you need to move the turtle. If you live in southern Ohio, your winters are probably warm enough that there will be no problem at all.

John Wiessinger ( October 9, 2006)