Eastern box turtle help.

[Bagshaw]

My cousin is going away to university and has a 2 year old eastern box turtle that she is giving me. as of now it is in a 50-60 gallon tank that is about 3 feet, by two feet by a foot (roughly). It has a bark substrate and is fed primarily vegetables.
its about the size of the bottom of a water bottle.
Should i change the substrate to a softer kind?
I know these turtles need crickets etc. What percentage of his diet should be animal?
Any other input would be good

b.t.w he does have a UV, heat lamp.

 

[Notophthalmus]

Bark substrate is fine for box turtles. Just keep it slightly moist to help keep the tank humidity high; turtles kept in low humidity have a tendency to get eye and nose infections. Make sure he has a water dish that he can soak in, but also can easily climb out of.

Box turtles have a pretty broad lattitude with regards to diet; 50/50 plant and animal is probably good, but if he's on a mainly vegetable diet now, you should offer animal food sparingly at first. The protein doesn't have to come from crickets; you can use earthworms, mealworms, waxworms, or even dry or wet cat food. The advantage of slow-moving or non-moving food is you can put it in a dish to make clean-up easier and prevent the turtle from ingesting substrate. Just be sure to offer a variety of vegetables and fruits, and sprinkle some of the food with a calcium supplement.

There is lots of box turtle care info at the kingsnake.com forums.

 

[Vicious_Fish]

Box Turtles make great pets if you can provide them everything they need to stay healthy and happy. Young ones can be kept indoors for their first few years of life. Still, they really benfit from a few hours of natural sunlight a week. You should provide a UVB basking light on one end of the cage that has a basking temp of around 85. The rest of the tank can remain at room temp.

Provide a few shelters because the babies can be quite shy and enjoy not being seen. Box Turtles really like to dig so provide a few inches of organic soil mixed with peat moss and orchard bark. Pine shaving are poisonous. As mentioned keep the substrate damp. These guys should have a pretty humidity in their cage so that they don't develope R.I from being too dry.

Because that turtle is still growing you should provide plenty of protien in it’s diet. Live prey like pinehead crickets and chopped up worms will be gladly eaten You can also include a pellet diet at this age. You can use box turtle diet or Reptomin. Just let is soak in a shallow lid so it's soft and place it in a tub with your turtle so you can see that it eats. Chopped up berries and carrots are also good. Dust the food a few times a week with vitamins.

I'm not sure where you live or how long you might end up having this turtle, but you can build an outdoor enclosure for it when it's older.

 

[Bagshaw]

I live in Ontario, i don't think the conditions are right for a outdoor enclosure.

 

[Vicious_Fish]

I live in Ontario, i don't think the conditions are right for a outdoor enclosure.

Ehhhh......you'd be surprised. These guys ideal temperature would be around 75˚F as adults. They become sluggish during really hot days. In the summer mine will bury themselves for days in cool damp earth when it's really hot out. Below is a link to my outdoor enclosure set up if you or anyone else is interested in building one. Box Turtles in general do not do well indoors in an aquarium when adult.

I recommend reading up on how to hibernate your turtle as well. Terrapene carolina carolina really should have a period of hibernation be it a few weeks or months. Without a cooling period adults can become stressed and they usually die at an early age.

http://herpden.4.forumer.com/index.php?showtopic=76

 

[Bagshaw]

Thanks alot for the help!

 

[Vicious_Fish]

Thanks alot for the help!

No prob. Of all the reptiles species out there, I probably am the most familiar with this one. At the moment I have 4 Eastern Box Turtles, 2 of which I've had for over 20 years now. When taken care of properly, they are interesting, long lived pets with a lot of personality.