My Three Toed Box Turtle

AustinsTurtlePage is the best turtle info site out there.


And an easy way to feed your box turtles crickets without them escaping is to place them in a rubbermaid container. That's what I do with mine and they go crazy for them. It funny to see how fast they can move when they're hungry for crickets.
 
omg that is cool. lol i wonder if my mom would let me keep turtles outside? can they take the cold weather or do you have to give them a heat lamp???
 
^ Depends on the species but a lot of the native ones could live in Texas year round when given the proper setup.
 
Thank you for all the great info Nora :) very helpful
thanks for the tip VF :D

Ok, i got down there today and got my hands dirty. I cleaned up all of the things lying around and then raked most of the white chat away from the house and made it all level ground, so that i can make it moundy with dirt and stuff. There is still a layer of white chat, but i am leaving that as it is probably a good 7 to 9 inches lower into the ground and my dad said that it would be good for draining too for all of the plants and stuff. the only area that i am going to rake all of the rocks out of is the corner that i am going to put the peat moss/mulch mixture.

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Let me know what you guys think

PS--don't let the garage door fool you, it really is the back/side of my house, it is the john deere room that makes it look like a garage.

also sorry for the blurriness, it was starting to get dim so i had to use the night setting, which you have to be very steady with to get clear pics

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Area looks good, I cross referneced the sketch plans with the photos, 2 questions:
1. what direction does the back of the house face (ie what 2 sides is your boxie set up facing)?
2. Does the gutter drain into a french drain sort of thing (into the ground)m or is that a flexi-spout attached to it? This matters primarily because of your pond placement. You'll want to be careful with rainwater form the gutter, 2 issues to be wary of a) too much rainwater too quickly can flood into your pond and contaminate the water (roof wash rainwater often has lots of asphalt bit from the shingles) b0 if your drainage isn't very good your turtle area can flood a bit - while the turts like moist & really do enjoy the rain, mine had some issues with it getting to 'swamp like' in a heavy rain and I had to raise the ground level a bit.
Some of my favorite plants for boxies are hosta - lots of shade but they don't do well in full sun. Boxies like dandelions, not really decorative but they oft time eat the greens and the flowers
a japanese maple is a fine idea, biggest don't is aromatics, no pine, connifer etc. if you google 'melissa kaplans herp page' she has a number of informative articles posted including an extensive plant list that indicates safe, food & toxic, a good resource for ideas & safety

I can't wait for it to warm up enough here to work outside - keep it up:)
 
the gutter has this underground tube that goes like 50 ft away from the house (idk why its so far out but it is lol) so that should be ok
the wall with the garage door on it is facing the south, and the other wall is facing the west. would hostas to well on the west side? i am also going to plant a bunch of these insane wild ferns my grandma gave us last year because they grow and reproduce so quickly that its not even funny, so im hoping to let them to over an area of the pin. hoping they'll do well on the west side and behind the tree?
 
crimsonmoon said:
the gutter has this underground tube that goes like 50 ft away from the house (idk why its so far out but it is lol) so that should be ok ?
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excellent, it's that far out to protect the house from water damage, the flip side is that means one of two things; either somebody was into extra preventative measure or the rainwater doesn't tend to drain through your soil quickly &/or there is a high water table...any clue
crimsonmoon said:
the wall with the garage door on it is facing the south, and the other wall is facing the west. would hostas to well on the west side? i am also going to plant a bunch of these insane wild ferns my grandma gave us last year because they grow and reproduce so quickly that its not even funny, so im hoping to let them to over an area of the pin. hoping they'll do well on the west side and behind the tree?
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Placement is good for sun exposure, as in lots of it, you can't pick a stronger direction, flip side, the water feature and shade plants are an absolute necessity for that placement, don't want to accidently dehydrate and cook your turt. You may have noticed that throughout the day that those are the two sides of the house with the least shade, assuming there are no shade trees in the yard you have picked a full sun location, not a bad choice, but a significant one. Most pond/outdoor water feature people plant for shade or only install ponds in part sun, full sun is algae city, but there are ways around that too. Floating plants water lettuce is nice, hyacinth is fast & easy but may be noxious where you are IDK, maybe check at a nursery near you for info or check online @ your state website.

HJostas prefer part shade, tolerate deep shade and some can be grown in sun but they will scorch and needs extra water. As to the ferns, assuming they're perrenial (dk of any that spread if they aren't) and they spead underground (most do by runners that grow new fern 'cones' but stay attached to the parent) they may be ostrich or lady ferns, any idea how tall they usually grow for you? As to what sun they'll take, ferns tend to like what hostas like, but some (especially the ones with runners like lady & ostrich) tolerate full sun with enough water. Best place to get a good plant list for that location is to look in your phone book for the nearest cooperative exention & see if they have a master gardner service, it's a nationwide free public service for plants & home garders - they'll have the best site specific info, if no luck and you can tell me your USDA hardiness zone (most who garden know that #) or pm me with your zip code (nothing too specific online) I can look it up for you, that # pretty well dictates your plant options. Given that it is a full sun spot, your turt would love a few stawberry plants (lanscape & luch in one tidy plant).
BTW you will want to check on the japanese maple for that spot too, they aren't really crazy about full sun & the smaller finely cut leaved, red varieties burn pretty quickly and often can't survive a full sun exposure.
All of the shady plants would do well under most trees shade wise but they'll need extra water to compete with the tree roots
Nothing not workable, just some thoughts
 
Gonna keep looking for updates, this should be exiting :D

Crimson, thought that just poped into my mind. I assume you will have some sort of wall protecting the turtle from escaping, but is there going to be any type of roofing fixture? Do you have native animals that could pose a threat? I know here we have hawks and eagles, which is the main reason why I would not want to do one of these.
 
Predator proofing & containment, these are 2 issues that have been discussed in easily hundreds of pages elsewhere, I do hope you're able to check those links...
a few basics (not all inclusive by any means.. for keeping boxies in: i think the minimum recommendation is to go down 8 inches and insure the walls above ground are not climbable, pay special attention to corners, they make easy access for escapes, small chicken wire is often used to keep birds, raccoons and the like out, I have used hardware cloth at 1/4 and 1/2 inch squares stretched on frames to good effect...., on on exterior pens I go down a a foot or so, the safest pen I ever constructed (kept boxies in and digging predators out was actually lined underneath with 1/2" hardware cloth with gravel for drainage and soil on top - lots of work but quite secure.
The water feature will undoubtedly attract wildlife you aren't looking for, opossums are a problem near me as are voles & raccoons, birds are always an issue. Insects can also be problematic but to avoid that you actually need to use window screen....it all depends on what level you want to go to, but some screening/fencing is desirable if you don't want to endure 'nature taking its course' with your turtle....
 
hm....so i will need to do a wood fence for him instead of making a frame and then using a big chicken wire over the frame and using that as his fence? and i will also need to make a roofing for him? how will roofing work with having a tree there?
dang. didn't think of that.
 
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