Can you answer questions about my box turtle?

Question

I saved this box turtle from someone who could not properly care for her. I don't know what kind she is.
http://s99.photobucket.com/albums/l285/esybkoven81/?action=view¤t=1180472821.pbw

I keep her in a 55 gal tank. 1 ft sq of water w/ filter 4 in. deep w/ aquatic plants. 3 1 1/2 ft of reptile grass and the rest reptile bark for burrowing. She has a basking light, UV light and shade area.

She always has small feeder fish to eat, I give gut stuffed crickets bi-monthly.

Everyother day she get a variety of fruits/vegs. I rotate and mix:

Leafy greens
Green peppers
Carrots
Tomato
Peas
Melon
Apple
Orange
Banana
blueberry
stawberry

She likes fruit/veggie organic babyfood and I give her a wet processed box turtle food. Everyonce in a while a weight maintenance soaked dog food.

Anything is better than her previously living in a 10 gal tank with dirt and a dog bowl for water with only iceberg lettuce and carrots.

But I want to know how I am doing?

Sorry if the pics are hard to see, she really likes the camera and my cat wasn't much help either.

I had aquatic turtles when I was a kid, but never a land.

I've had her a couple of months. She is about 15 years old according to the previous owner.

I do feed earthworms sometimes but only for my own entertainment because it's funny when they wrap around her face. I sprinkle the crickets with calcium. S/He refuses to eat the veggies and fruit if I put it on there. I figure she gets a good source of calcium from the fish. I feed them dry turtle food that has calcium in it and she eats them regularly. A dozen lasts about 2 weeks.

Wonster: I live in Michigan. I'm pretty sure box turtles are legal here. Even if they weren't, I'm attached.

My turtle is a heefer, it eats EVERYTHING I put in front of it.

The Dog food is only fed when I am out of town because the bugs creep out my boyfriend. I am a flight attendant and when I get my 4 day trips, usually once or twice a month, it just makes it easier for him. I found even light cat food to be too oily and canned stinks.

Mealworms and wax worms gross me out. The turtle will have to go without, sorry.

Large pebble bottom in the water. It's already 4 inches deep. My turtle's growth was stunted. The previous owner kept it in a 10 gallon tank under the TV with no UV and eating only Iceberg and carrots and any bugs the kids could catch for almost 15 years.

4 Inches of burrowing depth. Covers turtle completely.

I live in an apartment, inside is best. I let it walk around the courtyard, supervised. They put NO chemicals on the lawns.

Answer 1

Wow, sounds to me that you are doing absolutly great with your turtle. Amazing! I have a box turtle myself and I have only a couple of quick things to run by you. One, is the must important. I'm not sure where you live but I know in my own state and couple others have rules about keeping turtles in captivity. I would just do a quick search on that and make sure it's legal in your own state. Two, your box turtle seems to have an extremely well balanced diet. It's basically what I feed my turtle(I only wish she would eat it all)there are a couple things that I might add, worms are always good, crickets are great and are very high in protien,now the part about dog food I would start skipping for a balance meal. Instead I read on my research for turtle site that cat food is better. There are even some really cool ingrediants for salads. There are only two other things. Third, it seems that your doing well on the set up but make sure it has plenty of space to borrow and roam freely. I personaly avoid all tanks no matter what the size. I keep mine outside to get fresh air. The only other thing is the water, it could be deeper if you want but make sure there are rocks on the bottom so your turtle can easily get out. At first mine struggled with that before I added some. The last thing is make sure it has I nice spot to sun bathe. Ohh I forgot to miension turtles also love waxworms. Hope I could help. Good Luck. :) Also for more information on box turtles go to one of my favorite sites Billsboxturtles.com.

Answer 2

You are doing a wonderful job. What a lucky turtle."She" actually looks like a "he". The males have distinctly red eyes while the females are more brown and he looks like an ornate box to me (Terrapene ornata). Eastern's have a patternless plastron (the bottom shell) and ornates have the yellow radiating lines on the plastron as yours does. The only thing I would add to your diet is earthworms because they are very nutritious and boxies love them and to sprinkle his food with a calcium supplement 2 or 3 times per week.

Answer 3

Be remarkable to understand what form of boxie you have. Asian container turtles want extreme humidity and for them a tank is very nearly a call for. A 40 breeder is the smallest to think of roughly. you like sq. pictures of area no longer intensity. With a glass good. North American container turtles fare plenty extra clever in tortoise tables or perhaps the very large 90L rubber maid container. in my opinion i exploit rubber maids for hatchlings, and permit the adults to have unfastened roam of a room with tile flooring in the domicile over iciness, in summer time they have an outdoor pen they stay in it is 10 x sixteen ft and a million foot deep. yet another indoor selection is a Kiddie pool.

Answer 4

Yup, it's a male Eastern box turtle (really a tortoise). Sounds like you are doing a good job. Check out www.anapsid.org for additional info.

Answer 5

w0w ur a really good owner ur turtles living the life! lol wish my mom wud treat me that gud..=)

Answer 6

shes an eastern i know because i am a wildlife volunteer hope that answers your question