Box Turtle Owners!?

Question

I'm getting two baby box turtles tomorrow. I need to know:
What kind of habitat should I provide?
Glass tank?
What size?
What kind of bedding/floor covering?
How often do I change it?
What food do I feed it?
How often?
Bathing?
Etc.

Please be specific but you don't have to write a book or anything.

Please help.

Answer 1

A glass or acrylic tank is fine, but I need to know the size of the Box turtle's to know what size tank you need. I use T-rex or Forest floor coconut bedding. This bedding is good and allows them to burrow in it if they want too. I would change it every month or when water has spilled in it as it can grow mold if not allowed to dary all the way out. You can feed them mealworms, strawberries, bananas, sweet potatoes, catfood/dogfood wet, and even box turtle foods that they sell at pet stores. I feed mine once a day. You need a shallow water dish they can get in and out of but not too deep as they cannot swim. You'll also need a heat lamp and a UVB bulb which are two different types of bulbs. The heat lamp helps them regulate there body temperature and the UVB bulb helps them absorb vitamins such as calcium. Do not use calcium with D-3 in it if you use a UVB bulb. If you dont have a UVB bulb then use a calcium with D-3. Also dont feed them too much of one thing as they can get picky and start to eat one thing only and this will give you a training experience in training them to get to like other foods and also take up too two years as a story I heard from a friend. Good Luck.

Answer 2

I have four of them and I keep them outside in a large pen. I sunk a plastic container in the ground to act as a small pond. They need a water area as they like to do their bathroom business in the water, but they are primarily terrestrial. About half of the enclosure is shaded. I feed them ZooMed canned box turtle food, red worms, night crawlers, meal worms, super worms, wax worms, grubs, crickets, tomatoes, cucumbers, etc. The canned food I feed them is a blend of apples, corn, carrots, and it has the essential vitamins and minerals they need. They come running whenever they see me. I live within the natural range of the box turtle so I leave them out all year. They burrow into the ground usually in November and I don't see them again till March or April. I find this to be the most natural environment for them,as it is what they do in the wild. I'm not sure where you live but if you can I would let them live outside and hibernate in the winter.

Answer 3

I own 2 box turtles and 1 South American Red Foot Turtle. Turtles do eat meal worms in the wild along with other exoskeleton bugs and ectra. If there is no blood in your turtle's stool, it is no harm for it to eat the meal worms. The skeleton remains of the worm that goes through your turtles digestive track also helps it keep its intestines clean, like humans do when they take extra fiber or eat raw veggies. You can also buy the soft body meal worms that have no exoskeletons to feed your turtle. Both types of worms can be kept in a refrigerator and it will not kill them, just make them dormant. You can also raise meal worms in a large container like a 5 gallon fish tank. Add about 2 inches of corn meal in the tank. Cut a raw potato in half and lay the exposed sides down on top of the corn meal in the tank. The meal worms eat the corn meal and also eat the inside of the potatoes as they have the moisture these worms need. After a while you will see that the meal worms become cacoons and will hatch into small black beetle type bugs. Keep the remains of the potatoes in the tank and add another potato cut open. The beetles will continue to eat on the inside of the potatoes and lay eggs in them. Once they hatch, they become meal worms again (small ones hard to see). These worms will continue to eat and grow to regular size meal worms and the process continues again. As far as veggies, do not feed your turtle iceberg lettuce. This will cause diahreea because this type of lettuce is mainly water based. Feed your turtle Romain lettuce, turnip greens, peas, pealed carrots (as they have vitamin k in them). You can also purchse turtle pellets from a pet store. These turtle love the pellets that have the different fruits in them. You can also get vitamins from the pet store to add on its foods or in its water. Hope this helps :-) Wildlife rehabilitator for 14 years

Answer 4

Here is the ultimate box turtle owners site! You need a large enclosure, suitable flooring, a water bowl large enough to soak in, a variety of food items, a basking heat bulb, a digital probe thermometer to accurately measure temps, and a UVB bulb made for reptiles, like a Reptiglo 10.0 or Reptisun 8.0.

http://boxturtlesite.info/bxbook.html

Answer 5

depends on the size of the turtle, they need somewhere to "hide" enough room to walk around, floor covering not too too important, nothing that can gather too much bacteria (i dont personally recomment "moss rugs" or astroturf. disposable is good. natural materials that wont cause damage if the turtle swallows any. ask your pet store. change at least once a week, water every couple days, turles eat fruit and bugs..and actually enjoy company and sunlight..take them for walks around your yard but dont leave them unattended as they can get away alot quicker than you think . have fun. they will be around for many many many years

Answer 6

Check out this website for the best Box turtle information! =)
http://www.aboxturtle.com/
Good luck with your babies!!