For the ornates you could leave some greens, and earthworms in the soil might be found.

If the enclosure is in an area that will get down to 60, you will need to keep it heated 24 hours a day. These wood turtles (which are tropical in origin, not temperate like the American wood turtle) would need overnight temps in the mid 70s.

You can feed them maybe 3 times a week. The water bowl, which can end up as a toilet, will need to be checked regularly when you are around (once a day is nice.) I haven't left any of my animals completely unattended for more than a few days, and that includes (over the years) blue tongues, various geckoes, a couple snakes, and various torts and turtles.


I could see being gone for 7-10 days, but not for weeks at a time. They are still dependent on you for food, water, and maintenance. If you are gone for anything longer than a week or so, you would need to have someone else drop by, throw in some food, and change the water bowl. In fact, it would be nice for someone to drop by every 5 days or so. I haven't tested the limits of this, but obviously you couldn't leave any reptile alone except for 5-day visits for too long. Someone has to do a good cleaning, check the animal for health, change blown light bulbs, provide fresh food more frequently, etc, at some point. I know with the blue-tongue I had for a few years it would make a mess of an enclosure within a few days just from pooping and smearing food. And obviously you couldn't leave an animal on a reduced heat/light schedule to slow down its metabolism without having a negative effect on the animal's health.

I think the blue-tongue is a good comparison. The blue-tongue is diurnal, needs moderate to high temps, a varied diet, and requires regular attention. If you could cope with the blue-tongue, you can cope with these turtles. If you found that the blue-tongue really cramped your style, then you should skip the turtles.

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