A friend's kid brought an ornate back from Missouri this past weekend. I managed to persuade him to give it up, as it would surely have not done well at all under his care.



It's a 4" female, and seems to be quite healthy at this point. I have it set up in a 55 gallon tank with 4" of cypress mulch for burrowing, a spotlight over a flat rock on one end for basking (temp on that end is about 88), an Exo-Terra Reptisun 5.0 48" florescent, a half-log at the other end stuffed with moss which I intend to keep damp. Since I obtained the turtle Monday, I have been soaking it for about 20 minutes a day. I do not have water in the tank for it as I read they prefer dry conditions other than in their hidey hole.



Thus far she's been eating superworms (fed fish flake and dusted with repcal's vitamins and calcium) and earthworms. I've tried raspberries and strawberries, but she's not interested in that as of yet.



I have read that this species is particularly difficult to keep healthy in captivity. As I live in North Dakota, outside maintenance is not a possibility. I'm looking for advice to assist me in successfully maintaining this turtle. So far she's been active from dawn to dusk, cruising around the tank, and eats the worms/superworms greedily.



After reading a comparison of UVB bulbs, it looks like I'll want to pick up a mercury vapor bulb to swap the spotlight out with... but that will have to wait for a week or so :P



Thanks!

Chris

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