Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have had Hat, my turtle, for a while now, but all he wants to do nowadays is hide. he has a good diet, carrots, crickets, strawberries, and I offer him butter lettuce and green beans but he doesnt eat them. He has a heat lamp but he never uses it. My old turtles would enjoy basking under the lamp, but Hat never stands underneath it.

I do not think he is unhappy. He comes out to eat and drink. He is not shy when I walk by (well, no more than a turtle should be.) He eats eagerly and drinks eagerly and loves to swim. But when he is done with those activities he just finds a place to hide.

I give him the run of my apartment for the majority of the day and on the weekends. I will set his food out and he may or may not eat, but he just finds the same places to hide, every time. I always know where he is. Even when I am not around he just hides. He used to explore a bit, even with me in plain site, but now he just finds a corner or something to hide under.

At night I place him in is pen with the heat lamp, but he just burrows and conceals himself. He never stays under the lamp for long at all.

Is this normal? I'll post pics when I get them.

What type of box turtle is he? My ornate box has the same type of personality. I've had her for 17 years. She's like that even in the summer. However, most of my turtles, regardless of type are in slow motion right now. They come out for a little while and go back to take a long nap. Sort of bruminating but not quite. If he doesn't seem ill that may be why. Double check his temps to make sure he's warm enough. He'll probably perk up as the days get longer.
Have you tried to feed him a freshly molted superworm, earthworm, or cricket? Some types of turtles need a higher amount of inscts in their diet. Also the moving food stimulates the feeding response.

Yeah he is an ornate box turtle. He eats crickets all the time and seems excited when he sees them, but then he will eat and go hide somewhere. I suppose it isnt that abnormal.

That sounds like a typical ornate! I gave mine an earthworm the other day. Great treat. She came out again looking for another one! Didn't find one so she went back and hid.

>>Yeah he is an ornate box turtle. He eats crickets all the time and seems excited when he sees them, but then he will eat and go hide somewhere. I suppose it isnt that abnormal.

I don't think it's abnormal. All mine are ornates, they all hide when they get their walking around time. They'll walk around a bit, eat their food & then they all go hide.
Charity my largest one will grab her food & then carry it to a hiding place to eat it. I guess that's just the way they all are.
It must be too risky for them to eat out in the open in the wild, I guess?
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PHRatz