Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, It's starting to get colder here in TX so I will be moving my three toed box turtles inside for winter. What type of substrate is the best for an indoor enclosure? I have only had my pair for a short period of time so I don't want to hibernate them this year. Thanks for your help.

If they're fairly tame, and won't be too stressed out by not being able to dig, you can't beat the "reptile carpet" type materials. They are easy to clean, and won't usually create a harborage for fruit flies or fungus gnats in your house. If you go this route, place a lot of structure in the enclosure for them to hide under and around. Also, make them a nice hide box. Newspaper is a lower cost, but less attractive and more wasteful alternative to this.

If the turtles are a little more skittish, and would require digging to feel secure...I'd go with organice potting soil/top soil with an equal volume of well dried leaves. Mix the two together, and then you can add an additional pile of leaves at one end of the enclosure for hiding. Purchase organic soil, free of any additives; chemicals, perlite, vermiculite, water absorbing materials, etc. I wouldn't use soil from the yard, unless you don't mind importing the bugs that invariably come along with it.

I'd stay away from the "wetter" materials like sphagnum moss and peat moss due to Three-toes' propensity towards getting shell infections.

Good luck keeping them indoors for the winter. While I believe that outside is best for the turtle, having them in can be a real "bonding experience" for the keeper. Just remember the importance of UVA/UVB basking for health and happiness. A 75 watt Powersun bulb from Zoomed, set at the proper height, would be ideal for an adult Three-toed box turtle.

I'd love to see pictures of your turtles.

Thanks, I definetely have alot of leaves around here that I could use. I'll have to take some pictures so I can show off my turtles. They are not as pretty as most of the turtles that I have seen on the forum but I still think they are cute.

>>Thanks, I definetely have alot of leaves around here that I could use. I'll have to take some pictures so I can show off my turtles. They are not as pretty as most of the turtles that I have seen on the forum but I still think they are cute.

Janie is my only beauty queen, the rest of theboxies are here because of problems. They aren't gorgeous to look at but I do believe that old cliche is true.. and they are beautiful to me.
Take the pictures, I don't care what your turtles look like,I want to see them. I'm sure they are pretty in their own ways.
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PHRatz

For years I kept a sickly three-toed indoors during the winter months. I had a 3 inch layer of moist reptile bark that was mixed with moist terrarium moss. I rinsed the substrate before using it to remove dust and kept is moist but not wet. I sprayed it as soon as I saw that it had dried out-usually every other day or two. The set-up needs a heat lamp to maintain the right temperatures-- 80 during the day, 70 OK at night. A UVB light is necessary, or supplement with Vit D3 weekly. Use live insects as often as possible to keep the turtle interested in eating, and feed it chopped vegetables and fruits high in vitamins and minerals. Good luck!
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Tess
Kingsnake.com Forum Host

Thanks for the info. As far as insects I have super worms, meal worms, crickets and dubia roaches (yuck). The turtles favorite by far seem to be the super worms. They also get fresh greens daily. I have several types of lizards so I keeped stocked on both insects and greens.