Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I received baby 3-toed Fed Ex Friday morning. I had in late summer and early fall a male eastern box that I really liked. He stopped eating, so we put him back. Well, since I missed that turtle so much, I got a baby 3-toed as a gift.

When the turtle first arrived, I realized the set-up I had for the previous turtle was not good for a baby - the new turtle would probably burrow into the sand and grass I had in the tank, and I would never see him again. I had bucket with mostof the top cut off, used for drinking and bathing by that big eastern box. I placed the new little guy in that tray, slanted, with water in it down at the lower end. He or she walked around the circle in which he/she was, seemingl exploring, seemingly drinking a little water, and some of the Nature Zone Tortoise Bites seemed gone within a few hours (he doesn't seem to have eaten the mealworms, earthworm bits, Reptomin Softgel, or Nature Zone Aquatic Turtle Bites). Well, I changed things around, and picked up the bottom of bucket in which that turtle was, and put in a different room while I took all the sand and grass out of the tank. When I got back to the turtle, I realized he slid down the plastic into the water, and I find myself almost thinking since then he was partly injured by being partly drowned. But if he's like a human, he would either be totally fine, or totally drowned - at least that's what happened in TV shows and movies where mouth-to-mouth occurs.

He just hasn't been moving around as much the last two days. He is still alive, because I have seen him move a LITTLE. But I don't think I've seen him eat much lately, nor drink.

How active a healthy, very small 3-toed box turtle be?

Oh my, I just really don't know where to begin...If we told you everything you should know, it would take all day.

First things first, put the turtle in a container about the size of a 5 to 10 gallon tank. Spread an inch thick layer of sphagnum moss on the bottom and moisten it. Don't drench it, but NEVER let it dry out. Somehow, keep the temperature in the container hovering around 75 to 80 degrees. Provide full-spectrum UVA/UVB light. Don't overheat the turtle, and don't allow it to get too cold...even at night. Soak it in VERY shallow, warm water once daily. This is only a recovery tank! Keep handling to an absolute minimum. If the turtle perks up, begin to offer living prey items (especially small earthworms) immediately! Then, you'll have to do a ton of research and construct an adequate, long term enclosure.

If you have access to a knowledgeable herp Vet, they MAY be able to administer a steroid to help with the recovery process.

And finally, to answer your main question...VERY active!

Steroids for what recovery from what?

If I used Sphagnum, he would disappear. I might use a little "carpet" sold as a terrarium liner, I think.

Thanks for the response.

Ken gave you really good advice...sphagnum moss is an excellent substrate fo a hatchling, whereas the terrarium liner you're thinking of using is not appropriate at all. Hatchlings spend alot of time hiding, so they need something to burrow into (like sphagnum) to feel safe.

Where to buy the Sphagnum? Do pet stores have it? I know lawn care areas of stores sometimes have it.....

Garden centers, florist supply, and probably pet stores should all stock sphagnum moss. It generally is compressed and packaged in plastic bags. Soak it in lukewarm water, squeeze some of the excess water out after 15 minutes and you should be good to go.

In garden centers you will also see something labelled as 'sphagnum peat moss', which is a slightly different material in that it is decayed sphagnum (naturally broken down) and doesn't resemble the original plant material much at all... You can still use the peat moss but make sure that what you purchase contains no added fertilizer or other 'amendments'. There is a little more effort required to wet it thoroughly, too.

My Eastern box is a little over a yr old and perfectly healthy.All I use is moistened Bed-A-Beast available at PetSmart in a 20L with shallow water dish,Reptisun 8.0 light and a 100watt ceramic heat emmitter at 1 end.Your turtle wouldn't normally be active unless it was outside in warmer months.keep him warm and humid so he makes it through winter.My box turtle eats Reptomin floating food sticks in his water dish.Also,I don't think you need any vitamin dust if you feed them this.I do keep a piece of cuttlebone in there too for him to knaw on for calcium.Good luck with this one.

wjboelema.....I just bought a box turtle from a pet shop simply because it wasn't being kept in an appropriate set-up. There was nothing for the poor thing to bury under and it wasn't being fed the correct diet. So please listen to the people on here and give the baby some moss to bury under. After all......it is their nature to stay buried or hidden most all the time.

Many of the people posting on this board are very knowledgeable about box turtles......that is why we ask questions here! Of course it helps a lot if we take their advice and actually do what they suggest! I for one know that my turtles are much happier since I found this board! (:
Have a good day! .........9boxies

"Steroids for what recovery from what?"

From what you described, your little turtle almost drown. Either the little turtle has a lung or two full of water, or it is simply exhausted from struggling to not die. I got the impression from your post that the turtle is near death. Sometimes, steroids can give a little "boost" to help the turtle recover. It needs warmth, proper humidity, proper lighting, and nutritious and varied foods if/when it recovers. Most importantly, right now, it needs REST.

>>Steroids for what recovery from what?

To recover from near drowning. If their is fluid in the lungs steroids would help that problem.

I find spaghnum moss in my local grocery store, Home Depot, Pet's Mart.. lots of places carry it.
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PHRatz

Re: supposedly almost drowning... after a soak last night, he seemed more active, going to hide under the "cave", a half plastic pot I cut for him. I don't have money for a vet, really....

About money for a vet: a very important part of pet ownership is being able to provide veterinary care for your animals. You can start saving money today for vet care: all it takes is setting aside a little bit of cash on a regular basis, even if it's just your 'spare change'.
(I just recently emptied 3 coffee cans full of spare change that my husband had accumulated over the past year or so: there was about $200 in there!!)
If you are very disciplined about it you can build up a fund in a short time. I would urge you to do this so that, should your pet need veterinary care in the future, you don't have to worry where the money will come from to pay for it.

I long of a period per should he soak in shallow water?

You say to not allow the temp to get to cold, even at night. Is room temperature too cold at night? If so, I need to go get an infra-red light to replace my sunglow....

Thank-you all for your help. My turtle is now burrowed under some moist Sphagnum.

Bill

... a little surprised no one answered this yet, considering there has been activity elsewhere on the forum...

I read somewhere on the web that the nighttime temp should not go below 70 deg F. My home temp is somewhere between 67 anbd 71 - I do not know how accurate the thermostat is, nor how accurate the thermometer on the Sphagnum is.

Should I buy an infrared bulb?

And the other question I am still curious of: how long should I soak "him" (I don't like calling a turtle "it" even when I can't determine the sex of the fella) per day?

oops... home temp is more like between 67 and 73 deg F.

It sounds as though your 'room temperature' would be OK during the nighttime for your turtle without having to supplement with another heat source.

How long to soak. I soak my turtles until they're ready to get out of the water. I start with tepid water, if it gets too cool before they're ready to come out I'll move them out but usually once the water starts to cool, they have already voided, then they start moving around which tells me they're ready. In general they soak for no more than half an hour.
Then they have dinner... they know the drill.
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PHRatz

>How long to soak. I soak my turtles until they're ready to get >out of the water.

And, just out of curiosity, how long is that usually?

Bill

Mine usually like to soak for about 15 to 30 minutes.

I had to ask because sometimes when I put mine in water, he doesn't move much at all. But since I have proper temp and humidity for him to stay in the rest of the day in moist Sphagnum, he is more lively. Today I put him in, and he moved around through the water, deeper, then shallower, then deeper, then out - probably around 15 min like yours.

When I used to have an adult eastern box, he would spend hours and hours in the water.