Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, I just recieved a full grown male Eastern box turtle from a friend who found it in a road near a newly developed area. I have been keeping aquatics my whole life but I have never had a box turtle. Right now he is in my outdoor pen which includes spotteds and painteds and has a shallow pond w/ a large land area and a retractible top. So far I have been feeding him pinkie mice, worms, slugs, bananas, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, tomatoes, peas in the pod, pear, romaine lettuce, and dandelion greens. He eats everything on a slate as I'm afraid his beak will get overgrown. HA, he seems to enjoy everything, but I think slugs and berries are his favorite. He also likes to soak in the water. My question is how are the foods I'm feeding him and what else can or should I do for him. I plan on hibernating him, so should I feed him more now to help build up some extra fat reserves? How often should I feed him and should all his food be calcium dusted as well? I appreciate any feedback.

Thanks a lot,
-Jesse

Read through this forum as much as you can, it'll help a lot. Your diet sounds great, the key is to keep it all varied. I'd suggest you order a shipment of earthworms, something like a thousand of them, and turn them loose all at once in your pen. They will take up residence after a short feast for the turtles, and in the future your turtles can hunt for them.

Lots of shady spots are good, your water sounds fine.

Don't worry about overfeeding it for hibernation, just a steady diet of a few meals from you a week (2 or 3), plus with what he'll hunt down on his own in a lush pen full of plants and bugs and stuff and he'll be ready on his own. You should put in a pile of mulch or leaves or something once the weather starts to turn, as a place it can burrow and be insulated for winter.

Nathan, thanks for your reply. I was thinking about hibernating him in a rubbermaid container w/ leaf litter and peat moss in my garage. I live in CT and we can get some pretty harsh winters. The other option I was contemplating was digging a hole in the ground a few feet right in the pen and just throwing a huge pile of leaves over it for him like you said, and then throwing a tarp over the top. What do you think? What are the pro's and con's to each?

Thanks a lot,
-Jesse

skip the tarp. You don't want it to dry out, at least not for an eastern box turtle (maybe some kinds of tortoises, I'm not sure), but the hole filled with stuff is a fine idea. I use it myself in some pens that have holes, in others I just make a big pile of dirt/mulch/leaves.

Indoor hibernation is fine as well, the trick being to keep them somewhat humid, and at around 40 degrees. I like letting them pick if I have the room outdoors, and I've not lost a box turtle that was hibernating on it's own outdoors.

I'm glad the subject came up, since you're in the same climate as I am. About how big of a pile of mulch do you use, and is it just on top of the ground, or do you dig down some too. Last year I dug down a couple of feet, but I'm a little concerned about that arrangement, with all the rainfall we've been having and potential drainage issues.
I'm in central VA and our weather is pretty much the same as yours, so what works for your guys will probably work for mine.
Always on the lookout for new ideas.
Thanks,
Stephanie

what part of connecticut? i live in torrington, ct, and i have never seen a box turtle outside of pet shops. (sad i know)
just curious as to see where you found it.
-Ninja Tortoise

Hi, I live in Monroe, CT. (Ffld. County) The Eastern was found up around Hamden. I myself have never found a boxer in CT, although I have found spotteds and even a NA wood. Easterns are really rare in most parts of the state from what I hear. My guess is they are more abundant in the northeastern part of the state.

-Jesse

Heh...not to be preferential, but I think it's totally awesome u've seen spotteds in the wild. Near sphagnous bogs right? I hear they're either rare or secretive and can sell for $200 or more. I've always wanted a spotted but have never seen them offered for sale (unless it's mail order).

Down here in TX all I've seen everywhere are red-eared sliders...some so densely populated that I could pick them up right from the edge of a pond at this park. And in the woods u see EAstern boxers, although they're getting rare too. =(

ahh...miss the northeast =P

Johnny

I just made a pile maybe 10-12 inches deep in the center, maybe 2.5-3 feet across.

I keep the ground covered with hardwood mulch in large areas of their pens, so this keeps the soil under there moist. They did dig down into the ground a bit over the course of the winter. I have holes in the yard, but like you, I am a bit worried about my boxies using them (they are holes from the previous water dishes). I plan on filling my holes in with dirt mixxed with mulch, so it is softer, and then piling on top of it. With a pile, it should shed water away if it's not in a real low spot (none of my water dishes would be in low spots, to avoid runoff).

Last year one of my wood turtles hibernated in the hole from it's water dish filled with just hardwood mulch. Rain did fill it up, and it was a sloppy swamp hole, but the wood turtle seemed to like it and did great. Boxies might not do so well, who knows.

I hibernate my box turtles underground. I read they like to hiberante in old rabbit holes. So i doug one my self in the turtle pen. The whole is cover up now so they cant get in it but come the middle of Oct i will uncover it and by the fist week in Nov they have climbed to the bottom. I then pile lots of leaves and on top. I uncover it again in April. The dirt that came out of the whole I piled up around the entrence of the whole so that in case of heavy rain the burrow would not flood.
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Jack