The other day a coworker of my father offered me 3 of his box turtles. He new I had a collection in my backyard, and finally decided that it was time for them to have a better home. He gave me what seems to be 2 healthy easterns and a severely deformed 3toed box turtle. He said he had the 3 toed since it was a baby and its 26 years old. The 2 easterns he found, one of them 13 years ago and the other 2 years ago. He had one of the easterns in a 5 gallon tank, separated from the other because he said it was aggressive but it was just starving, and the other 2 were in a 10 gallon tank together. They were on carpet with a tiny water bowl and no lighting at all. He was just feeding them lettuce and fruit/veggie scraps. Even with these poor conditions all 3 turtles seemed healthy. Since I cant put these guys outside in my 25ft by 6ft pen(live on longisland) until the summer. They are temporarily living in a 6 foot in diameter kiddy pool filled with dirt and leaves. I bought them one of those expensive zoo med bulbs (not the strip kind), and have feed them just about everything a box turtle would love. It was amazing watching their natural instincts kick in once I gave them dirt,leaves,worms,slugs and a water bowl big enough for them to soak in. The 3toed never even saw a slug or worm but went right for it. THEY LOVE to be soaked in warm water.
Needless to say these turtle are so much happier with room to walk around and some food. I just really wish people who own turtle as pets would put a little more consideration into housing them. Living in a 5 gallon tank for 13 years is just cruel.
Il try to get some pic up for you guys soon, also any advice for them would be appreciated.
Neil
