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It has been a while since I posted new growth data for my Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene c. carolina) collection, so here goes (with some additional information on husbandry and other digressions...).
The group consists of four animals that were hatched in late-summer of '06 (two were incubated for male and two for female).

Here are the mass data for 13 events roughly 30 days apart:

And a growth chart (note the differences in growth between individuals, particularly for A1):

The most significant increase in mass was experienced by A2 (from 13.9g to 175.3g in 12 months; an increase of 161.4g or ~12.6x "her" original mass).

Turtles A2, B1, and B2 are more opportunistic than A1 when it comes to feeding and this is reflected in the slower growth of A1. However, I would speculate that A1's growth is above the average growth in captivity and it is a good, steady growth.

These turtles have always had access to a variety of live prey and their diets are properly supplemented with Rep-Cal Calcium + Vitamin D3 and Rep-Cal's Herptivite powder. They receive no UV supplementation, though they are taken out for periodic exposure to unfiltered sunlight. Their enclosures are basic and consist entirely of a thick layer of sphagnum moss (no hides, no water dish, etc.). They are soaked every other day and receive more than enough water this way and it allows for more sanitary conditions in the enclosures. The sphagnum is kept damp and they spend nearly 100% of their time buried in it. Approximately one-quarter of their enclosure is heated via a thermostatically controlled piece of heat tape that provides a gradient of about 88°F to 79°F.

The three largest turtles have been feeding almost exclusively on a diet that I have prepared for them and keep frozen until ready to use. This diet consists of about 50% protein in the form of Aquamax Trout Chow and Turtle Brittle. The other 50% is made up of ~30% vegetables (shredded butternut squash, peas in the pod, sweet potato, carrots, etc.); 10% dark leafy greens (finely chopped collard and dandelion greens); and 10% fruits (grapes, apples, cantaloupe, assorted berries, etc.). Now, this may seem like a lot of work, however, I expedite the process by preparing a large batch of this mixture and then portioning it out in spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet. These spoonfuls of box turtle food are then frozen and stored in containers. I can then take these out as needed. This results in about 1-2 hours of chopping up plant matter and preparing food once approximately every 4-5 months (not so much work after all).

The turtles relish this food (which is sprinkled with the appropriate supplements at feeding time) and it has resulted in incredibly smooth growth (no trace of pyramiding on my turtles).

Here are some food balls that are frozen and easily separated due to the individual freezing method:

Thawed out and ready to be fed:

Now for the star of the show... A2.

This is A2 back in December of 2006:

This is A2 today (she is in the exact same container as in the above photo):

A whopping 175.3g!

And some shell photos to show the quality of her growth:

And a little video of her enjoying her prepared box turtle food...

Hope everyone enjoyed the post!

Fabulous! Thanks for posting.

Ditto, nicely done.

I make several of the food balls you described. My mixture is placed in a food processor, so it is more homogeneous. This is to prevent them from choosing only their favorite bits while ignoring other essentials.

I make several different types of frozen food balls which include a protein source and a veggie source.
Protein sources - ground turkey, reptomin, trout chow, mazuri
Veggies - carrots, sweet potatoes, kale, collards, turnip greens, pumpkin, and a few others
I mix in a 1:1 ratio by volume and form the balls into size appropriate amounts for babies through adults.
You are right...this method saves SOOOO much time!!

By far, any food balls with the ground turkey are consumed with the greatest gusto.

Interestingly, my box turtles won't eat moistened reptomin, trout chow, or mazuri without the veggies mixed in. They look at me as if to say, "Uh, dude, you forgot the veggies."

Ryan, you are going to be ready to breed these guys in no time!

Have you noticed that the F2's are growing more quickly than the F1's?

Thanks!

They try to find things they like (they often pull the food apart before eating), but end up eating every last bit of it because the items are not big enough. It's not as mechanically digested as it could be because I figured if I blended it to a homogeneous paste then I'd better hope they like the uniform taste or I am screwed (this was my first time making it for them). I use a hand-cranked coleslaw shredder to get the plant matter into very small pieces and I bind it all together with soaked trout chow and brittle.

About every three to four feedings, I give them a "water feed" and this consists of placing them in luke-warm water and offering them aquatic turtle pellets from a variety of commercial sources (Reptomin, HBH, Rep-Cal, ReptoTreat Suprema, NutraFin Max Gammarus, Zilla, etc.). They eat all of these pelleted foods and I offer them for variety. I also offer them chopped up whole fuzzy mice about twice a month.

I am going to try ground turkey as a base for a new, smaller batch and hopefully the smaller turtle will take an interest. I am hoping to get her feeding on more vegetable matter soon (she eats all the aforementioned pelleted foods in water and anything live).

I have not noticed any significant difference between the two generations (the two largest turtles are F1 and F2).

Cheers.

That is excellent, well presented data! Great job!!! I like the food balls, I will have to try that, certainly makes feeding easy. It reminds me of the frozen fish food that I used to make in ice cube trays, then when they were frozen I would pop the cubes out and put them in plastic bags, real easy for 1 time feedings. I think I would like to try the turkey burger, sounds like they relish it, but assuming you are using that raw, my question would be: is there any risk of Salmonellosis.
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1.0 pastel ball python
0.1 mojave ball python
0.1 normal ball python
0.2 3-toed box turtles
2.3 eastern box turtles
0.0.5 3-striped mud turtle
1.0 northern diamondback terrapin
2.1 tiger salamander
1.1 red-sided garter
1.0 anerythristic red-sided garter
1.1 Iowa snow plains garter
1.1 Het butter stripe cornsnake
0.1 anerythristic motley cornsnake
1.1 Blue garter (Puget Sound)

I would say yes, there is a risk of salmonellosis. I use raw ground turkey found in flexible plastic tube packaging like some types of sausages. I thaw the balls in the microwave before offering them, and there is a slight degree of "cooking" that occurs. Still, it is a risk. I know the food industry well as a part of my job, and turkey farms are considered lower on the salmonella risk scale. You are correct, though, it is something to keep in mind.

Ken, I also work in a related field, I work at our state public health lab in virology/molecular biology dept. so bacti isn't my specialty, yet I am aware of the risks in poltry products, but I posed the question for two reasons: 1)to be aware of safe handling and hand washing afterwards to protect the human involved, but mainly my question was 2) are there risks to the health of the turtles?
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1.0 pastel ball python
0.1 mojave ball python
0.1 normal ball python
0.2 3-toed box turtles
2.3 eastern box turtles
0.0.5 3-striped mud turtle
1.0 northern diamondback terrapin
2.1 tiger salamander
1.1 red-sided garter
1.0 anerythristic red-sided garter
1.1 Iowa snow plains garter
1.1 Het butter stripe cornsnake
0.1 anerythristic motley cornsnake
1.1 Blue garter (Puget Sound)

2) are there risks to the health of the turtles?

As far as I know, there are no adverse effects for the turtle. They carry it, but are not harmed. This is my understanding. Like you, though, I am more familiar with this infection in humans.

I am glad that you brought it up. It is a very valid point that I should have addressed when making the recommendation. Thanks.

Mine got a lot of turkey after Thanksgiving, LOL...usually it's chicken for a protein source in the homemade food.

I don't have my notes in front of me, but if memory serves, a couple of years ago I had a male headstart here that was close to 180g after 12 months, and fanning his penis while soaking at 18 months.

Kids these days grow up so fast...

Wow, glad she is not alone. I certainly do not advocate fast growth as being a good thing, especially in turtles. Not that fast growth is necessarily a bad thing, but it often carries with it negative health consequences. To be sure, it is not a bad thing provided all dietary needs are met and I look to her shell condition as an indicator that all is progressing well. She has only ever been fed three times a week and appropriately sized amounts (what she is able to eat in about 5 minutes). I am quite happy with the group's progression, even the smaller one.

That one was certainly an exception, although every year there are one or two here that grow much faster than the others, and of course there are always one or two that are undersized, too.

I have always been told that the negative implications surrounding expedited growth are related to breeding problems, especially with NA Wood turtles. I have NEVER seen any real proof of this, but there are still people that will curse you if your turtle is growing "too fast". With a Wood turtle, it is almost too difficult to control their growth. If you don't feed them adequately they go insane.

It will be interesting to see your breeding success with the largest girl when the time comes.

One great thing to note is that she has very little fat buildup...she is lean and mean.

She looks very healthy to me, she doesn't look fat at all. Mine look a lot fatter than that in the fall, but I don't worry because they know they aren't eating for six months.
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1.0 pastel ball python
0.1 mojave ball python
0.1 normal ball python
0.2 3-toed box turtles
2.3 eastern box turtles
0.0.5 3-striped mud turtle
1.0 northern diamondback terrapin
2.1 tiger salamander
1.1 red-sided garter
1.0 anerythristic red-sided garter
1.1 Iowa snow plains garter
1.1 Het butter stripe cornsnake
0.1 anerythristic motley cornsnake
1.1 Blue garter (Puget Sound)

I might be learning a bit about taking care of NA wood turtle babies. I am currently a volunteer at John Ball Zoo in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Jim Harding's headstarting his wood turtles there. I just saw them today... very cute...

In my humble opinion, they have no equal!

Box turtles are the epitome of reptilian sweetness. A Wood turtle is in a class all its own.

King/Queen of the basking spot...this is not a "split" picture, the colorful guy on the bottom is under the water.

You have pet wood turtles too? I would expect more regulations on wood turtles than box turtles, so maybe you took the photo some place other than your own property.

I loved the pic that OldTime posted a number of weeks ago, with the orange underside of the mouth and chin. Jim H. told me eastern box turtles tend to have orangier soft parts.

Oh yes, I have Wood turtles. I have a large and legal bale of them. They are only protected in States where they occur, and I do not live in a range State. Many, many people keep Wood turtles perfectly legally. People out of Florida breed them by the tens of thousands. Some range States also allow possession.

I should add...all of mine are captive produced from a wonderful breeder in Fla. that has been producing highly colored Wood turtles since the 1970's.

From their reputation for intelligence, I would love to keep woods, but unfortunately I live in a range state and they are protected, so I have refrained from keeping them. It would be nice if the state would allow possession of verifiable CBB, but they don't.
-----
1.0 pastel ball python
0.1 mojave ball python
0.1 normal ball python
0.2 3-toed box turtles
2.3 eastern box turtles
0.0.5 3-striped mud turtle
1.0 northern diamondback terrapin
2.1 tiger salamander
1.1 red-sided garter
1.0 anerythristic red-sided garter
1.1 Iowa snow plains garter
1.1 Het butter stripe cornsnake
0.1 anerythristic motley cornsnake
1.1 Blue garter (Puget Sound)

Very useful information and great photos! Many thanks for sharing with us your turtles' story.