Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I noticed that when I got home from the zoo today that my little Frederick/Frederika was sitting in the water dish. For the hours I was home he/she remained there.

Back when I had that eastern I called T. Herman, I expected him to soak for long periods of time. But this three-toed has only rarely gone into the dish - mostly do defecate, sometimes (I assume) not even going there to defecate (since many days would go by and I would see no poo).

I was a little concerned when I fed him this past Friday morning. The sporting goods store was out of red worms, so I gave the little turtle a crawler after some tomato was eaten. He/she slowly slurped it down. I noticed toward the end, the turtle was attempting to break the end of the crawler off--I assume because the turtle was full. F eventually forced down the entire crawler, giving up on efforts to break off the end of the crawler.

I feed every two days. Sunday morn he/she wanted nothing. This morning nothing was eaten. And now, sitting in the water dish, unusual for this turtle--anyone have any idea what the reason might be? This is not normal behavior for this turtle.

and no, I have not noticed any feces in the water dish since the crawler was eaten.

When my 3toe was constantly in the water dish it usually meant humidity problems, as in not enough. Overturning the water dish was the turtle's way of fixing my deficient husbandry in the same way. It could also be a substrate issue, either not enough substrate to allow for easy burrowing or a too dry substrate that does not retain enough humidity. Getting that "moist woodlands" environment can be tricky.

Finally, it could be nothing at all. Caged turtles don't get to roam they way they do in the wild, so they occasionally do weird things in the cage, like hang out in the water bowl or on top of the hide box or indside the hide box. You turtle sounds well fed--it could even be a spot of constipation. But if the enclosure is in good condition I wouldn't worry too much. Make sure the turtle gets some exercise now and then and don't worry about it.

BTW, 3toes are pretty easy to sex--red eyes, curved lower shells, and longer tails mean male, high domes, flat undershells, and very short tails mean female. Laying eggs in the water bowl also means female--which also might be what your turtle is trying to do!

Too young to be laying eggs (between 1 and 1.5 yr old), plus the turtle is all by him/herself, so no way to become gravid.

F left the water this morning between about 6:00 and 6:30 am I noticed, but by about 9:30 was back in the water.

My Sphagnum is VERY MOIST, so I have doubts that environment is too dry.... plus, the Sphagnum has been like this for a long time, so I don't think the turtle would suddenly need moister conditions.

"BTW, 3toes are pretty easy to sex--red eyes, curved lower shells, and longer tails mean male, high domes, flat undershells, and very short tails mean female."

eyes too small for me, at least, to determine color.
as for the rest you list: my understanding is higher shells tend to be characteristic of males--I think, in all subspecies of T. carolina.

what type of exercise should my turtle get?

My turtles do this occasionally, both young and old. Based upon the "larger than normal" meal, it seems logical that this could be related to digestion. Monitor for fecal output, and you may even want to soak the turtle in warm water for short periods daily. When I see this behavior, I make a point to check the turtle several times daily for other signs of illness. Typically, I just let them soak until their heart is content and, unless some obvious illness presents, they will eventually return to normal behavior.

Yes, males do tend to have more compressed shells and females' shells are more dome-shaped. This even tends to be true with ornates, of which both sexes are fairly compressed. There are exceptions, as always.

I don't know if the poster was recommending an exercise regimen, per se, but seems to be offering that turtles kept indoors may get a bit stir crazy and act oddly. I haven't seen this with the youngest of my turtles, but certainly it is true with my adults.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

OOPS, apparently the poster WAS recommending exercise. I don't know if this was related to possible constipation or as a "mental health" thing. Sorry, he/she will have to clear that one up. That's what I get for putting words into someone's mouth.

"Yes, males do tend to have more compressed shells and females' shells are more dome-shaped. This even tends to be true with ornates, of which both sexes are fairly compressed. There are exceptions, as always."

Hmmm. I thought that females had flattened shells to allow the male to mount for mating. Or am I confusing simple height from plastron to top of carapace?

I helped take some turkeys for a check-up up to the hospital at the zoo today, and asked the vet (he works with every type of animal) about my little turtle. He thought that my UV tube was not putting out enough, which causes digestive symptoms including constipation, and this could even happen without pyramiding.

Oh - update - this morning F was in the water, but when I returned home a little after noon, the turtle was buried in Sphagnum. Did not see any feces in the water.

turtle treadmill??!! Set to a VERY slow speed!

Actually I just meant to make sure to let her out of the enclosure once in awhile, assuming you have an environment where nothing can hurt her. I never got my girl to be a real "house turtle," but she liked to roam the living room from time to time.

Speaking of eggs, it's funny, because I bought her from a pet shop in November 1996 and found eggs in the water bowl in Spring 1998--over a year of no male companion. She laid again in 2000 and 2002 but lived with a male then.

I know what you meant about the exercise....was just trying add a little humor....guess I wasn't successful!

I chuckled!
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0.1.0 ornate box turtle
1.0.0 eastern box turtle
1.0.0 Yellow belly slider
0.1.0 Red belly cooter
0.1.0 Australian shepard
1.11.0 chickens
1.0.0 Dutch(rabbit)
3.2.0 children (do I still count the married ones?)
1.0.0 husband

You have to love the imagery! I'll look pretty silly laughing to myself at the gym tomorrow when I hop on the treadmill.

What's that drug commercial that has the box turtle racing the hare? A gym commercial starring a box turtle can't be far off!