Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Is it common for two day old 3-toed hatchlings to turn themselves upside down? I have 5 of them and they all seem to do it. I thought that maybe they were doing it to each other until I found all five of them updide down at one point, and not near each other. They are in a room by themselves, no pets or little kids around to touch them.

What do you have them in? If you give them some soil to dig in and leaves to hide under, they'll stop trying to climb the sides of their enclosure, which is when they usually tip themselves over. That's a very cute picture.

I have them in a plastic tray about 24" x 12", 6" deep. I put 2" of coconut substrate down for them to dig in, plus there's two folded pieces of cardboard to make a couple of little tents for them to hide under. I find them flipped over out away from the walls. Only one seems active enough to try and climb the walls. The rest move around less, and one is fairly lethargic. I have a small plastic tray with about 1/4" of water, and I spray the substrate (and turtles) a couple times a day too.

That's pretty small for 5 turtles, even babies. Use two tubs and find deeper ones and add 4-5 inches of a mixture of rinsed coconut coir and long fiber sphagnam moss. And if the folded cardboard is not wet-it means the bedding is too dry. The bedding should be very moist. Be sure their enclosures are not too hot, either. Do you have a good thermomenter? It's the only way to know for sure what the temps are in there. They may be trying to get away from the light or heat.

The fact they are always flipping over means something is not correct with the habitat so keep looking for a problem and fix it. If you have a picture of the tub please send it.
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Tess Cook
www.boxturtlesite.info

I don't have a picture of the tray, but it's only meant to be a temporary home until I decide whether to keep them or not. Here's the circumstances: Back in May or June, some neighborhood kids were going door-to-door trying to sell a box turtle that they said they found in the gutter. I knew of a local turtle/tortoise rescue group so I bought the turtle from the kids intending to turn it over to the rescue group.

I put the turtle out in our side yard, gave it a few piles of lawn clippings to dig into and a pan of water to soak in, and fed it chunks of cantaloupe, strawberries, apples, earthworms, dog kibble, etc. until I could make contact with the turtle people. One thing led to another, and I ended up keeping the turtle all summer and turning it over to the group just last month. Four days ago, on the 18th, surprise-surprise, we found a couple of hatchlings wandering the side yard (I'm in Southern California, BTW). Looked around and found another one, and then found the nest hole where two more were still working their way out of their eggs.

I had the tray already, so I just got some clean substrate from the pet store and a Zoo Med bulb for a clamp light and put the turtles in the tray as described a couple of posts above, except I've since added some avocado tree leaves for extra places to hide. The hatchlings seem to've worked out their flipping over issues for the time being. I'm keeping the substrate good and moist, and the tray is definitely not too hot. If anything, it's too cool. The light keeps one end warm, but I don't leave it on all the time, just during the day.

I like the idea of keeping one or two (I know hatchlings need some extra TLC) and turning the other three over to the turtle group, but as of right now, I haven't made up my mind what to do.

Neat story! Keep the hatchlings moist, and give them as much variety as possible in their diet. In the beginning, they want mostly live (insect and animal) food, which is fine. Just make sure the food is good quality. I try to feed as much wild caught worms, insects etc., and feed them as soon as possible after getting them, so that the insects/worms are healthy and when eaten, the turtles also get the benefit of the material in the gut of the insect/worm.
They are fun and rewarding to raise, but it takes time. I have Easterns, but their care is similar. My first hatchling is now five years old, and just reached maturity (a male) and he is still not quite yet fullgrown. He is now outside hibernating.
It does take patience and a long-term commitment, but it is certainly rewarding raising them from hatchling to adult. Five would be too much for me at once, but that all depends on you and your situation.

Moedad, it seems as if the hatchlings are your "reward" for doing a good deed.

You have gotten good information. The only thing I can add is that avocado plant tissues are toxic to mammals, and theoretically toxic to reptiles as well. Just in case, you may want to swap them out for some other plant debris.

Whoa, good to know! Thanks.

The story of how you got these turtles is heartwarming and you are lucky to have gotten this opportunity-many people try for years and don't get the chance It is a real joy (if you have the time) to raise baby box turtles, but it is a challenge to do it right. It may sound easy since they grow just fine when no one is taking care of them in the wild, but in captivity we have to provide them everything becuase of the small enclosures we force them to live in, plus often the turtles are not being raised in the natural range of box turtles and we have to make up for environmental issues too.

It's not easy to raise the babies. They are prone to shell deformities and poor health. Diet and housing is so important to their well-being. Those matters are not obvious to even the most passionate animal lover. I have raised 4 groups and made many mistakes, but I learned from them and put as much good information as I can from my own and other people's experiences in my new box turtle care book. If you decide to keep these turtles I hope you'll consider getting it.

Keep them all if you are willing to do the right things-you never can tell if someone else will go the extra mile for their care. After a proper set up is made and you begin to feed them the foods they need (which changes as they grow)-it becomes easier to keep them. I think you are up to the task But get them into a proper tub soon and buy a UVB light. You can get live insects on-line all winter and don't forget the digital thermometer. Good luck!

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Tess Cook
www.boxturtlesite.info

This is a great story.
What kinda bt are they?
You should keep all 5 for a year or so (so says me!)
You did such a good job w/the mom.
Please keep us posted w/pictures
/p

>>Is it common for two day old 3-toed hatchlings to turn themselves upside down? I have 5 of them and they all seem to do it. I thought that maybe they were doing it to each other until I found all five of them updide down at one point, and not near each other. They are in a room by themselves, no pets or little kids around to touch them.
>>
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Patsy