Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Welcome to kingsnake.com's message board system. Here you may share and discuss information with others about your favorite reptile and amphibian related topics such as care and feeding, caging requirements, permits and licenses, and more. Launched in 1997, the kingsnake.com message board system is one of the oldest and largest systems on the internet.

Click here for Dragon Serpents
https://www.crepnw.com/
Click for 65% off Shipping with Reptiles 2 You

Should I be worried?

massalvaje Jan 31, 2009 08:09 AM

Hi, I have a baby Three Toed Box Turtle. I offer him fresh food and water everyday but I have noticed he only comes out to eat every other to every third day to eat. I have him on the Wardley turtle bites with calcium as well as the occasional cricket or wax worm. Do I need to dig him out everyday to offer him food or should I continue what I have been doing?

He looks healthy, he is active and alert the few moments I actually see him. I just want to make sure he is getting what he needs.

Thanks for the help.

Replies (2)

terryo Jan 31, 2009 12:59 PM

http://boxturtlesite.info/

Read this...It has everything that you need to know about boxies. I have a Three Toed, but when it was a baby, it mostly ate worms,small snails, crickets etc. As it got older I started giving other foods. Read Tess's book. good luck

boxienuts Feb 01, 2009 11:28 AM

Relax everything sounds fine, in fact the diet you are providing and eating habits sound pretty perfect other than you could add some additional occational variety, but if you have a young turtle consistantly eating a high quality well balanced food like Wardleys already I would keep that as the main staple, with occational variety of insects,worms and fruits and veggies mixed in with that, because if you get them spoiled on something else like worms, they might decide thats all that they want to eat and refuse all else, so it might be hard to get them back on a more highly nutritious, balanced, and vitamin fortified diet.
Eating every other or every third day is perfectly normal, I think digging up the turtle every day would be more harassing and would cause more stress than benefit. They do not "need" or even usually "want" to eat everyday if they are eating highly nutritious meals. As the boxie gets older it will likely be more visible, but the little ones are programed to hide.
-----
Jeff Benfer
1.0 cinnamon pastel Python regius
1.1 pastel Python regius
1.1 mojave Python regius
0.3 normal Python regius
1.3 Terrapene carolina thriunguis
2.3 Terrapene carolina carolina
4.1 Kinosternon baurii
1.1 Malaclemys terrapin terrapin
2.2 double het albino and anerythristicThamnophis sirtalis parietalis
1.0 anerythristic Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis
2.3 Iowa snow Thamnophis radix
0.2 het Christmas albino Thamnophis radix
1.1 double het cherry erythristic, albino Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis
1.1 melanistic Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis
2.0 66% het snow Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis
1.1 triple heterozygous for amelanistic,carmel, and stripe Pantherophis guttatus
0.1 anerythristic motley Pantherophis guttatus
0.1 butter p.h. stripe Pantherophis guttatus
0.1 carmel stripe p.h. amel Pantherophis guttatus
0.1 amelanistic p.h. carmel,stripe Pantherophis guttatus

Site Tools